Grading the Stimulus Package Results: Good and Bad News, But the Jury Remains Out
Mixed news so far, with the final tally yet to come
Raymond Scheppach, Ph.D., is the executive director of the National Governors Association. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the National Governors Association.
Not only did the stimulus law provide substantial additional funds to the inspector generals of several federal agencies to find waste, fraud and abuse, but there is a new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board with responsibility for oversight. Also, the General Accountability Office has staff in 16 states performing audits and reporting to Congress every several months. Finally, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the U.S. Senate has already had an oversight hearing and the House Transportation Committee has both requested information from states and held an oversight hearing.
This unprecedented amount of publicly available data, information, and scrutiny can be an important teachable moment for our nation. Every citizen has the opportunity to follow the money and monitor results with each state posting online everything from budgets and contracts to travel expenses.
The ultimate accountability for governors will be the 2010 election, when 36 seats are up for election and 21 are able to run for another term. However, the calendar may not be a governor's friend. Some of the most tangible benefits in the stimulus, like health information technology and broadband expansions and alternative energy sources, won't take effect until after the 2010 election cycle.
The new transparency and accountability standards will provide a raft of information for use in the gubernatorial campaigns. And as Mark Twain said, bad news travels halfway around the world before good news even gets its shoes on. The gravitational pull toward distortions and a disproportionate focus on the negative could present an unfortunate setback for transparency and accountability. For the sake of good government and an informed democracy, let's hope the media and voters consider the size and scope of the challenge states face in implementing the law and helping to engineer a recovery.
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Reader Comments
oh my.
" First Governor Mitt Romney is economically smarter than Barak Obama." seriously...no back up...thats why you love the bible jerk.
Mitt Romney
Pro freedom?? unless it involves your personal life such as who you marry (same sex or not) and a womens right to choose when it comes to abortion. Gee I think if men had to carry a child and give up their career to raise it---we would not have the abortion issue. I am not pro-abortion by any means, but I see such hypocrisy with the conservative rt wing agenda---you must not abort but you better not ask the government for a hand out if you can't afford to raise this child or provide it healthcare. If you are really prolife-- then you support more than just the birth of the child. To call yourself prolife is couch- christianity because it only requires your vote.
JD
Vote Against Mitt Romney 2012
We must vote against Governor Mitt Romney to become our President starting on January 20, 2013 because of his conservative right wing philosophy (proven disastrous on foreign policy and economic policy the past eight years). Secondly, Mitt Romney's pro god, pro judeo christian values, pro bible reading and prayer in school means he is a mor0n like the last poster.
Vote for someone who is mot mentally handicapped like anyone who believes in all the god fantasies and who forces right wing hate down our throats every day.
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