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First stimulus package spending at glacial pace; Obama wants another?
By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
07/08/09 1:13 PM EDT
It was touted by its supporters as the emergency cure for the worst economic crisis since the Great Depressions, but only $21 billion of the $787 billion stimulus bill has been spent, and only $90.7 billion is "in the pipeline," according to the Seattle company that is tracking the expenditures.
Mike Pickett, CEO of Onvia, told the House Government Reform Committee today that 1,330 contracts valued at a total of $21 billion have been awarded. Using the Obama administration's controversial formula for measuring job creation, Pickett said Onvia estimates that 230,000 jobs have been created or retained as a result of the $21 billion.
Many economists outside the administration reject the formula as unrealistic or even useless, except as a public relations tool.
Overall, Pickett said Onvia has identified at total of $90.7 billion as "in the pipeline" for spending on 18,451 projects that have been announced by federal, state, regional and local authorities
Total spending in pipelne a month ago was just under $60 billion, according to Pickett. For more detailed information on stimulus spending in your area, check out Onvia's web site at recovery.org.
This leaves $697 billion from the first stimulus bill as yet to be spent. With unemployment now approaching 10 percent, which is higher than the White House promised it would be if the stimulus bill was approved, it seems clear the measure has been a colossal failure.
Yet, administration officials - if not Obama himself - are clearly thinking seriously of asking Congress to approve a second stimulus.
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