Finally, yet seemingly in record time, President Obama has gotten his economic stimulus package through both houses of Congress and signed into law. The idea of “finally” is a funny one, because though he’s only been in office exactly one month on Friday, the discussion of his stimulus package began well before he was legally allowed to do anything about it. So under those constraints, he made good on his word in record time.
The main criticism of his package was not the content he and his administration put forward—like green jobs and investment in schools— but the amazing amount of pork barrel projects (“pet projects” to non-Americans) that individual Congressmen added on to the legislation. It’s been hard to get cash for much of anything but banking and auto bailouts these days, so when a huge funding bill like the stimulus package came around, it was just too temping for everyone and their brother to try and add something on.
But then, the miracle happened, an Obama miracle as only he can perform. He knew very well it would take a certain amount of pork to get his over-arching vision through so he made sure to have a system in place that would keep such silliness to a minimum. Ta-da! Presenting Recovery.gov. Much like his previous communications coups throughout the campaign and the transition that brought the opinions of everyday Americans directly to his staff—like making available every document presented by lobbyists looking for favors— Recovery.gov was set up as a way for these same Americans to track “every dollar spent, every job created.” Accountability at its finest. Sure, it makes him look good but it also gives Americans a kind of transparency only Europeans talk about but no one ever sees. Let’s just hope his staff can keep it up to date and for the long haul.
