There are other related issues to funding any proposed second American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) Stimulus package. These need to be discussed. Are federal agency Inspector Generals being provided easy access to basic information necessary to perform oversight to insure that any potential waste, fraud and abuse doesn’t take place for existing Stimulus funding? Don’t forget the problems with accounting for the billions of dollars of Katrina funding. Remember the famous photo of thousands of trailers supposed to be used for temporary housing at a cost of $400 million dollars by FEMA. Years later these trailers sat unused and rotting in a field. What about the delays and cost overruns being experienced on some projects using post 9/11 federal assistance?
How many cities and states have not applied for or placed under contract existing billions of federal funds? Does it make sense for anyone to just swap stimulus federal funding for other existing federal, state or city funds?
Who is insuring that fast tracking" of "stimulus" funding doesn’t result in overlooking legitimate federal rules and regulations already in place to protect the public interest. Do Federal agencies approving funding and the city or state receiving these supplemental funds both have sufficient staff to insure taxpayers interests are protected? Proper oversight will insure competitive procurements that result in the best price and adherence of contract specifications by the winning vendor. Any change orders should be documented, fair and reasonable. Adherence to project implementation schedules are needed. As we begin spending the greatest supplemental Federal outlay in history of almost one trillion dollars, shouldn’t we allocate sufficient time to insure these dollars are spent in the most prudent and correct manner. Policies and procedures need to be in place by both the giver and receiver to avoid any potential waste, fraud and abuse
The expenditure of any city, state or federal funding (not just stimulus funding) can preserve existing jobs or create new ones.
Just how much time should federal employees be asked to spend developing talking points which are used by members of Congress in press releases announcing ARRA grants? Is this the best use of scarce federal resources?
Future generations paying off the cost of Uncle Sam borrowing over 1.7 trillion dollars in 2009 to finance stimulus and other federal programs deserve to know their hard earned dollars are being spent wisely before being asked to fund another stimulus program tomorrow.
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