Strengthening Oversight of Stimulus Spending

Although the so-called stimulus legislation was sold as a jobs and infrastructure bill, only a small fraction of the stimulus was actually dedicated to infrastructure.  Furthermore, red tape and bureaucracy have ensured that the pace of getting money out of the federal government’s hands and into our communities has been disappointingly slow.  

Instead of expediting infrastructure projects and getting money out the door more quickly during this economic emergency, in September 2010 the Obama Administration simply issued another tax and spend stimulus proposal without addressing the problems with the first stimulus, which by all measures has been a failure in putting Americans back to work.  The national unemployment level continues to hover near 10% - well above the 8% level the Administration promised if the stimulus were passed. 

Republicans continue to monitor stimulus spending for waste.  For example, Committee Republicans helped expose a $15 million stimulus project as a job-killing waste of taxpayer money.  After Republicans invited a citizen of Vermont to testify about how his family's farm was being threatened by an unnecessary stimulus project, the Obama Administration cancelled the project.

Republicans also supported a halt to wasting millions of taxpayers' dollars on signs to promote ongoing stimulus projects.  Instead of wasting money on propaganda that creates no jobs, these millions of dollars should instead be invested in actually putting people to work, especially considering the small amount of the stimulus used to improve infrastructure.  Watch Committee Members Aaron Schock (who sponsored this YouCut proposal, along with Ranking Member Mica and others) and Bill Shuster speak in favor of cutting this wasteful spending.

More statements and other information on the stimulus from Committee Republicans:

• Mica Statement on Administration Report on Infrastructure Spending
• Mica op-ed in The Hill: Why Stimulus Failed
• Over 60% of Stimulus Infrastructure Funds Sitting in Federal Coffers
• Mica Statement on Obama Infrastructure Spending Proposal
• Is the Stimulus Supposed to Kill Jobs or Create Them?
• Letter Requesting a GAO Review of Transparency in Stimulus Grants Selection
• Mica Statement on Highway Bill Extension in “Jobs” Measure
• Letter Requesting Information on TIGER Grants Process
• Letter Requesting Information on High-Speed Rail Stimulus Grants Process
• Son of Stimulus: Same Old, Same Old
• Diaz-Balart Statement on Stimulus Project to Replace Social Security Administration’s National Computer Center
• Duncan Statement on DOT Stimulus Spending & the Need to Cut Red Tape for Infrastructure Projects
• Diaz-Balart Statement on Stimulus Spending for Border Stations
• Stimulus: Garbage In, Garbage Out
• At Stimulus Hearing, Boozman Questions Projects and Urges Rigorous Oversight
• Diaz-Balart: As Unemployment Nears Double Digits, Stimulus Should Finally Focus on Creating Jobs
• Stimulus Funds Fail to Aid Unemployment
• IG Reports Stimulus Funds Misdirected
• Stimulus Is Repaving Some Roads but Mostly Ignoring Major Infrastructure Projects
• Greening Buildings Should Not Take Priority Over Job Creation, Says Diaz-Balart
• Jobs Fail as Stimulus Funds Languish
• Red Tape Hindering Stimulus Projects
• Diaz-Balart Statement from Hearing on Oversight of GSA Stimulus Funds
• Mica Questions Effectiveness of Stimulus Projects
• Letter Requesting Updates on Stimulus Jobs Creation
• Diaz-Balart Resolution Seeks More Accountability in Stimulus Spending
• Diaz-Balart on GSA Stimulus Funding: “The Potential for Waste is Huge”