During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt put four million people to work in four months. In two years, President Obama's $787 billion stimulus has failed to reduce unemployment as promised, and much of the money hasn't even been spent. When it was enacted in 2009, it was advertised as a fast-track program for hiring the unemployed as well as creating new jobs, and was to focus on projects called "shovel-ready?" So-called stimulus watchdogs in Vermont and California say there is no such thing. What about the money that has been spent? Has the Reinvestment and Recovery Act been a victim of false advertising as well as red tape?
What Has 800 Billion in Stimulus Spending Bought?
Credits
Guests:
- Laura Chick - Office of the Los Angeles City Controller (formerly) - @Laura_Chick
- Harold Meyerson - Editor, The American Prospect; and Columnist - @haroldmeyerson
- Gary Burtless - Brookings Institution
- Tom Evslin - former Chief Recovery Officer, State of Vermont