A White House report rating the stimulus finds it is making headway within the time frame provided and without busting the budget, The Washington Post reported.
About 70 percent of the Recovery Act’s $787 billion price tag had been spent by the end of last month, “which met a White House goal of quickly pumping money into the nation’s ravaged economy,†The Post characterized the report’s findings. Vice President Joe Biden, who oversees stimulus spending, prepared the report.
Some of the original projects had even come in under budget, allowing for funding of an additional 3,000 projects.
And despite the quick rollout, complaints on government contracts are also down compared to other government spending programs.
Of the 200,000 contract awards, independent review boards have received complaints on 3,806 of them – less than 2 percent. And an even smaller number have resulted in criminal investigations.
Stan Soloway, who serves as the president of the Professional Services Council, a national trade association for government contractors, told The Post the smooth rollout of the stimulus showed the administration was prepared.
“Given the ambitious nature of the stimulus, the fact that things have gone relatively smoothly suggests that they did put appropriate and adequate resources” into program oversight, he told The Post. “They definitely deserve credit for that,” he said.
