Because Obama is taking a firm stand against the mayors with their hands out, according to the AP: “Obama warns mayors not to waste stimulus money.”
Please, the whole blasted rationale behind this stimulus behemoth is reanimated Keynesianism. You can’t “waste” government stimulus money, according to the theory. The only supposed waste is the money not given out, the money not subjected to the magical multiplier effect; i.e., the only folks who could waste this money are the governors who threaten to turn down the stimulus money because of fears of strings attached and funded mandates becoming unfunded.
Obama’s admitting that Keynesian stimulus spending can be wasted is an Oz-behind-the-curtain screwup. It’s one thing for a naif to be enchanted by the notion that only government spending can rescue the economy (somehow despite the Bush record of rapidly growing federal spending); it takes an entirely unheard-of level of gullibility to think the market will revive with such spending but only if it isn’t blown on politics as usual or other forms of waste. What, are we now supposed to believe that the market will automatically discount spending by rent-seekers, graft-takers and corruption artists?
