Stimulus and TARP - Giant 2010 Campaign Funds?

Reports this week indicated that over 60% of the Stimulus money had not been spent as of now. Additionally, there's about a quarter trillion left in TARP. Here's a 'stimulating' question for the Administration:

Why has the extremely urgent stimulus bill money not been spent urgently?

Now, I'm sure that even 10 months is enough time to cut through some serious red tape. I'm also sure the post office isn't that slow. So, why would the government hold on to this 'critical' money when we were being held over a dark abyss by a 'stimulus' thread?

Howard Dean answered this question for us. Permanent Campaign mode is in full effect. That's right, the Democratic Party Strategy is to use legislation and policy to provide ongoing support to it's own campaign efforts. Dean's idea was exposed on video released earlier this week on Fox.

What does that mean? Well, quite simply the majority of the stimulus money will be spent in 2010, and likely with a concentration of spending in districts where Democratic Congress Members are in tough races. Let's just watch and see how this unfolds next year. Won't it be convenient for struggling politicians to be able to say, "Look, I am responsible for this project and these jobs. I fought for them to be in the stimulus, and here they are!"

So, isn't it good that the money creates jobs? Yes, but ask the right question: Would those people liked to have gone to work in 2009? Could the projects have been funded and begun a year earlier? If this is true, then many of us are struggling for an extra year so the timing can be just so... That's truly sad.

Let's close with another series of questions for you the reader or skeptic;
Did you get the impression that it was extremely urgent in January 2009 that the Stimulus Bill get passed?
Should the governments efforts to spend money and create jobs happen as fast as possible, especially in a time of crisis as they claimed?

Here's a deeper question... Should campaign contribution reform be looked at immediately after the unemployment crisis is addressed and include the elimination of such a potential plot?

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!
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