In a remarkable (and good) speech to mayors, President Obama said this:
"There is an unprecedented responsibility and accountability on all our parts. The American people are watching. They need this plan to work. They expect to see the money that they’ve earned… I want to be clear about this: we cannot tolerate business as usual. We will use the new tools that the recovery act gives us to watch the taxpayer’s money with more rigor and transparency than ever… If a federal agency proposes a project that wastes that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it and put a stop to it. I want everybody here to be on notice that if a local government does the same, I will call them out on it."
Amen and amen. But I must ask: Is "waste" really the standard for determining what gets spent out of the "stimulus" bill? And, will the president really "call out" and "stop" wasteful and porky mayors, governors and senators in his own party?
I hope so because that really would be a change for the better. He can start with the mystery train nobody knew they wanted — the bullet train from Las Vegas to Anaheim.
