Spending Obama's Budget Efficiently and Legally

(MoneyWatch)  President Obama has planned a huge expansion of Federal spending over the next two years. First the stimulus bill releases almost one trillion dollars into the economy between now and 2012. Then his Fiscal Year 2010 budget will be about four trillion dollars. A concern with all that spending will be whether it can be spent properly and ethically. In the past, as this editorial in The Boston Globe highlights, the Federal government has not done well in throwing large amounts of money at problems. Katrina for example showed that money given out by the Feds directly or spent through contractors had the potential for fraud and waste. Locally in Alabama we had a woman convicted of fraud recently for falsely getting Katrina benefits. The Washington Post also writes that the Federal government has a hard time keeping track of who is getting contracts. It seems that companies who were banned for fraud or malfeasance are still being awarded new contracts. The other issue that Obama faces is Congress. Many of our legislators tend to direct money to where they want, not necessarily where it should go or be best used. These types of issues will bedevil the administration's funding plans and its execution.