A Step Toward Recovery

After months of planning, weeks spent in the House and Senate and several additions and deletions, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama. Among many provisions, the Act is designed to create or save over 3.5 billion jobs, invest $150 billion in new infrastructure and provide an $800 “Making Work Pay” tax credit to 129 million working households.

Most importantly, the Act will “require unprecedented levels of transparency, oversight and accountability.” To accomplish that goal, Obama created a new website, Recovery.gov that lets “you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going.” Obama identified five objectives for Federal agencies to ensure that:

• Recovery funds are awarded and distributed in a prompt, fair, and reasonable manner
• The recipients and uses of all recovery funds are transparent to the public, and that the public benefits of these funds are reported clearly, accurately and in a timely manner
• Recovery funds are used for authorized purposes and every step is taken to prevent instances of fraud, waste, error and abuse
• Projects funded under the recovery legislation avoid unnecessary delays and cost overrun
• Programs meet specific goals and targets, and contribute to improved performance on broad economic indicators

Obama told Federal employees, “We cannot overstate the importance of this effort. We are asking the American people to trust their government with an unprecedented level of funding to address the economic emergency. In return, we must prove to them that their dollars are being invested in initiatives and strategies that make a difference in their communities and across the country.”
After signing the bill in Denver, Colorado, Obama said it had been put together without the usual earmarks and pork, and he wanted the American people to hold the Federal government accountable for how the money is spent. The new website provides a place where citizens can leave comments about the ARRA or tell a story about how the act worked – or didn’t work — for them.
After last week’s poor showing of transparency at Obama’s first press conference, it’s encouraging to see Recovery.gov and the Administration’s commitment to transparency, oversight and accountability. However, the website doesn’t have much content yet, so let’s hope that it will follow through on everything Obama is promising it will be – sooner rather than later.

February 18, 2009
by Anna Lafferre

Posted in Performance Wire