Title: Which States Squandered Their Stimulus Money?
Headings: Which States Squandered Their Stimulus Money?
Which States Squandered Their Stimulus Money?
David A. Graham
Mandel Ngan / Getty Images

Content: So why not tie funding to results? “ As Congress is the overseer of responsibly spending federal taxpayer money, there ought to be some requirement of results,” says Geoff Anderson, president of Smart Growth. Approaching infrastructure policy from a jobs-first angle has drawbacks, too, says Nicole Gelinas, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a right-leaning think-tank. It’s important to give states some leeway, she says, or else we risk ending up with superfluous projects—light-rail lines to nowhere instead of the fabled bridge to nowhere. “ They say public transport creates more jobs per dollar spent versus new things,” Gelinas says. “ I’m all for public transport where there’s the density, but I don’t think the emphasis should be on job creation. It should be, does the economy need this?” With President Obama calling for further transportation funding in his State of the Union address last month, the federal government may soon be writing more checks to the states. Although Republicans have pledged to cut spending, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who has spoken about the poor state of the nation’s infrastructure, is likely to get on board. Infrastructure spending has traditionally been popular with voters.