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Richard Little, Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure policy director, on infrastructure projects and the government's stimulus packa...
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Up billions and trillions 2000 -- gargantuan stimulus package dedicated billions of dollars in taxpayer money to infrastructure projects across the country.
Now the idea was to fix our ailing roads and bridges while also putting people back to work.
But what the money well spent to what you just wasted joining me.
-- -- -- Directive the US he kissed -- institute for infrastructure.
Richard what what is the final -- prognosis or.
Or final.
Outcome of the stimulus because you don't really hear the White House brag about it too much anymore and it was almost a trillion dollars.
Well the whole package.
Can give -- the whole package was a trillion but there was just about a hundred billion.
Four infrastructure projects and and obviously.
You talk about inflation creep we talk about billions now like they're not much.
But the fact is in 2010.
A hundred billion dollars isn't that much.
It went for a lot of projects.
The emphasis at the time was that these projects were supposed to be shovel ready which is.
A phrase I would imagine the White House -- they'd come up with something else because the whole idea was to get money out the door.
And affected building -- high priority projects was really incidental the strategy the strategy was not designed to get the highest priority projects done.
The strategy was designed to get money out the door hopefully get people back to work hopefully get those dollars flowing through the system.
The other problem was it was like trying to pour.
A lot of water through a very small close it takes a long time to do that and that was the other I think there was more expectation there -- there should have been.
Yeah I think the president has actually admitted that the wanted to mistakes they if you mistake that he would admit to is.
Using the term shovel ready -- -- for -- Richard if felt like the whole thing with bait and switch in the first place in other words if you talk about.
I wanna I wanna read that distribute wealth in this country doesn't go down too well what have you start saying.
Shovel ready -- you talk about bridges falling down you think this was sincere effort in out of the gate.
To sincerely rehabilitate our infrastructure.
Well I can't get into the that this sincerity.
The effort.
I think when the president came into office.
Is that there was a confluence of three things that we a lot of people thought we were looking at a replay of the Great Depression.
And he was cast as the second coming of FDR that was going to do the new deal -- do right.
That.
Again I think it was unfortunate that all that rhetoric gotten this.
Mixed together because the fact of the matter is.
It didn't really address the priorities and lord knows we we have.
All kinds of things that need to be done but unfortunately the emphasis was put on getting the money out the door quickly.
Spending money and unfortunately it's not like giving somebody 20000 dollars and send them to Wal-Mart by some building supplies.
These projects are complicated they take a long time.
And there was no real programmatic thought that was holding that money together.
Why did it today Richard there's still talking about doubling down in infrastructure and things like that love to have you back and another time to discuss that a part of the pro or problem as well -- a little thank you very much.
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