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His glowing assessment of stimulus success overlooks setbacks.
Vice President Joe Biden listens to a question as he speaks about the economy and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Thursday at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
AP PHOTO
WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed success beyond expectations Thursday for the $787 billion economic stimulus, but his glowing assessment overlooks many of the program’s problems, including delays in releasing money, questionable spending priorities and project picks that are under investigation.
In a speech aimed squarely at Republican criticism and public skepticism over the program’s effectiveness, Biden said accomplishments over the past 100 days provide proof of promises kept when he and President Barack Obama began rolling out the plan earlier this year.
“The Recovery Act is doing more, faster and more efficiently and more effectively than most people expected,” he said.
The stimulus program includes tax cuts, billions for Medicaid and unemployment benefits, and a massive federal investment in education, environmental projects, technology and traditional infrastructure work. The administration has struggled to make the case that huge spending has delivered real economic recovery at a time when the nation’s unemployment rate threatens to top 10 percent.
Biden, Obama’s chief stimulus cheerleader, proudly pointed to more than 2,200 highway projects Thursday funded by the program, but didn’t mention the growing frustration among contractors that infrastructure money is only trickling out and thus far hasn’t delivered the needed boost in jobs.
“It is difficult to understand why more communities aren’t moving to put their stimulus funds to work while they are experiencing these kinds of job losses,” Stephen E. Sandherr, head of the Associated General Contractors of America, said in a statement this week. “Coping with the red tape required by the stimulus ought to be worth it to help put neighbors and friends back to work.”
The problem is with money for building projects, not roads and highways, Sandherr said.
Biden noted 192 airport jobs targeted with stimulus money, but made no reference to the investigation launched after a federal watchdog raised concerns about how the projects were selected.
Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel said last month he will examine the Federal Aviation Administration’s process for selecting programs for the $1.1 billion in grant money. His announcement came after his office discovered that the Obama administration used stimulus money to pay for 50 airport projects that didn’t meet the grant criteria.