The Unstimulating Calm Before the Stimulus

O Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences!

More evidence, courtesy of Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot at NRO, that human nature never changes. A viewer who heads up a large medical institution e-mailed:

I am in charge of several large construction projects that are already budgeted and ready to go . . . in effect they are “shovel ready” . . . however, as soon as the stimulus bill was signed into law they all came to a screeching halt. They’ve been put on hold in hopes that the Federal Government will pay for them.

Unfortunately no one knows how much money our institution will be allotted, and how exactly we’re supposed to apply for said money. Meanwhile, these projects will just sit and wait, just in case. My fear is that we won’t find out if they’ll be government funded until sometime in the fall, which will be in the next financial year, and then there will no longer be funds in our budget for these projects.

I suspect that this thinking is not unique to my employer. I’m sure that other institutions plus state and local governments are all putting projects on hold in hopes that they can get someone else to pay the bills. So, from what I have seen; the “Stimulus” has resulted in a slowdown in the economy.

That's why Porkulus was so much more appropriate. Everyone would rather get a freebie from Uncle Sugar than have to repay for these projects through normal means.

Get in line boys. It may be a long wait.