Biden: Stimulus program a success

WASHINGTON - Vice President Biden yesterday proclaimed success beyond expectations for the government's $787 billion economic-stimulus program, but his glowing assessment overlooks many of the program's problems, including delays in releasing money, questionable spending priorities, and project choices that are under investigation.

In a speech aimed squarely at Republican criticism and public skepticism over the program's effectiveness, Biden said accomplishments in the last 100 days provided proof of promises kept when he and President Obama began rolling out the plan earlier this year. It was approved by Congress in February.

"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 the huge spending program has delivered real economic recovery at a time when the nation's unemployment rate threatens to top 10 percent.

Through Aug. 31, the government had made available - that is, put funds in place for disbursement - $62.5 billion of the stimulus money and actually paid out $12.92 billion, according to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which oversees the program.

Biden pointed in his speech yesterday to more than 2,200 highway projects funded by the program, but he did not mention the growing frustration among contractors that infrastructure money is only trickling out and thus far has not delivered the needed boost in jobs.

The Labor Department said yesterday that the number of people receiving jobless benefits was 6.23 million in the latest week, up 92,000 from the previous week. A bright spot, though, was the number claiming benefits for the first time: These initial claims fell 4,000, to 570,000.

First-time claims have trended down in recent months and are well below the recession's high of 674,000 hit in the first week in April. But they still are well above the 325,000 mark considered a sign of a healthy labor market. The government will report the August unemployment figures today.

Biden noted 192 airport projects targeted with stimulus money, but he did not mention the investigation launched after a federal watchdog raised concerns about how the projects were picked.

Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel said last month that he would 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 did not meet the grant criteria and approved projects at four airports with a history of mismanaging federal grants.

Biden praised the more than 2,400 military construction projects paid for with stimulus money, but he ignored the millions of dollars in savings the Defense Department lost because it has not competitively bid many of the jobs.

He took a more cautious approach when asked if his declaration of stimulus success means Americans can now rethink the common view that government is inefficient.

"I think it's too early to make that decision, to be very blunt about it," he said.

And Biden did not attempt to credit the stimulus alone for signs of broad economic recovery, saying it was one of several government actions that are helping.