Stimulus Funds Going to Slashed Programs

From USAToday.com:

More than $3.5 billion in economic stimulus funds are going to programs that President Obama wants to eliminate or trim in his new budget.

The President released his budget this month and a USA TODAY review of stimulus spending reports shows the budget recommends getting rid of Army Corps of Engineers' drinking-water projects, which received $200 million in stimulus funds, and a U.S. Department of Agriculture flood-prevention program, which received $290 million.

The administration's budget plan says the corps and USDA programs are inefficient and duplicate similar but more effective work by other agencies. The proposed cuts indicate the programs “shouldn't have gotten money from the $862 billion stimulus package”, said Tom Schatz of the non-partisan budget watchdog Citizens Against Government Waste.

"It's certainly inconsistent, and it would have been better to have this realization a year ago," Schatz said. "But if inconsistency means they're going to cut the programs, it's OK. It's the other way around that bothers us."