These days, it's hard to go a day without hearing about the next increment of federal economic stimulus spending:
* Idaho received $11.4 million in late June, an installment in a federally funded program to bankroll energy conservation and renewable energy projects.
* Valley Regional Transit is expecting $8.5 million, which will help the agency purchase 25 clean-burning buses.
* The Idaho Shakespeare Festival will receive $50,000, which ensures that the company will present a four-show lineup in 2010.
And the list goes on. And, in the months ahead, the list is only going to grow. So it makes absolutely no sense to contemplate another economic stimulus bill.
Let's focus first on how we're spending $787 billion – including a billion or so dollars in Idaho. This should be an obvious and intuitive first priority, yet there is a growing sentiment that all this economy needs is one more stimulus plan.
If ever there was an ill-timed idea to unite supporters and opponents of the $787 billion stimulus plan, this should be it.
President Obama, defending a plan that passed just five months ago, wisely used his weekend radio address to dismiss the idea of a sequel. The stimulus, he says, is working as planned and simply needs time.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Idaho Statesman.