Using actual stimulus spending data from Recovery.gov, my colleague Jerry Brito and Eileen Norcross of the Mercatus Center have launched the new version of Stimulus Watch.
The website, unlike the administration’s one, allows you to search for contracts and grant awards by state and city, by awarding agency, or by recipient. And they will even have a keyword search soon. The really cool aspect of the site is that once you find an award that interests you, you can vote on whether you are satisfied with it or not, add to the wiki description of the project, and join in the conversation about the award in the comments section.
With this website, it will become obvious which contracts are bogus, which ones are wasteful, or which ones simply don’t exist!
Back in February, Brito and Norcross made the list of “shovel-ready projects” available in the same way and it proved to be a very valuable tool in exposing the ridicule of these projects (see this for instance). This version promises to do even more.
Check it out and be ready to laugh and cry at the same time when see that your tax dollars are used to pay for picnic tables or replace the motor on a boat.