Debate over the $800-plus billion stimulus package has moved beyond Washington, D.C., into the heart of the country and scrutiny on the Internet.
President Barack Obama in Elkhart, Ind., said if Congress doesn’t act quickly, the nation will slip into a crisis so deep that “we may be unable to reverse it,” reports .
Yet, moving too quickly “could end up wasting billions of dollars,” according to a Washington Post article that questions the government’s ability to manage the money.
The Sunlight Foundation, which says its goal is to make the workings of Congress and the federal government more transparent, for all legislation, including the stimulus bill, to “be posted online for at least 72 hours before final consideration.”
The Huffington Post, a left-leaning website, suggests its readers and asks, “Can you find any examples of wasteful spending or corporate giveaways that aren’t stimulative?”
, the website for the presidential campaign that is now the “Organizing for America” platform run by the Democratic National Committee, is asking participants to .
A note e-mailed with that link claims that “Americans have organized Economic Recovery House Meetings in all 50 states — including 382 in California, 255 in Florida, 115 in Ohio, 199 in New York, 105 in Washington, and 149 in Texas. That’s more than 3,587 meetings in 1,579 cities and 429 congressional districts.”
The website also includes state-by-state fact sheets, claiming the benefits of the stimulus spending, including
