Stimulus: Make Haste Slowly

Far be it from skeptics of the federal government's massive stimulus bill to fault the commonwealth of Virginia for not cutting in line to grab a slice of the pork. That Virginia has "fallen far behind other states in putting to work" stimulus money for road construction, as Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar noted recently, is not the end of the world.

Oberstar made that observation in a letter to Gov. Tim Kaine, whom he urged -- "strongly" -- to "refocus your efforts to implement the Recovery Act and use the available funds to create and sustain family-wage jobs. These jobs are critical to Virginia's and the nation's long-term economic growth."

Virginia officials say they are moving slowly out of an abundance of caution. "Following a public comment period encouraging citizen participation," Kaine writes in a rebuttal letter, "we have used a transparent and collaborative process to" pick which projects to fund, and so on.

Good.

The stimulus measure has led to a deplorable amount of WFA -- waste, fraud, and abuse -- along with a heaping helping of dubious programs that will displace more economically worthwhile spending in the private sector. Federal officials are no doubt eager to churn as much of the deficit-financed lucre through the economy as possible before November, so incumbents can point with pride at all the jobs they ostensibly created. It's pretty clear the jobs they care most about are their own.

Gov. Tim Kaine, who doubles as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, might have joined in the campaign to spend the stimulus money in wanton disregard of the truth that motion and progress are two different things. He deserves credit for doing precisely the opposite.