Obama Hopes ‘Recovery Summer’ Will Warm Voters to the Stimulus

By MICHAEL COOPER
NYT

The shovels are finally ready. But is anyone paying attention?

With a flurry of stimulus construction work getting under way about 16 months after the $787 billion package was signed into law, the Obama administration has billed the coming season “Recovery Summer.” This week, the administration issued a report on the stepped-up pace of work, rolled out Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to brief reporters on its progress, and President Obama went to Columbus, Ohio, on Friday to laud the 10,000th stimulus-financed highway project.

For all the talk of “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects when the stimulus first passed, construction projects made up a comparatively small slice of the package, and many required considerable administrative spade work — planning, permitting and contracting — before actual dirt could be turned. The stimulus initially injected money into the economy mainly through tax cuts and aid to states and individuals.

Now that the long-promised “road work ahead” is here, in big numbers, the question is whether voters will warm to the stimulus. The stakes for the Obama administration and Democrats are high, with the midterm elections approaching and many voters, Tea Party supporters and otherwise, incensed about spending.

(More here.)