The Obama Economic Stimulus (Editorial)

President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed economic stimulus package has caught the attention of business, which in normal times leans toward more conservative Republican ideas.

But these are not normal times, and while not all of Obama’s proposals about increasing spending on infrastructure needs have been disclosed, business knows that if the recession proves to be prolonged, the kind of stimulus Obama is seeking will be needed.

What Obama is proposing is the largest public works program since the interstate highway program of the 1950s. It is expected to have a hefty price tag of between $500 billion and $700 billion. The president-elect hopes his plan can create 2.5 million jobs in two years.

It may not look exactly like the New Deal efforts undertaken by President Franklin Roosevelt in an effort to restart the economy during the Great Depression, but it will probably be a close cousin.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers have jumped on the infrastructure bandwagon, saying federal funding for “shovel-ready” projects is the best way to stimulate the flagging economy.

We, too, have argued for infrastructure spending on the basis that it would create jobs, boost construction and put money into working Americans’ hands, Americans who then would spend more, which in turn would help retailers and state budgets.

Obama emphasized that the stimulus shouldn’t mean mindless spending. “We are not going to simply write a bunch of checks and let them be spent without some very clear criteria as to how this money is going to benefit the overall economy and put people back to work,” the president-elect said. Spending will be based on what is “going to make the biggest difference in the economy and what will have some long-term benefits.”

Obama gave a general idea of where the money would go – projects such as rebuilding roads, modernizing schools, placing computers in classrooms, expanding Internet access to rural areas, improving public buildings’ energy efficiency and modernizing hospitals by giving them access to electronic medical records.

There’s little dispute that the nation’s infrastructure is in bad shape. We think spending to repair and improve it should be a priority.