You’ve heard a few governors criticize the stimulus as “wasteful spending”. But Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is so determined the stimulus will work, he wants mayors and other elected officials from across his state to see for themselves.
It's Maryland's response to the question: "where do I get my stimulus?" Come to a workshop, state officials say, and they'll tell you. At one of the workshops, we were surprised to find a standing room only crowd jammed into a packed meeting at the state capital... all vying for a piece of the stimulus action.
That’s where we met Jim Eberhart, the mayor of the small town of Perryville, MD (pop. 5000). He has a sewer project he calls “shovel ready.” The mayor just needs the money.
Governor O’Malley says the open process is a response to Republican critics who’ve blasted the stimulus as wasteful spending. In fact, O’Malley says his state could use a second stimulus.
Psst… don’t tell Washington… where talk of a stimulus 2.0 has slowed a bit.