Mayors Warned by Obama to Spend Wisely

"Sounding, at times, like a school teacher lecturing a classroom of mischievous students, President Barack Obama warned a gathering of mayors on Friday that the stimulus money they received better be spent wisely, transparently and without political motives.

There was a scolding tone to the speech. And implicit in it was the notion that local governments have failed in this task in the past.

In addition, Obama seems cognizant of the future traps and binds that the stimulus represents. For better or worse his administration owns the economic recovery package. So while each job saved or created can be chalked up as a political success, so too will each report of corruption, misappropriation, or the lining of pockets with federal largesse be treated as an indictment of the president's big-money proposal."