Arizona told to speed up tracking of stimulus

One of the great things that I see coming from the legislation surrounding the new stimulus package is that we are committing ourselves back to accountability for our actions. I know in my home state that the local government has done a very poor job of releasing its books for public record and indicating how the taxpayer money is being spent. Instead of allowing such behavior to continue, I think Obama's plan for increased transparency will help Arizona and states around the country improve in their reporting techniques and become more efficient overall in their dealings. I was checking out recovery.gov to see exactly where the money is supposed to be spent and it is obvious to me that the President really feels like it is his duty to ensure the public becomes knowledgeable about the government's actions. Even though the government's website only details how the money is supposed to be spent, I still feel this is important because this way that everyday citizens can look at the direction being proposed for their state. With Medicare and education serving as the top two areas being funding in Arizona, I hope that these benefits can be accrued early enough to actually make an impact. It seems like the government has left states to deal with how they spend some of the money directed towards these goals and that is where we need to increase the tracking of stimulus dollars being spent by states so that we can determine if it is being spent properly.