That idea may be gaining support among Republicans on Capitol Hill whose "stop the spending" plea is resonating with millions of Americans angered by the Obama Democrats' spending spree on make-work, pork-barrel projects that will enlarge the federal deficit but employ few workers.
The economy is clearly showing signs of life that is expected to bear more growth in the third and fourth quarter, even though only $44 billion of the stimulus money has been spent so far. That begs the question: Why spend 70 percent of the money next year when the recovery will be fully under way?
"If there is any way we can claw some of it back, it makes a whole lot of sense to reduce our debt than spending it as quickly as we can," said Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
The chances of that idea being adopted in this Democratic Congress are slim to none because much, if not most, of the money isn't for any short-term stimulus, although it was originally sold as that. It's part and parcel of the Democrats' agenda to expand hundreds of federal grant programs for their favored special-interest constituencies.
"Part of the $800 billion wasn't really temporary stimulus," said economist Alice Rivlin, former budget director in the Clinton White House. "It was investments in infrastructure, education, health, information technology, etc., that we need to have a more productive economy in the longer run. The case for these investments isn't affected by quick recovery, even if it happens," Rivlin told me.
There has been an enormous amount of exaggeration by the Obama administration about the number of jobs being created by the spending stimulus. But the American people seem to understand that Obama's massive spending scheme isn't performing as he said it would and that it should be stopped.
The Federal Reserve expects the recession to end sometime later this year, but the stimulus program will continue on -- spending the lion's share of its funds in 2010 and on into 2011 for no legitimate reason.
"If the purpose of the money is to end the recession, then once the recession ends, there will be no justification for not taking the money back. The entire purpose of the expenditures would have ceased to exist," said Brian Riedl, chief budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
We are fast approaching the point where it will be time to pull the plug on what has turned out to be a non-stimulus spending program that has done more harm than good.