Government Spends More to Show How it's Spending

Meredith Jessup | July 09, 2009 6:50 PM

Smartronix, Inc. has been tapped by the General Services Administration (GSA) to spruce up the government's stimulus money-tracking website Recovery.gov. The agency awarded the $9.5 million government contract to Smartronix late Wednesday on behalf of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board responsible for tracking spending under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Think $9.5 million is a little excessive for redesigning a website? Smartronix is also slated to receive an

additional $8.5 million for website "maintenance" through January 2014.

Spokesman Ed Pound says the website, dubbed "Recovery 2.0," will be a "highly functional" website and rejects any suggestion that the government may be overpaying. Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner reports that similar government websites have been developed in the past for significantly less money, costing as little as $10,000.

In summary, American taxpayers are being tapped to pay $18 million dollars for a website that already exists; a website created to report on how the government is spending our money. Oh, the irony!