You may have noticed that the figure used for total Recovery Act spending has metamorphosed from the $787 billion reported last year to $862 billion in reports this year.
Why the change?
The increased price tag comes from greater-than-anticipated spending in three areas of the stimulus that are open-ended: Higher unemployment has led to an additional $21 billion spent on unemployment benefits; Food stamps are costing $34 billion more than estimated and the Build America Bond program cost estimates have increased by $26 billion.
This information comes from the Government Accountability Office’s “One Year Later” examination of the stimulus, released last week.
The Recovery Act 