I’m in the insulation business and retrofit hundreds of homes per month. We received RFP’s (requests for proposals) for weatherization programs and the paperwork compliance is so silly that we refused to supply bids for it. We would have to comply with dozens of crazy paperwork rules and have to pay Davis-Bacon wages for the crews. A job that we can do privately for $500 would cost $1,000 or more due to the irrational requirements. Classic example of well-intentioned government gone wrong.
Most of the money that the government has spent has gone to local governments who are supposedly setting up departments to administer the weatherization programs. So, in other words, the stimulus money went into the black hole of local governments, never to be seen or heard from again.
Much of my professional career has been in purchasing and inventory management. Briefly I worked for government procurement (while putting myself through college) and I've worked for companies who supplied the government as well as ones that wanted to but were put off by the mounds of regulations.
I don't know if you recall a big deal about $300 hammers a good number of years ago. The way that happens is regulations. To buy something a description of it has to be developed. True to government form, a very specific description is required. So that hammer will end up being specified not just by it's weight but also by length, type of wood in handle if it's wood and a precise metallurgy. It's that last bit that really runs the cost up because the government will require quality control checks at some frequency...maybe one every 10k hammers made or something. Metallurgy tests aren't cheap...and those records need to be kept for like 7 years, and they need to be reported, and if a slight deviancy is discovered the lot needs to be returned or excepted by the government. It becomes so expensive to deal with the government that most companies won't do it...which means there are only a few possible sources...which reduces competition.
Most of the money that the government has spent has gone to local governments who are supposedly setting up departments to administer the weatherization programs. So, in other words, the stimulus money went into the black hole of local governments, never to be seen or heard from again.
I've said it before and it remains true...government is the worst conduit of resources to achieve any desired result.