No sale. Economic stimulus is completely nonfunctional when the lead time is in the "many years". The term "shovel-ready" was thrown around a couple of years ago for a reason.

Of course, I suppose you could just hope that you start planning for the project in this downturn, but it'll only start in the next one....

Work in the Central Valley, the part of California that was hit the hardest by the recent economic downturn, is expected to start this year.

[1] http://www.hsr.ca.gov/Programs/Statewide_Rail_Modernization/...

For the economic downturn that happened five years ago. The fact that we still need "stimulus" is itself a pretty powerful argument against its effectiveness. Our new economic innovation, making sure the economy stays down as long as our incredible sluggishness in "stimulus".