In a Wall Street Journal op-ed today, Reason.TV’s editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie writes that: “George W. Bush has certainly taught us that government really can’t be trusted to be very effective, or open, or smart. He has also taught us that government can always get bigger on every level and every way.” Unsurprisingly, it is now set to grow even more. Even with President Obama’s oft-stated commitment to eliminating wasteful government, the proposed stimulus bill will grow the size of government not just by the massive spending, but by dozens of new programs that increase bureaucracy and the potential for future spending: New Program After School Feeding Program ($726 Million) Wireless and Broadband Deployment Grants ($2.825 Billion) DOE Energy Innovative Technology Research Program ($8 Billion) Subsidies for SBA Direct and Guaranteed Loans ($426 Million) Green Jobs, Health Care and Emerging Industry Training Grants ($750 Million) Youth Summer Jobs Program Grants ($1.2 Billion) Preventative Wellness Trust ($3 Billion) Grants to replace State reductions in school funding ($39 Billion) Bonuses for Local Schools meeting required education goals ($15 Billion) Grants to to replace State reductions in local government services ($25 Billion) School Construction for K-12 ($14 Billion) School Construction for Higher Education Institutions ($6 Billion) Health Information Technology ($2 Billion) Comparative Effectiveness Research ($1.1 Billion) Energy Retrofit Grants for Elderly, Disablity and Sec. 8 Housing ($2.5 Billion) Neighborhood stabilization grants for Non-profits ($750 Million) Broadband Inventory (unfunded) Impact Aid School Construction* ($100 Million) Charter School Construction* ($25 Million) Broadband Data and Deployment Grants* ($350 Million) NSF Advanced Research Facilities Modernization Grants* ($200 Million) Waste Energy Recovery Incentive Program * ($500 Million) Grants to Institutions for Energy Sustainability and Efficiency* ($1 Billion) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants* ($3.5 Billion) Transportation Electrification (EISA 2007 sec. 131)* ($200 Million) Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Grant Program* ($400 Million) Advanced Battery Manufacturing Grants* ($1 Billion) Advanced Battery Loan Guarantee Program* ($1 Billion) Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (Smart Grid)* ($4.5 Billion) Institutional Loan Guarantee Program* ($500 Million) Energy Advanced Research Project Agency* ($400 Million) Federal Government Vehicle Fleet Replacement* ($600 Million) Washington, D.C. National Mall Revitalization* ($200 Million) Total Spending, New Programs: $136,752,000,000 *Funding for a program previously authorized by Congress, though unfunded until now