When the federal government faced strong criticism in late 2005 for its response to Hurricane Katrina, the solution seemed to be to throw a lot of money at the problem — quickly. As a result, we now know that waste, fraud and abuse consumed tens of billions of taxpayers' dollars.

Even during normal times, government spending is subject to waste and fraud, mostly because it involves spending other people's money. Under emergency conditions, the risk for waste only increases.

As Congress works on a compromise economic stimulus package priced at $800 billion or so, there already are warnings that spending so much money so fast will result in waste, fraud and abuse. It's particularly frustrating that the experts not only predict waste and abuse, but they also say there is little that can be done about it, given the already overburdened oversight bureaucracy in the federal government.

While there is broad, but not universal, agreement that a big infusion of government spending can help revive the economy, there also is frustration that Congress cannot resist directing some of that spending to benefit favored constituencies.

At Monday night's news conference, President Barack Obama said the stimulus package was not perfect, but he maintained that it contained "not a single pet project" and "not a single earmark." Media fact checkers confirm that there are no traditional earmarks, but they do note spending that appears to be very narrowly targeted.

Beyond Katrina and the tens of billions of dollars in no-bid contracts, there is a history of massive government spending programs being plagued by waste and abuse. The Bush administration was criticized for waste and poor oversight of billions of dollars for homeland security following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Because of the criticism over some arguably wasteful spending in the two different stimulus bills passed in Congress, there will be much attention paid to the compromise plan that will be sent to the president.

Also, with so much public debate over questionable or non-job-creating spending, and the potential for waste and abuse, there will be an intense focus by the media and others on how and where the stimulus money is spent.

A few media groups already have announced plans to offer Web sites that track stimulus spending. And, following through on his campaign pledge for greater transparency in government, the Obama administration plans a Web site that will offer project details, including the rationale for the spending and even names of the state or local officials backing the project. Obama also promises Internet access to periodic audits of stimulus projects by the inspector general and the General Accountability Office.

Such an intense focus on tracking spending from the stimulus bill, and the probability of wasteful or questionable spending being exposed, should help curb waste and abuse.

Obama has been making a strong case for a massive government stimulus to help turn around the slumping economy. He also says that while not a perfect bill, this spending plan will be a break from "business as usual," in which members of Congress direct federal tax dollars to pet projects or favored constituencies.

By vowing greater transparency and promising easy public access to accountability reports tracking stimulus spending, Obama is putting his credibility to an early, and challenging, test.