A congressional analyst says the findings of a new audit of the U.S. Census Bureau illustrate why the government cannot be trusted to stimulate the economy.

An audit performed by federal investigators finds that the U.S. Census Bureau wasted millions of dollars in preparation for the 2010 census. Thousands of temporary employees either picked up $300 checks without working one day or overbilled for travel costs. For example, 23 temporary census employees were paid for car mileage costs at 55 cents a mile, even though the number of miles they reported driving per hour exceeded the total number of hours they actually worked.

Brian Darling, director of Senate relations for The Heritage Foundation, says the waste, fraud, and abuse uncovered in the Census Bureau is another reminder that the federal government is not very good at running anything...