Despite Obama's recent push to accelerate Recovery spending from the federal level, it's important to remember that much of the Recovery is going to be driven by the states. A lot of the first wave of spending is dependent on states simply requesting their allotted Recovery funds.

For example, today, word comes that Virginia is the last state to request its Transportation Recovery funds, meaning that every state has now applied for that pot of money, the first step in the spending process. And a check of education funds shows that more states are receiving Recovery funding, the second step of the process. Twenty-nine states (and DC and Puerto Rico) have started receiving their State Fiscal Stabilization Funds, which is a large ($48 billion large) part of the Recovery funds allocated to the Education Department. This number is up from 13 states only a month ago, and with other states like South Carolina getting their fiscal houses in order, it shouldn't be too much longer before all 50 states have applied.

While these two factoids are good indicators that the pace of the Recovery is indeed picking up, they also serve as reminders of the inertia inherent in any project of this size.