In politics, a shovel ready construction project (usually larger-scale infrastructure) is where planning and engineering is advanced enough that—with sufficient funding—construction can begin within a very short time. The term was popularized by then-U.S. president-elect Obama in 2008.
In 2010, then-U.S. president Obama declared he had come to realize that there is "no such thing as shovel-ready projects."[1][2]
He realized too late that "there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects" when it comes to public works