Your memory is accurate but selective.
Remember the government shutdown and the related cuts and compromises?
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/10/the-costs-of-the-government-shutdown/

No, not selective. I remember the government shutdown but I did not associate that with stimulus spending on shovel ready projects. At the time, I thought that it was much ado about nothing.

Personally, I like this link better:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/10/03/why-did-the-u-s-government-shut-down-in-october-2013/#67ee1f53527f