I just posted an article titled “Economic Recovery versus Red Tape” on the blog link on this site, and it brought this expression to mind. Expressing astonishment about absurdity by saying “Great Scott!” is a logical reaction to reading how government regulations impede projects that create jobs while the government is saying private enterprises need to create more jobs. The origin of the expression is apparently not certain, but there are several hints that it refers to an actual person from the Civil War era. World Wide Words concludes that the person was probably General Winfield Scott, who was too large in his later years (300 pounds) to ride a horse.