Pirate's Cove

They just can’t help themselves

The massive economic stimulus package President Obama pushed through Congress last year is coming in on time and under budget – and with strikingly few claims of fraud or abuse – according to a White House report to be released Friday.

Shocking! The White House giving itself and A+ for legislation that Americans are vastly against, was the last straw that led to the rise of the TEA Party, has not kept unemployment below 8% as promised, and, oh, look, fraud and abuse claims

• Federal investigators have received more than 730 allegations of waste or fraud in stimulus act funding so far, have canceled the contracts of some bad actors and have sent a couple of dozen cases to the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and prosecutors.
• Already, federal investigators are finding evidence of bid rigging in Recovery Act contracts for the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, CNN has learned.
• Weeks after rampant fraud was exposed in a welfare program to make low-income houses energy efficient in Wisconsin, a similar example of widespread corruption has surfaced in Texas.

Those are just three out of tons of examples, not too mention that the entire Stimulus was basically a fraud.

By the end of September, the administration had spent 70 percent of the act’s original $787 billion, which met a White House goal of quickly pumping money into the nation’s ravaged economy, the report says. The administration also met nearly a dozen deadlines set by Congress for getting money out the door.

Supposedly, the recession ended in June 2009, before the majority of Stimulus spending even got going, yet, even if We The People believe that the recession ended then, we see a general malaise within the nation, which the Stimulus failed to alleviate in the 13 months since the supposed end of the recession. Unfortunately, not everyone is capable or qualified to build a road. Or road sign touting the project as part of Obama’s (outsourced) Stimulus plan.

Many prominent economists agree with that assessment. The CBO has forecast that the package may be on track to meet the administration’s goal of preserving 3.5 million jobs by the end of the year.

Interesting that that number has not changed. If the Stimulus was so Sharktopus awesome, why didn’t it create even more jobs? Of course, as the Stimulus ends, so many of those jobs created/saved will go away, since there is no more money. States are in dire straights: with so many people out of work, not buying property (homes, boats, cars are the biggies), and concerned, they see their revenue from income tax, property tax, and sales tax dropping through the floor. So they can’t pay to keep all those workers, such as teachers, police officers, and fire fighters.

Congressional Republicans and many conservatives challenge those claims, arguing that the stimulus package led to record budget deficits while doing little to improve the economy. With the unemployment rate stuck at 9.6 percent, polls show that about two-thirds of voters agree with that view.

The one little bright spot of reality in what is essentially a press release story. If the Stimulus was so great, why is unemployment so high? Why is spending down? Why do Republican voters have a 20 point lead over Democrats on enthusiasm for voting? Why is U.S. satisfaction among adults at 19%? Even Democrats are worried (39%). Why do 63% of respondents see the country as heading down the wrong track?

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU. Re-Change 2010!