3

Environment/Energy

Given Time, More Fraud Appears

I expect we’ll be revisiting this many times. The Washington Post reported a few weeks ago:

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.

Coming barely a month before November’s midterm elections, which will determine whether Democrats retain control of Congress, the report challenges public perceptions of the stimulus aid as slow-moving and wasteful – an image that has fueled voter anger with the dominant party. Even some former skeptics who predicted that the money would lead to rampant abuse now acknowledge that the program could serve as a model for improving efficiency in government.

Then we heard a week later that more than $22 million in stimulus funds were sent to dead or incarcerated people. Now today, there’s this from the Washington Examiner‘s Byron York:

Projects to weatherize homes are a key part of the Obama administration’s fusion of stimulus spending and the green agenda. But a new report by the Department of Energy has found serious problems in stimulus-funded weatherization work — problems so severe that they have resulted in homes that are not only not more energy efficient but are actually dangerous for people to live in….

The work was not just wasteful; it was dangerous. Department inspectors found “heat barriers around chimneys that had not been installed, causing fire hazards.” They found “a furnace [that] had not been vented properly.” The found “a shut-off valve that had not been installed on a gas stove.” And they found “carbon monoxide detectors, smoke alarms and fire extinguishers had not been installed as planned.”

And then there was fraud. At ten of the 15 homes visited, Department inspectors found examples in which “a contractor had installed a 125,000 BTU boiler, but had billed CEDA for a 200,000 BTU boiler costing an estimated $1,000. more.” Another contractor “billed for almost four times the amount of drywall actually installed.” And another “installed 12 light bulbs but had billed CEDA for 20.” (The Department found that CEDA paid almost three times the retail price for each light bulb.) “Billing issues appeared to be pervasive,” the report concludes.

The department’s report was focused on (surprise!) Cook County, Illinois, where the weatherization program received $91 million.

— Paul Chesser

  • Anne Phelps

    The only thing that surprises me is why Americans keep tolerating this abuse? Corruption continues because NO one does anything about it. “Just vote,” they say. LOL, that’s the biggest joke of all. So are dead people, illegal aliens, and criminals. Silly voters…everyone one of us knows they lie, steal and rig voting machines. Come on Patriots! What part of the Left’s agenda do we want to keep in place, and why don’t we do as the Constitution says by taking back our government? I’m for revival, removal, repeal and restoration. What are you for?

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention Given Time, More Fraud Appears -- Topsy.com

  • http://justinkredible1.blogspot.com/ Justin S

    Unfortuantely, fraud and abuses of power go completely unchecked. Everyone gives lipservice to ending corruption and abuse, but all they really mean is that they want to point it out in the “other” political party. The Republicans had years to reign in spending, which they failed to do; to address healthcare, which they failed to do; and to focus on jobs and economy, which they failed to do. And so, a cry of the dissent was heard and the Democrats rode that wave until it has now come crashing back down on them. And now, the cries of dissent are louder than ever, and are being heard by another group, the Tea Party. A group that started as a fiscal watch-dog group, but immediately adopted all of the GOP’s stands on religion, social agendas, and prejudice.
    The American people just seem to keep flipping the same old coin looking for an answer, when the problem is that the coin is corrupt. It’s time for voices that actually reflect the desires of the average American citizen instead of left-wing, and right-wing extremists.
    This will be a terrible election. Our choices are socialism or religious persecution. As a libertarian, I stand nearly equally opposed to both.