Thread: 'We the People' demanding stimulus audit

'We the People' demanding stimulus audit
GOP's Joe Wilson launches effort after millions allocated to imaginary districts
Posted: November 20, 2009
11:55 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A congressman who famously shouted "You Lie" to Barack Obama when the president was addressing Congress to lobby for his health care proposal now is assembling a petition demanding the truth about the billions of dollars of federal stimulus money being spent.

"The Obama administration recently launched a website at www.recovery.gov to track stimulus spending, fraud, and abuse, but unfortunately the website seems to be its very own worst offender," said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., in an announcement about his plans.

"It reports millions of dollars spent to create jobs in congressional districts that do not exist," he said.

"Yes. Fake jobs in fake districts."

There have been a multitude of reports about the "mistakes" appearing on the government website. The Las Vegas Review-Journal, for example, found $7.7 million allocated from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act directed toward the state's 32nd, 22nd, 9th and 25th congressional districts.

The districts, however, don't exist.

"I think it is a serious problem," James Scarantino, a former attorney for the Ameican Civil Liberties Union, told the newspaper. "The president said his administration was going tot rack every last penny of the stimulus. We're now into the second or third round of reports, and every one of them has massive errors in it."

ABC News tracked "mistakes" involving hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide, as has the Associated Press.

White House officials have downplayed the problem, saying it involves a tiny fraction of the information. Officials blame the problem on a "new system" and the people operating it.

Wilson, however, wants something done. Through his campaign organization, he's launched a petition for voters to sign to express their concern over the issues.

"In South Carolina alone, the website reports spending $40 million to create 155 jobs in our 16th, 43rd, 45th, 32nd, and 12th districts. The problem is South Carolina only has six congressional districts," he said. "Somehow, $1.8 million was even spent for 1.4 jobs in district 00 and $3 million couldn't even produce a single job in South Carolina's 43rd imaginary congressional district."

"I've asked the president to establish a panel to audit stimulus spending and to report back on how the administration can prevent fraud, waste, and abuse," he said. "On Monday morning I will hold a press conference where I will present the names of American taxpayers who stand with me in this fight."

He said the Recovery Act itself allows for a Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, to include five members appointed by the president to advise on the prevention of fraud, waste and abuse.

That panel has yet to be assembled.

"The Recovery Act is one of the largest spending bills in our nation's history and it’s critical that we work together to maintain our goals of transparency and accountability," he said.

He suggested unless the panel starts work soon, he will "call for an outside, independent examination of spending and reporting inaccuracies of every stimulus dollar appropriated."

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said the "mistakes" represent an "unfolding scandal of phone or inflated job claims" and it should "shock" the nation.

"As of this morning, the administration claims that in my 4th congressional district of California, the brain trust at the Treasury Department has spent $182 million to save or create all of 168 jobs. That’s $1.1 million per job!" he said.

"They claim to have saved or created 110,000 jobs in California. 75,000 of those jobs occur in a single zip code, 95814. What is 95814? That's the zip code that encompasses the state capitol and the state bureaucracies. Stimulating the economy? All we're doing is stimulating government at the expense of the economy," he said.

Wilson earlier told WND a full audit of the stimulus program is needed.

"The way to grow the economy is to … if you reduce taxes and then encourage small businesses to grow and hire people. That's the way to grow the economy," he said.

Wilson was criticized harshly by many when he called out "You lie" to Obama while Obama was lobbying for his health care plan. Obama was talking about assurances that illegal aliens would not be covered by his health care plan.

At the time of the statement, Obama's plan included a provision to not provide care to illegal aliens. But at the same time, it carried a provision that prevented doctors from determining whether a patient was illegal or not.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=116669

"It reports millions of dollars spent to create jobs in congressional districts that do not exist," he said.

Looks like shouting "YOU LIE" gave Joe the guts to keep right on calling Obamination out. It makes me happy to see this. I know Rep. Wilson got a lot of support from people across the US for his actions, I know I will be contacting his office again to say Thanks.

The circus is continuing on and on... Wake Up Americans!

How do you get criminals to monitor themselves?