Thursday, March 19, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

Obama Stimulus Auditor: 'Some waste or fraud is regrettably inevitable.'

Another Obama statement has met its expiration date.

President Barack Obama on Thursday pledged to ensure every dollar of his 787 billion dollar stimulus plan is well spent, as he rallied state officials charged with implementing the package.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden launched a fresh effort to assure US taxpayers that their money will be well spent in igniting economic recovery, at an implementation conference for government bureaucrats.

"We're going to have to make sure that every single dollar is well spent. If we see money being misspent, we're going to put a stop to it, and we will call it out and we will publicize it," said Obama, who triggered an audible gasp from his audience with an announced appearance at the meeting.

Sounds pretty clear, huh? Yeah, apparently that promise can't be kept.

The chief auditor overseeing the spending of the $787 billion in stimulus funds is warning that some waste or fraud is regrettably inevitable.

In prepared testimony before the House oversight committee, Earl Devaney says the challenge for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board he chairs is to significantly minimize any such loss.

Devaney warns that he thinks federal agencies will have great difficulty attracting and hiring enough contract professionals to minimize the risks associated with moving the money fast enough to accomplish the recovery act's goals.

All statements from Barack Obama come with an expiration date. All of them, particularly the big, grandiose promises of fiscal responsibility that sound great.

03/19 11:58 AMShare