Having Pelosi and Obama in charge of spending is like putting Arnold Schwarzenegger and ex-IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn in charge of hiring the maids.
Buried in last week’s news was a report from the General Accounting Office (I guess they don’t do specific accounting) that thousands of companies that cashed in on President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package owe the government tens of millions of dollars in taxes.
In a report released last Tuesday, the GAO said that at least 3,700 government contractors and nonprofit organizations (I wonder what type of nonprofits those were) that received more than $24 billion from the stimulus effort owe $757 million in back taxes.
Of the 3,700 tax cheats, the GAO referred just 15 cases to the IRS for further investigation; those 15 were probably political enemies of the White House. The other 3,685 folks were probably invited to an Obama fundraiser. Why not just make the check from the Treasury out to the Obama 2012 Election Committee rather than to these government “vendors”?
Oddly enough, the “most transparent administration in history” has not revealed the names of the 3,700 organizations that got Obama hand-out money but which still owe taxes. Rest assured, you could compare this list to the DNC donor list and it would look very similar.
The only way you owe money to the IRS is if you are audited and it finds you did not pay your taxes. Imagine how many of these entities are worse than the ones caught, but they have not been audited.
The administration spent all this money to get reelected, not to stimulate the economy — just like they distribute the other $1.4 trillion a year they do not have. They should have used some of the money to widen the National Debt Clock in New York.
Not to worry, on Tuesday the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the matter. If their traditional go-to emotion of “appalled” does not work, they may submit it to a committee to determine if they should write a sternly worded letter to these 3,700 folks. Once the CSPAN cameras go off, they will be done with the matter.
Remember the best salesman in American history, Barack Obama, saying we needed the stimulus to keep unemployment under 8%? He said he would go door-to-door and sell it. Even The Onion had him figured out in February 2009:
In an effort to build support for his controversial economic recovery plan, President Obama set out across the country in a rented car Monday to peddle the $787 billion bailout door-to-door, administration sources reported. “Ma’am, if you’d permit me just a moment of your time, I’d like to talk to you today about a honey of a new stimulus package that’s just arrived all the way from Washington, D.C.,” the grinning president said in a front-porch sales pitch to local housewife Marilyn Fields, 49. “Why, yes, ma’am, this package here has got everything. It’s handy, it’s dandy, it’s built to last, and if you can find a better plan for reviving our nation’s stagnant economy this side of the Mississippi, then my name ain’t Barack Hussein Obama.” The president added that if the nation acts now, he’ll throw in a brand-new, state-of-the-art farm subsidies bill, plus a four-year warranty and unlimited congressional oversight, absolutely free.
And just think, President Obama ceremoniously put the sharp-as-a-tack Joe Biden in charge of making sure this stimulus money was spent properly.
In Wisconsin, which is a battleground state, 80 percent of the stimulus money went to public-sector unions — you know, folks with contract-secured, locked-in jobs. If you are wondering why this did not create any jobs, it was because the money was given to union members who already have jobs.
Obama says he “saved or created 1.3 to 3.6 million jobs.” Presume, at your peril, that he is right. Here’s the math: $821,000,000,000 was spent on 3.6 million jobs. That makes the cost $228,000 per job, best case. The more realistic number is 1.3 million jobs; that cost us $631,538 per job. Nice work if you can get it, but those who got it already had work.
If you voted for Obama in 2008 to prove you are not a racist, vote for someone like Paul Ryan or Chris Christie in 2012 to prove you are not an idiot.
Ron Hart is a syndicated op-ed humorist, award-winning author and TV/radio commentator. Email Ron@RonaldHart.com or visit www.RonaldHart.com.
