It was rather stunning that earlier today, while speaking about the nearly $800 billion stimulus bill, Vice President Joe Biden told business leaders in New York that the administration knows that “some of the money is going to be wasted.” As if this wasn’t enough to make taxpayers cringe, Mr. Biden went on to note that, “Some people are being scammed already.” Is this the unprecedented oversight and accountability we were promised?
When Americans ARE being scammed and taxpayer dollars ARE being wasted, it is the obligation of this administration to do something about it and not just dismiss it as a mere inevitability. The Congress, led by Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, and the administration are failing to provide the accountability that taxpayers deserve. As we have from the start, Republicans will continue fighting for transparency and accountability.
First, we developed an innovative stimulus plan to preserve, protect, and create twice as many jobs as the bill that Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid rammed through Congress. During the debate, well before the President signed the $787 billion spending bill, House Republicans made clear our belief that any stimulus action must be laser focused on jobs.
But in the months since the president signed the $800 “stimulus” bill, we continue to read about waste, delays, and job losses. The administration offered a budget that imposes more debt on our young people in six months than in the previous 200 years combined. Though President Obama noted that the country is “out of money,” he followed that announcement by buying one of America’s largest car companies. And in the wings lies a trillion dollar plus government run health-care plan that we have yet to see the details on, despite the administration’s demand that it be passed by the end of July.
There has been little to no oversight of this government spending spree, and special interest projects like the “Murtha Airport for No One” continue to be deemed worthy of taxpayer dollars.
Massive spending binges do not equal intelligent, thoughtful and meaningful reform. They don’t even equal change — or change for the better. The vice president seems to accept the fact that the very taxpayers paying for the stimulus are being scammed thru its implementation. House Republicans do not.