Every day, I’ll be counting down to election day 2012. And every day, I’ll be giving you a reason why you SHOULDN’T vote for Obama. So let’s continue the countdown!
Reason #61: $$M of stimulus sent to...imaginary zip codes?
Yep, you heard it right and it was to the tune of $375M. This was a little-covered, if ever-covered, story back in 2010.
Less than two months after breaking the news that federal stimulus money was allocated to 440 non-existing congressional districts, it now appears more than $375 million in federal stimulus funds were sent to and credited with creating jobs in ZIP codes that do not exist in all but 12 of the nation’s states. According to a national study of the Recovery.gov website compiled by Kansas Watchdog reporter Earl Glynn and authored by Bill McMorris, the stimulus is sending $375 million in the form of grants, loans and government contracts to fund more than 200 projects in imaginary ZIP codes. The site also reports the funds created more than 400 jobs at a cost of about $800,000 each.
“Today’s news reiterates the value and importance of transparency and accountability in the federal government. In addition, it demonstrates the effectiveness of nonprofit journalism and the need for more journalists investigating our government,” said Jason Stverak, President of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. “These imaginary ZIP codes are not necessarily a sign of taxpayer abuse but it does make the U.S. taxpayer wary of trusting our elected officials. We urge all of our Watchdogs and citizen journalists around the nation to delve into their own state stimulus funding information and report any errors to Watchdog.org.”
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