Government Watchdogs Warn of Lack of Oversight For Trillions in President’s New Spending Programs
EmailThe Government Accountability Office today issued a report on the $787 billion stimulus bill called "RECOVERY ACT: As Initial Implementation Unfolds in States and Localities, Continued Attention to Accountability Issues Is Essential."
The GAO study asserts that officials from most of the states surveyed "expressed concerns regarding the lack of Recovery Act funding provided for accountability and oversight. Due to fiscal constraints, many states reported significant declines in the number of oversight staff — limiting their ability to ensure proper implementation and management of Recovery Act funds."
Because the economic downturn has led to "fiscal constraints, many states reported significant declines in the number of oversight staff, limiting their ability to ensure proper implementation and management of Recovery Act funds."
As but one example, Colorado’s state auditor told GAO about the difficulty the state has in conducting oversight of the stimulus finds. The Colorado legislature’s Joint Budget Committee recently cut in half field audit staff for the Colorado Department of Human Services. The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has had three controllers in the past four years. Vacancies exist for the positions of internal auditor at the Department of Personnel & Administration, and deputy controller at the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The GAO report’s warning of a lack of oversight echoed criticisms from earlier this week, when the Office of Special Inspector General for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program Neil Barofsky presented his quarterly report to Congress.
In the report Barofsky calls on the Treasury Department to require all institutions that receive TARP funds to report how they use the money.
“With the exception of Citigroup and Bank of America, Treasury has refused to seek further details on TARP recipients’ use of funds," he writes. “Simply put, the American people have a right to know how their tax dollars are being used.”
The Treasury Department has indicated that it will not follow the Inspector General’s recommendation, he writes, "that all TARP recipients be required to do the following:
"• account for the use of TARP funds
"• set up internal controls to comply with such accounting
"• report periodically to Treasury on the results, with appropriate sworn certifications
"In light of the fact that the American taxpayer has been asked to fund this extraordinary effort to stabilize the fi nancial system, it is not unreasonable that the public be told how those funds have been used by TARP recipients."
Barofksy’s office conducted some oversight for TARP recipients, he writes, and though the data is still be analyzed, one item became clear in the process: that "Treasury’s arguments that such an accounting was impractical, impossible, or a waste of time because of the inherent fungibility of money were unfounded."
For the Treasury Department’s Capital Assistance Program — the money going to banks after the stress tests — Barofsky condemns Treasury’s plan for applicants to state only how they intend to use CAP funding, as opposed to reporting how they actually use the funds, saying "it is largely meaningless to require an applicant to report on its intended use of funds without setting up a mechanism to monitor its actual use of funds."
Barofsky also stated that aspects of President Obama’s recently announced plan for using taxpayer dollars and private investors to buy toxic (now called “legacy”) assets — the Public-Private Investment Partnership (PPIP), which could cost up to $1 trillion — are “inherently vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse, including significant issues relating to conflicts of interest facing fund managers, collusion between participants, and vulnerabilities to money laundering.”
– Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe
Rick Santorum Sweeps 3 States 
Pentagon to Open Additional Jobs to Women
Gee…you would think the media would see an opening and start reporting in-depth on where all the money is going to…a the good old days of unbiased, even-handed, balanced investigative reporting looking out for John Q. Public….
Posted by: Sally J | April 23, 2009, 12:49 pm 12:49 pm
This can’t be true. The recovery plan has an official website, a colorful emblem, and a sheriff. That should be enough for anyone.
Posted by: MayBee | April 23, 2009, 12:54 pm 12:54 pm
Duh!!!!!Ya Think???????
Posted by: robert b | April 23, 2009, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
Where is Joe Biden……
There’s Ali – he hits joe with a vicious hook….
Down Goes Biden !
Down Goes Biden !
Down Goes Biden !
Down Goes Biden !
Down Goes Biden !
Down Goes Biden !
Posted by: Mike_C | April 23, 2009, 1:13 pm 1:13 pm
How rich are the facist democrats getting off the so called recovery act
BREAKING NEWS:::: Democrats now scrambling for cover as documents released show ALL of them were briefed often and entirely on techinques used as early as 2002
Republicians want ALL briefing documents released as Democrats now Stonewall
Posted by: Breaking News | April 23, 2009, 1:16 pm 1:16 pm
Perfect.
Congress passes a bill that no one read
obama signs bill that he has never read
They forget to include oversight on how monies are spent
Priceless!
Posted by: DJ | April 23, 2009, 1:16 pm 1:16 pm
I have looked over the web site for my state and have no idea were the money is going. Very limited
Posted by: William | April 23, 2009, 1:18 pm 1:18 pm
“Democrats now scrambling for cover as documents released show ALL of them were briefed often and entirely on techinques used as early as 2002″
SO does that mean the President will also have a show trial?
I can hardly wait. (No teleprompters allowed in the dock)
Posted by: Plumber | April 23, 2009, 1:28 pm 1:28 pm
Maybe the White House will just trash the GAO as “partisan” and be done with it…
Posted by: matt | April 23, 2009, 1:34 pm 1:34 pm
Is anyone really surprised that the media is not reporting on this? Well I guess you get what you vote for.
Posted by: mj | April 23, 2009, 1:36 pm 1:36 pm
“Vacancies exist for the positions of internal auditor at the Department of Personnel & Administration, and deputy controller at the Colorado Department of Transportation.”
======================================
Unemployment is pretty high. Why the vacancies?
Posted by: mad | April 23, 2009, 1:40 pm 1:40 pm
“With the exception of Citigroup and Bank of America, Treasury has refused to seek further details on TARP recipients’ use of funds,” he writes.
====================================
I blame Turbo TARP….
Posted by: mad | April 23, 2009, 1:42 pm 1:42 pm
Typical ….rush in and spend alot of
money with no clue how it will be
spent and if its getting into the
right hands. Idiots!
Posted by: wis134 | April 23, 2009, 1:42 pm 1:42 pm
The Katrina Effect will be be felt.
Posted by: drjohn | April 23, 2009, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm
“Vacancies exist for the positions of internal auditor at the Department of Personnel & Administration, and deputy controller at the Colorado Department of Transportation.”
======================================
Unemployment is pretty high. Why the vacancies?”
The article references budget cutbacks by the states.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 23, 2009, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm
It appears the Treaury Department is not acting in the best interest of the American taxpayer but rather for the benefit of secret interests of the criminal bankers and Wall Street titans. Time for some real change! I want strick oversight and accountability. No accountability when asked with no delay – then return TARP funds with interest. Better yet just nationalize those banks and then we can see all their dirty secrets. I say NATIONALIZE THEM!
Posted by: eyeonyou | April 23, 2009, 2:00 pm 2:00 pm
Obama is never gonna get reelected and most of these bums are gonna get thrown outta congress.
Posted by: ha... | April 23, 2009, 2:03 pm 2:03 pm
Ryan C, I don’t think those positions are vacant due to cutbacks based on info in the article.
Posted by: mad | April 23, 2009, 2:05 pm 2:05 pm
At least Jake is reporting on the report-that’s a start. The administration is full of HOPE but not concerned with accountability and reality (sound familiar?). The people will still sleep at this economic fraud, just as before…divided we fall!
Posted by: lura | April 23, 2009, 2:21 pm 2:21 pm
wow, what a surprise more gov’t wasting tax dollars. And to think there were people who supported all this spending and to think there are people who support the gov’t running health care. They can’t even balance a check book.
Posted by: chad | April 23, 2009, 2:47 pm 2:47 pm
The GAO report’s warning of a lack of oversight echoed criticisms from earlier this week, when the Office of Special Inspector General for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program Neil Barofsky presented his quarterly report to Congress.
———————
The report neglects to mention that the 700 Billion has turned into 3 trillion approved only by Geither and Obama minions. Congress and the taxpayers had no say.
-3 trillion for tarp
-1 trillion for the IMF (international monetary fund) theoretically a loan, but IMF loans are routinely forgiven, but we still get to borrow it and pay the interest so we can give it to IMF.
-400 million, includes 8000 earmarks to finish this years budget
-3 trillion for the projected budget
-780 billion for a stimulus that we knew would’nt work.
-1 billion to Pakistan, on Obama’s whim, sure to fund terrorists
-Interest on all the dollars we will borrow to fund all of this.
I am sure there is more but with out the interest we are closing in on almost 6 trillion, and that is assuming Obama stops now.
It is staggering and so beyond what has ever been done the results to our economy will be devastating and permanent.
Obama relies on the public not understanding this or the massive deficit and debt he is creating,
He has multiplied the accumulated debt he inherited over and over and over and over again.
The CBO has a lot more to worry about than TARP
AD NAUSEUM
Posted by: MNM | April 23, 2009, 2:49 pm 2:49 pm
Many of you mention vacancies. With the destruction and havoc that Obama is wreaking on our economy no one wants their name associated with it, and he can’t find anyone who will agree to promote it.
These positions should be easy to fill.
Control and power. Obama has an agenda but he cannot find experienced economists willing to be a part of the destruction.
Posted by: MNM | April 23, 2009, 2:53 pm 2:53 pm
Obama used 9,000 gallons of fuel on Earth Day.
A speech he could have given at the WH.
Posted by: tommy | April 23, 2009, 3:23 pm 3:23 pm
I think Jon Stewart established this fact during his time with Ms. Princess Pelosi (Harry Reid’s workwife).
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | April 23, 2009, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
I guess you CAN in fact mess with Joe (Biden)…!!!! Who knew?? Maybe he was to busy receiving his hair implant treatments to adequately track the porkulus spending….
Posted by: Delaware Vol | April 23, 2009, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm
The only thing transparent is my bank account.
Posted by: sigh | April 23, 2009, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm
“Better yet just nationalize those banks and then we can see all their dirty secrets. I say NATIONALIZE THEM!”
—————————————–
Yeah that’ll fix things. Then lending will be as efficient as the DMV and VA already are. I’ll trust 20 random people from the phone book before I’d trust anyone in the fedgov.
Posted by: sigh | April 23, 2009, 4:15 pm 4:15 pm
So where are all the Obama supporters on this site who posted 24/7 last year for their beloved candidate? They have flown the coop! They cannot defend him because he is the President now and he’s not doing any better than any other President and is in fact doing worse.
Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | April 23, 2009, 4:16 pm 4:16 pm
I’m SHOCKED… And here we thought dear Teleprompter-in-Chief told us all is well if we all give him this money…. This guy sucks worse than GWB and that is saying a lot… Jimmy Carter has to be feeling pretty good that he is not the worse president in history anymore.
Posted by: Corey | April 23, 2009, 4:29 pm 4:29 pm
I’m shocked I tell you, SHOCKED! Wow, that promise to watch the funds like a hawk only lasted 60 days.
Cue mainstream media outrage in 3,2,1, [...crickets...]
When Big O runs out of promises to break will you guys be mad then?
Posted by: PatF | April 23, 2009, 4:38 pm 4:38 pm
“Government Watchdogs Warn of Lack of Oversight For Trillions in President’s New Spending Programs”
What else is new!
(he is coming close to outspending Bush’s entire 8 years)
Posted by: Da Truth | April 23, 2009, 4:44 pm 4:44 pm
The real question is WHERE is the money that was allocated for the oversight. If memory serves, i believe every “line item” of expenditure also had an amount set aside explictly for this purpose.
AGAIN…
Where is Joe Biden??????
For all you lefty-loons who STILL are crapping on Palin, Where is Biden?
This was HIS job as given to him by the President!
Down goes Biden !
Down Goes Biden !
Posted by: Mike_C | April 23, 2009, 5:00 pm 5:00 pm
The Resolution Trust Corp did a reasonable job handling the S&L problems in the 80′s. Why not resurrect something akin to it?
Posted by: deanbob | April 23, 2009, 5:40 pm 5:40 pm
When the President and Congress spend so much money so fast it’s inevitable that there will be a lot of waste. Welcome to reality.
Posted by: Mike | April 23, 2009, 7:04 pm 7:04 pm
Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress make me want to puke..:(
Posted by: Mike | April 23, 2009, 7:05 pm 7:05 pm
if you have a problem with the stimulus money, then you need to talk with your local reps. the money is being disbursed to the states for allocation and oversight. i know in my state, they are still in budget meetings and working on the final decisions about the allocations for 2009-11 budget period. the budget is pending final approval by both the house and senate – they’re working on some final details. information should be released in the next day or so, but assimilation will take probably take another week. you don’t really need oversight when the funds haven’t yet been allocated. the cart goes after the horse. really people. don’t you pay attention to what’s happening at a local level?
Posted by: realitycheck0057 | April 23, 2009, 7:41 pm 7:41 pm
Obama…I did just like you did…I thought about a Bail Out for….well about 2 minutes, Now here is my idea, have the Mint start printing some extra Cash, let’s give all Americans $250,000 each except politicians and Car makers, they can spend it in the economy, and all picks back up to normal. Well at least I know where the money is going with my plans….
Posted by: gatornation1957 | April 23, 2009, 8:10 pm 8:10 pm
This is an ongoing problem in all levels of government. There are school districts, especially poor ones, that spend more money on compliance than they receive in aid. I don’t know why compliance funding is never considered.
Posted by: Flash Override | April 23, 2009, 9:42 pm 9:42 pm
CUT! CUT! Cut. Damnit people! This is supposed to be a cover-up!! Hasn’t anyone read their lines?! C’mon now people! We only have two month before we shut the Auto makers down. Let’s get it right this time. Deception is your motivation. Let’s take it from “Transparency”. Now roll in three, two, one…and ACTION!!
Posted by: DobermanSpencer | April 23, 2009, 10:59 pm 10:59 pm
Cut! Cut! Cut. Dangit people! This is supposed to be a cover up!! Didn’t anyone read their lines?! Deception is your motivator! C’mon people we only have two months before we shut the auto makers down so let’s try to get it right this time. Let’s take it from “Transparencey again in three, two, one a-n-d ACTION!
Posted by: DobermanSpencer | April 23, 2009, 11:08 pm 11:08 pm
Is the whole TARP plan a criminal enterprise? Sounds farfetched, I suppose. But after reading about Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky’s report, it may well be that TARP is just one big criminal problem.
Listen to this: Barofsky’s investigators reported Monday that they have opened 20 criminal probes into possible securities fraud, tax-law violations, insider-trading, and mortgage-modification fraud related to TARP….By the way, one of Barofsky’s recommendations is for Treasury to abandon its whole plan of buying toxic assets from banks and investors. The IG’s report also notes that what started last October as a single-purpose $750 billion effort to buy toxic securities has morphed into twelve separate programs that cover up to $3 trillion in direct spending, loans, and loan guarantees. In other words, TARP is nearly equal in size to the entire federal budget.
=====================================
What a mess.
Posted by: mad | April 23, 2009, 11:19 pm 11:19 pm
Amazing how he just threw all that money out there and had no care on how it was spent.
Guess it was more important for him to get a good grade in his first 100 days than it was to oversee billions of dollars going to the corrupt bankers.
And now we are giving out more foreign aide… like 500 million to Pakistan just so they can pay the Taliban to keep attacking US soldiers.
Thanks Obama…. give more to foreign countries that misuse the money, just like you misused our money.
Posted by: not sold on obama yet | April 24, 2009, 12:48 am 12:48 am
We said from the start the bailouts were a bad idea. Joe! Aren’t you watching out for us. Obama promissed nothing gets passed you. Joe ? Joe ? Is anyone there ?
Posted by: realitycheck999 | April 24, 2009, 1:08 am 1:08 am
TOTUS said he was going to spread the wealth…he just didn’t point out that it was going to be spread out amongst those that supported him during the election and those who share his ideologies.
Those Comrades working for the welfare of the Masses shouldn’t be begrudged some perqs for all they do and sacrifice for the Proletariat.
Posted by: RR GOP | April 24, 2009, 1:10 am 1:10 am
And these are the people we want to put in charge or all of our healthcare? People rail about greedy incompetent Wall Street and CEO types. They have nothing on the government. And now the government thinks it can run all the businesses as well as our healthcare. What are we all smoking to even be entertaining such an idea. When will the American people wake up and get a brain?
Posted by: Texas | April 24, 2009, 2:09 am 2:09 am
The only thing about this that surprises me about all this is that people are actually surprised by it.
When are “we” going to learn that any time gov’t (led by either party) tries to force something into law (down our throats) this quickly it is only so that there can’t be any real oversight questions asked until it’s too late.
Posted by: Bruce P | April 24, 2009, 8:48 am 8:48 am
Let’s just call Susan Roegren of CNN. She seems to be an expert on exactly where all this money is going and exactly whom it’s benefiting.
Posted by: The Fop | April 24, 2009, 11:51 am 11:51 am
My father taught me years ago, If someone ever runs up to you and says, “Give me a lot of money and don’t ask what it’s for, it’s an EMERGENCY!”, put your hand on your wallet and run, they are trying to rob you.
Smart Dad.
Posted by: Katherine | April 24, 2009, 12:49 pm 12:49 pm
What will be fun is when the big B. O. tax increases start in! Now he is only spending the money, lots of money. The next step will be the tax increase to pay it off, and then either or both Print more money and borrow more money. But the borrowing of money will cost a lot more in the Future. China instead of renewing their Treasury Bills are taking the money out and buying commodities, such as Copper. China has around $700 Billion of Treasury Bills. So what happens when China takes a significant amount of that money out of Treasury Bills and buy commodities? The Treasury will have to raise up the Interest Rates it pays to get people to buy the same T-Bills and print more money.
The Super-Inflation is coming, next year or perhaps the year after that!!! Enough to make Jimmy Carter’s inflation cycle seem mild by comparison.
Posted by: Dave Jones | April 24, 2009, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
As an aerospace engineer I know that the 5 gallons per mile statistic is only when the aircraft, 747-200 AF1, is at cruise speed. The aircraft burns a lot of fuel taxiing and taking off, and while not in cruise. The 9,000 gallons is definitely an under-measurement. According to a flight planner for a 747-200 model with Air Force One Capacity would consume approximately 6309.8 gallons (42275 lb) of fuel for a ONE WAY TRIP from Andrews Air Force Base to Des Moines INTL. Hence total gallons consumed for the entire flight would be: 12,620 gallons of fuel.
FOR **ONE** WAY:
Andrews AFB/NAF -> Des Moines Intl
Distance: 800.0 nm
Estimated fuel burn: 6309.8 gal / 42275.5 lb
Estimated time en route: 1:34
Posted by: baltar182 | April 24, 2009, 5:45 pm 5:45 pm
Who really expected the government to change? ~~~~~~~~~~~ One certainly would not expect the government to do any better with healthcare?
And how about the science czar, just picked this up from Glen Beck:
“Do you know anything about your Science Czar? You are probably thinking — how bad can he be? Not too bad, really — just a few bumps in the road. Like supporting controlling the population by putting sterilants in the water supply, imposing baby limits and forced abortions. But other than that, this guy is just a peach. Better get to know your Czars, so you aren’t too shocked when more crazy policies start popping up.”
Posted by: Ed Taylor | September 18, 2009, 5:01 pm 5:01 pm
WE The People Need Two Change The Way OUR Goverment Has Screwed The Country Up! We Have Got Too Have CHANGES For The People. Not For Goverment Or Our So Called Gov. Reps. – All I See Is The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Being Redused Too A Major Spiral Down Fall. Boot The Demacrats & Republicans & Start Over With A Fresh Goverment.
Posted by: r | March 1, 2011, 9:48 pm 9:48 pm