Saturday, August 29, 2009

Stimulus Waste and Our Borders


Since Obamacare seems to be on life support (we hope), I've said in recent comments elsewhere that illegal immigration will be the next big issue to voice our opinions on. Let's face facts: We're slowly being invaded. Those who live along the southern border of this country and those of us who can read between the lines when Obama called us "demagogues" would probably agree with that statement. It isn't a military-style invasion, but the results would be the same as though the entire Mexican Army came fully armed across the Rio Grande.

When the $787 billion stimulus package was passed, Obama promised to put people back to work and jump start the economy. Since then, there have been millions in stimulus money lost to fraud, abuse, and pure stupidity.

Tom Coburn (R-OK) filed a report detailing wasteful projects that were funded by the American taxpayers when the stimulus bill was passed. I'll be doing a series on the top ten wasteful projects in other posts soon. Some you may have heard of, but some you may not.

Recently, according to Judicial Watch, a couple of news reports have surfaced with even more evidence of waste. Break out the barf bags, folks.

The first report found that approximately $1 million went to 4,000 jailed convicts. Among those receiving a $250 stimulus check were murderers and rapists who did not qualify for the check issued by the Social Security Administration. The SSA had also mailed out stimulus checks to approximately 10,000 DEAD people as well as fugitives and deported aliens. No wonder the program is broke! I've stated before that the closest thing to eternal life is a government program, and Social Security is a shining example of that. I guess Charon has upped his fee for crossing the river Styx and the cost of keeping your cellmate at bay has risen.

A separate report has also uncovered political influence being used in determining where stimulus money has gone with regards to our borders. Despite a promise of transparency, the report has stated that some of the border stimulus projects that have gone through DHS were done under a cloak of secrecy. Is anyone surprised?

Whitetail, Montana (population 71), has a checkpoint along the Canadian border that sees about three (3) travelers a day but will receive $15 million in stimulus funds to build a checkpoint station the size of a Hollywood mansion. How did this happen? Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Jon Tester (D-MT) pressed Janet Napolitano for the money arguing that it would create jobs and improve infrastructure. Approximately $63,000 worth of goods passed through the checkpoint last year. The project was low on the priority list that DHS is supposed to submit every year of repairs that need to be made to checkpoints. The Obama administration has carried on a tradition started by George W. Bush of using subjective standards to bump certain projects ahead of others, and Whitetail falls under that category. Ah...the game of political prostitution at its finest.

Janet Napolitano's home state of Arizona is set to receive stimulus funds for the busy Nogales checkpoint though it was not a major priority on the DHS list. The price tag? $199 million. Five times more than any other checkpoint will get. JaNa bragged about lobbying to get the project moved ahead on the list while she was governor of Arizona during the Bush administration. Stimulus provided the money. But I'm SURE there were no political favors, right? I mean, it's not like it was used as a political payoff to take the DHS Secretary's post, eh? That would never happen under the most transparent administration in history!

Securing our borders HAS to become a priority. It's bad enough that we are fighting the enemies from within, but we really shouldn't have to battle those coming from across the borders illegally. Unfortunately, Washington has chosen political favor over the security of this great nation.

Oh...and the Laredo, Texas, checkpoint that serves more than 55,000 travelers and 4,200 trucks a day? Despite being a very high priority on the DHS list, it will receive not one penny of stimulus money for repairs. Hmmm... if Texas was a blue state...

6 comments:

Mel said...

It is like watching a massive train wreck and knowing it is going to crash but not being able to stop it.

blackandgoldfan said...

Mel: As sickening as it is to see this unfold, we DO have the power to stop it. It's going to be a long, tough battle, but we can do it! That is, as long as BHO lets us keep our First Amendment rights. Chin up, sweetie! It ain't over!

Anonymous said...

Landmines, works for North Korea and former-East German, why not us.

blackandgoldfan said...

Con Scal: I've always liked the idea of a double fence with mines in between. THAT'S secure! I'd also put up a big frickin' sign at the top with Dirty Harry's picture that says "Feel lucky, punk?"

Timeshare Jake said...

I think Obama will wait until his poll numbers go up to attack this issue. Affirmative action is next.

blackandgoldfan said...

I don't know, BB. Wasn't the issue pretty much settled with the Ricci case in New Haven? Either way, it'll keep us busy here in the blogosphere. At least until BHO declares a "cyberemergency."