Stimulus Problems #tcot #tlot #spg #gop

Doubts about the trillion dollar stimulus bill are continuing to grow. From its inception the stimulus bill has been troubled. Full of pork (like honey bee insurance) the stimulus bill was crammed through Congress without any representative having read it fully. It has already failed at its basic goal of keeping the unemployment rate under 8.5%. Now it appears that the money being sent to the states through this bill is being misused. From USA Today Report: States aren't using stimulus funds as intended

Government Accountability Office (GAO) at a House oversight hearing, also says many states aren't meeting some goals and requirements of the economic recovery program. Some states, for example, are not sending transportation funding to the most economically distressed areas, and they are using education funds to prevent layoffs rather than fund innovative new programs, the report says.

As required by the $787 billion stimulus law, the GAO is monitoring stimulus spending in 16 states and the District of Columbia that will receive two-thirds of the federal funds. It reports to Congress every two months.

The report says that as of mid-June, states had received about $29 billion of the estimated $49 billion in stimulus funding they are scheduled to get before the federal budget year ends Sept. 30. More than 90% of the money given to the states so far is for Medicaid and a fund meant to prop up states' budgets for schools and other basic services such as public safety.