In the latest of many scandals involving President Obama's fraud-infested stimulus, tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on road signs declaring that the disastrous program is "putting Americans back to work."
It gets better. The signs, erected on highways throughout the nation, feature Obama's 2008 presidential campaign logo mildly tweaked to look like a special logo for the $787 billion Recovery Act, which has failed miserably to jump start the economy as per the commander-in-chief's promise. Just look at the picture, of a road project in Colorado, featured in the news report that broke the story this week.
Obama's campaign logo is included as a symbol of the president's commitment to the American people to invest their tax dollars wisely and put Americans back to work, according to the administration guidelines on stimulus signs. The so-called commitment symbol has cost taxpayers at least $20 million amid a financial crisis that seems to have no end in sight.
On a road leading to Dulles Airport outside Washington D.C., a $10,000 sign touts a $15 million project that supposedly created 17 jobs. Illinois spent around $650,000 on about 950 stimulus signs and Pennsylvania dropped $157,000 on 70 signs. Officials in Tennessee brag that their sign budget is small-about $12,931 - because they only post small ones the size of speed-limit warnings.
One federal agency distributing stimulus funds (the Department of Housing and Urban Development) was ordered by the administration to issue "signage requirements" forcing recipients to post sign templates that read: "Funded By: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Barack Obama, President."
Perhaps the administration should start posting examples of the rampant fraud and waste in the stimulus program. Just a few weeks ago a wealthy and politically-connected Indian tribe casino got $54 million meant to help struggling communities. As one of the nation's highest grossing casinos it didn't qualify for the stimulus infusion but a former aide of the U.S. Senator who helped steer the funds works for the tribe.
In addition, tens of billions of dollars have been spent on wasteful projects, including $5 billion on a "weatherization" program to make low-income houses energy efficient, $3 million for turtle crossing in northern Florida and $10 million to renovate an abandoned train station that's been shut for three decades. The list goes on.
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