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Coburn Less Charmed by Stimulus Findings
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06/19/09 05:16 AM ET
Remember when Sen. Tom Coburn admitted last month he just couldn't resist President Obama's smile? “He’s just got a great smile,” said Coburn, recalling his first interactions with Obama. “He charmed me."
Coburn has become one of the U.S. Congress's fiercest anti-pork crusaders. And apparently, while he visited the White House to chat up his old Senate buddy, Barack, Coburn's staff was hard at work on investigating the stimulus program we now know has not stopped unemployment from reaching 9.4 percent and has only dispatched 5 percent of its $787 billion in oh-so-necessary recovery and reinvestment funds.
According to the Los Angeles Times, "A Second Opinion on the Stimulus" concludes that millions have been spent on "bicycle lockers, bike paths, walking trails and a skate park,” and that one town in North Carolina is using stimulus funds to "hire an administrator whose job it will be to procure more stimulus funds." The report also found a $3.4 million project that allows turtles and other wildlife to safely cross U.S. Highway 27 through a 13-foot tunnel near Tallahassee, Fla.
The story points out that one of the projects Coburn's report took issue with — plans to build a $1.1 million guardrail near a dry, man-made lake — have since been dropped by the administration. There were also the Social Security checks being mailed to dead people.
More surprising than the expenditures is the fact that this story has not gotten more play.
IS HEALTHCARE ON THE ROCKS? Ask A.B. returns Monday, June 22. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your questions and comments to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it > This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Thank you.
Coburn has become one of the U.S. Congress's fiercest anti-pork crusaders. And apparently, while he visited the White House to chat up his old Senate buddy, Barack, Coburn's staff was hard at work on investigating the stimulus program we now know has not stopped unemployment from reaching 9.4 percent and has only dispatched 5 percent of its $787 billion in oh-so-necessary recovery and reinvestment funds.
According to the Los Angeles Times, "A Second Opinion on the Stimulus" concludes that millions have been spent on "bicycle lockers, bike paths, walking trails and a skate park,” and that one town in North Carolina is using stimulus funds to "hire an administrator whose job it will be to procure more stimulus funds." The report also found a $3.4 million project that allows turtles and other wildlife to safely cross U.S. Highway 27 through a 13-foot tunnel near Tallahassee, Fla.
The story points out that one of the projects Coburn's report took issue with — plans to build a $1.1 million guardrail near a dry, man-made lake — have since been dropped by the administration. There were also the Social Security checks being mailed to dead people.
More surprising than the expenditures is the fact that this story has not gotten more play.
IS HEALTHCARE ON THE ROCKS? Ask A.B. returns Monday, June 22. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your questions and comments to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it > This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Thank you.
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