WASHINGTON -- A government investigator says 89,000 stimulus payments of $250 each went to people who were either dead or in prison.
The Social Security Administration's inspector general said in a report Thursday that $18 million went to 72,000 people who were dead. The report estimates that a little more than half the payments were returned.
The report said $4.3 million went to a little more than 17,000 prison inmates.
The payments were part of the government's massive economic recovery package enacted in February 2009. Under the law, the $250 payments were sent to about 52 million Social Security recipients and federal retirees. More Here..
The Social Security Administration's inspector general said in a report Thursday that $18 million went to 72,000 people who were dead. The report estimates that a little more than half the payments were returned.
The report said $4.3 million went to a little more than 17,000 prison inmates.
The payments were part of the government's massive economic recovery package enacted in February 2009. Under the law, the $250 payments were sent to about 52 million Social Security recipients and federal retirees. More Here..
This money ,that the US government did not actually have, or get from taxpayer revenues , was just another part of the wild deficit spending of government that was carried out under the Republicans creating a huge public debt owned by the treasury bondholders .
ReplyDeleteIts purpose as “free money” handouts ,was that it was the first emergency installment ,just part of a continuing bailout of the insolvent great Ponzi economy.
A bi-partisan bailout that started under Bush and continues under Obama.
It was hoped that the recipients of the largesse handouts would follow the Bush instructions to be good Americans and get out and spend.
In a desperate hope that a impossiblt debt ridden Ponzi economy driven by consumption could be kick started back to life .
Whether or not the taxpaying recipients were in jail or not was not important to those hastily organizing the handouts, what was important to them was that they spent it .
As it turned out ,the first Bush kick start ,was not enough and a financial coup had to be organized to save the insolvent finance sector when the money markets/ credit supply / completely seized up in 2008.
For narrow political partisan reasons Republicans and much of the Tea party noise about waste , is directed at blaming Obama for not yet solving the problems of a systematic breakdown.
Yet ,This financial coup was organized by the Republican President Bush and his appointee, Goldman Sach man Paulsen ,in cooperation with the Feds Bananke and conniving politicians of both political parties ,with both Obama and Mc Cain rushing back to congress and the senate to show their full support, and promising that they too ,if elected, would continue on the same bailout road for the ruling elite.
The threatened imposition of Martial law was avoided as the politicos did what they were told “to save America”.
The ongoing Coup is managed by essentially the same bi partisan team of executive wing appointees ,but with Goldman Sach man Geithner appointed by the democrats for replacing the hero “Bazooka” Paulsen . And the Banksters front man “lefty” Obama replacing The fiscal conservative “deficit Jumbo” Bush.
The deficit spending for wars even increases as unemployment benefits and food stamps spending is threatened so as to continue with the bailouts and wars
$ame –$ame , the system must do as the system does ,whatever party and leader front man has nominal power.
But, no more cash handouts for taxpayers are expected now, just increased taxes to pay for the very last ,desperate panicking Bush ,cash handouts.
Enjoy Austerity !
Wallow in your debts !
Debt Peons .
Um, the checks weren't cash, so no money was transferred.
ReplyDeleteIs this the same government that is going to save us money on healthcare? You know, Obamacare that the congress and senate excluded themselves from?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDelete"Um, the checks weren't cash, so no money was transferred."
The checks were convertable to cash/spendable money backed by the full authority of government Treasury and its Fed money printer.
True, technicaly the deficit spending of government by money it did not have ,was simply created "out of fresh air" and distributed as printed personal checks redeemable in FRB notes at any Fed authorised bank.
And then the Treasury /Fed created debt to government was then sold on to the Treasury bondholders as public debt.
P.S .
ReplyDeleteTo be clearer, the money was “printed out of fresh air”figures printed directly onto checks and then used for consumption of commodity wealth or to pay off past debts by the check recipients.As real everyday US legal tender money
As this was deficit spending financed the cost is yet to be paid for by the taxpayers .
Even though spent it is now remains a “real” Debt .
It now exists as a ‘real”, certified ,government guaranteed dividend claim ,or title over future tax revenues, that is now held by the treasury bondholders as ‘public debts” payable in full in cash or even by a check convertible into US FRN cash.
Just a bit more for the debt peons to pay off.