Wasting Stimulus Dollars

A few parts of an excellent Washington Times article on the misuse of stimulus dollars

"President Obama and members of Congress told federal agencies earlier this year to avoid awarding funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to contractors with troubled histories of work for the federal government. But that isn't happening at numerous agencies, a Washington Post analysis shows. So far, 33 federal departments and agencies have awarded more than $1.2 billion in stimulus contracts to at least 30 companies that are ranked by one watchdog group as among the most egregious offenders of state and federal laws."

"Obama explicitly warned against awarding contracts without competitive bidding in a memo released to agency heads weeks after he signed the act, saying they create "a risk that taxpayer funds will be spent on contracts that are wasteful, inefficient, subject to misuse." (So far, half of the $16 billion awarded under the stimulus has gone to contractors that did not have to compete for the work.)"