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Track the Money? Where exactly is the 36th congressional district of Virginia?
Posted by Randy | November 17, 2009

Recovery.gov is the U.S. government’s official website to provide "easy access" to how and where the billions of taxpayer dollars from the stimulus act are going.   

Well, it lists where they are going but where exactly is the 36th congressional district of Virginia?  Or the 17th congressional district?  Or the 98th congressional district?  Or the 00 congressional district?  All total, Recovery.gov the lists $4,500,613 in taxpayer funds going into almost a dozen congressional districts that do not even exist in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Check out the site here.  

 


Ironically, the website also prominently displays links to report "Waste, Fraud and Abuse." 

The lesson here:  Big government is not accountable government. It's just one of the many reasons I was one of the 17 Members of Congress to vote against every stimulus under both the Bush and Obama Administration.
Comments
The opinions expressed below are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent those of this office.
  • Kelli Swinney commented on 11/17/2009
    If these districts do not exsist ... where is the money going ? Whose pockets is this taxpayer money going into ?
  • Scott Morrison commented on 11/17/2009
    Thanks for posting this Randy! I did use their own link to report that abuse/fraud. Not that I believe it will not just be dismissed as junk mail, but it made me feel better. Keep up the good work Randy!
  • Martha Ball commented on 11/17/2009
    Congressman Forbes, my husband Dennis and I moved outside of Charlottesville to Palmyra just 2 months ago from Georgia. We know we are not in your district, but we have been getting your emails since before we moved from Georgia. We are so glad you serve where we live in the State of Virginia. Thank you for your honesty, integrity and hard work for not only the state of Virginia but to our nation. We believe, like you do, that the constitution needs to be upheld and the government needs to run its budget like Americans who live within our income. Thank you for the sacrifices you make for our country and for your faith in God. Sincerely, Martha Ball 89 Sydney Way Palmyra, VA 22963 434-589-2347
  • Mary Henrich commented on 11/17/2009
    If my memory serves me correctly, Vice President Biden was put in charge of oversight of recovery.gov - he asked for the number while giving the press conference about the site. If I didn't believe in a power greater than government, fear could overtake me. As it is, I simply believe that things will get worse before they get better, but truth will always win over deceit, faith will win over godlessness, and integrity will win over corruption - maybe not in my lifetime, but eventually.
  • Jay Terry commented on 11/17/2009
    It is mind boggling how much of our money the government is wasting. Thank you so much for keeping us informed.
  • Patricia Leshkow commented on 11/17/2009
    Thank you for pointing out it is not just Arizona and a few other states that show money going to phantom districts. If we had other honest congresspeople we would see every state has "new" districts getting funds. Pages and pages of confusing bureacracy are the shells in the old game that hide the truth.
  • John Sullivan commented on 11/18/2009
    Keep up your great work. And please, please keep communicating with us. The information you provide is most helpful. I hope you are sending your material to our Senators so they, as respected members of the ruling party, can hold the administration accountable. Yeah, they’ll do that.
  • Hector Padilla commented on 11/19/2009
    Why can't the Administration tell us exactly where the money went to and what happened to the" Transparency/Accountabilty issue. If Senator Reid is so adamant and thinks this new Medical Bill is such a "Good Deal" why are all of them not forced to sign up as we all will eventually. Whats good for the "Goose should be Good for the Gander"!!!!!
  • C Strickland commented on 11/20/2009
    They are trying to be very transparent with where the money is going. The problem lies with people entering the wrong information on what district they are a part of. The information is getting cleaned up, but there should have been some type of verification process before the data on recovery.gov was updated. From an article on CNN.com The districts didn't exist, but the the money and jobs did, Obama administration officials have said. And the people who are to blame are recipients who apparently didn't know which congressional district they were in, the officials said. "We report what the recipients submit to us. Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in, so they just throw in a number for their congressional district," Ed Pound, spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which operates Recovery.gov, said Monday. In an appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" on Tuesday night, Vice President Joe Biden said the errors didn't indicate unaccounted-for spending but rather were the result of people who had "bad civics classes." "There was bad civics classes for those" who reported the data, Biden said. "They had to fill out a form, what district are you in, and there was no such district." http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/18/stimulus.district.errors/index.html
  • C Strickland commented on 11/20/2009
    They are trying to be very transparent with where the money is going. The problem lies with people entering the wrong information on what district they are a part of. The information is getting cleaned up, but there should have been some type of verification process before the data on recovery.gov was updated. From an article on CNN.com The districts didn't exist, but the the money and jobs did, Obama administration officials have said. And the people who are to blame are recipients who apparently didn't know which congressional district they were in, the officials said. "We report what the recipients submit to us. Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in, so they just throw in a number for their congressional district," Ed Pound, spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which operates Recovery.gov, said Monday. In an appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" on Tuesday night, Vice President Joe Biden said the errors didn't indicate unaccounted-for spending but rather were the result of people who had "bad civics classes." "There was bad civics classes for those" who reported the data, Biden said. "They had to fill out a form, what district are you in, and there was no such district." http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/18/stimulus.district.errors/index.html
  • josephine miller commented on 12/11/2009
    I have heard some of the funds from the repaid bailouts are being used to study birds and ants, going to other countries and $100,00. is going to a bar. Instead of wasting that money it should go to shelters, food banks and to schools that are being closed because of the budget shortage. If that is suppose to be the taxpayers money why not use it to help the americans in this country that are losing their homes, cannot afford food or pay their bills? I think it is ashame how the government wastes money.
  • JACK SMITH commented on 1/8/2010
    HI RANDY, IF THIS MONEY IS GOING TO THESE FAKE DIST'S. THEN WHY CAN'T YOU OR SOMEONE PUT A STOP TO IT NOW??????
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