Oh, don't let our lefty friends lead you astray. Ohio Republicans specifically requested that the governor appoint an independent panel to oversee how this money was being spent, but he decided to play politics with YOUR money.
What are the specifics? The "stimulus" cash for fridges program here in Ohio is being "managed" by a company based in Texas. That company outsourced the work to Central America.
Oops.
So much for stimulus "creating (or saving?) jobs right here" in Ohio...or the United states for that matter.
Once again, Strickland's team is just not up to the task. This administration has been a circus of blunders and unforced errors...from Day One.
Ohio's senior Republican in Congress, Rep. Steven LaTourette said, "It’s no wonder only 6% of Americans believe that the Stimulus Bill created any jobs. To be fair, it does look like Governor Strickland used the funds to create some jobs – in Central America. To suggest an Ohio company couldn’t be trusted to run the appliance rebate program is insulting, and paying a Texas company nearly half a million dollars to use a call center in another country is astounding. This is not Cash for Appliances, it’s Cash for Incompetence."
Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05) piled on:
“As President Obama and Governor Strickland continue to tout the ‘success’ of the ‘stimulus package’ in the face of record high unemployment, this story only confirms the fact that independent oversight is long overdue, which we called for last year,” Congressman Latta said. “It is beyond comprehension that not only was this project outsourced to another state, but that these jobs would eventually end up overseas.”Republican Leader, my Congressman and a Great American -- John Boehner -- also known as the right Knight of Congress added, "The White House, with the support of Governor Strickland, pledged that the ‘stimulus’ would create jobs immediately in our state, yet more than 100,000 Ohioans have lost their jobs since this trillion-dollar bill was enacted. Gov. Strickland owes Ohio families asking ‘Where are the jobs?’ an explanation as to why ‘stimulus’ funds allocated by his administration were used to create jobs in Central America, and why he has repeatedly refused to establish an independent, bipartisan panel to prevent this misuse of taxpayer dollars."
Democrats can't even give away money right...
UPDATE: 3BP has reaction from Rep. Pat Tiberi here.
