Biden Touts Corrupt Welfare Program As Stimulus Triumph

In a desperate publicity stunt that made him look like a crackpot, Vice President Joe Biden touted a fraud-infested welfare program to make low-income houses energy efficient as an example of success in stimulus spending.

Flashing his trademark capped teeth during a press conference in New Hampshire, the vice president had the audacity to promote the scandal-plagued weatherization program as a great stimulus-funded effort despite the documented fraud and corruption that has surrounded the disastrous endeavor nationwide.

Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have so far been lost because there’s virtually no oversight of the $5 billion program which is largely managed by “community groups.” The U.S. Department of Energy distributes the cash to local charities across the country that turn around and subcontract companies—usually their buddies—to do the actual work. The idea is to make the homes of poor folks more efficient by offering them free insulation, sealing and even new central heating and cooling systems compliments of Uncle Sam.

Instead there have been serious problems in the workmanship of more than half of the weatherization jobs in some states and a chunk of the money has been illegally used by “community group” employees in other states to buy things like Christmas decorations, Halloween candy and to pay parking tickets. In one instance the husband of a charity employee got $10,000 worth of U.S. taxpayer-financed work on his house even though it didn’t qualify.

In Biden’s home state of Delaware, the weatherization program got a $13.7 million stimulus infusion but state officials were forced to put it on hold a few months ago after a federal audit discovered serious corruption problems. The probe found “gross mismanagement” and fraudulent activity that includes contractors getting paid for work that was never done. No word on when the state will be allowed to resume weatherizing. 

Ignoring reality, Biden never the less praised weatherization as “one of our signature programs” under the monstrous $787 billion stimulus law, claiming that thousands of workers across the country are on the job making energy-saving home improvements that will save working families hundreds of dollars a year on utility bills. Just call him Vice President Bozo.