“It shouldn’t have happened.”
“We were unaware.”
“Perhaps we could have done a better job vetting the company.”
That’s what Ted Strickland said today in response to the report that federal stimulus dollars utilized by Ted Strickland’s appliance rebate program ended up producing jobs in Texas and Central America.
If only someone had provided some recommendations for how to more responsibly spend these taxpayer stimulus dollars. How to make sure it wouldn’t happen. How to ensure a company is properly vetted.
Oh wait, someone did.
From a letter Ohio’s GOP congressional delegation sent to Governor Strickland in March of 2009:
And today, those same congressmen had some harsh words for not taking their advice.
“Ohioans deserve to know how their stimulus dollars are being spent, instead of shadowy backroom dealings,” said Congressman Pat Tiberi (R-Genoa Township). “We had hoped to shed light on the stimulus allocation process by asking the governor to bring in an independent oversight board. Instead, Governor Strickland seemed to think it was unnecessary; apparently it wasn’t. This money should have been used to get Ohioans back on the job. We take the responsibility of spending tax dollar seriously. It’s unfortunate the Strickland administration demonstrated such bad judgment.”