More Boots on the Ground: Protecting Stimulus Spending

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Steven Berk

"The best protection for stimulus spending"

Every dollar of stimulus funding must be protected. This package must work for the millions of Americans who are out of work and the many more millions who are barely holding on to their jobs and their homes.

When so many federal dollars are flowing so rapidly into thousand of programs across the country there is a certainty of fraud and abuse.

To be sure, the Obama Administration understands this imperative and the President early on began “jawboning” Mayors and potential recipients of funding on accountability. Since then the Administration has asked the Vice President (“don’t mess with Joe”) to oversee the operation of the stimulus package. And most recently, the Administration appointed the experienced and respected investigator of public fraud, Earl Devaney to serve as Chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board.

But those measures will hardly be adequate.

“The President needs to get more 'boots on the ground'."

One Inspector General, no matter how good, cannot fight this war effectively. Too much money, too many programs and too little time; the Administration must enlist members of the private bar. If we have anything in this country, we have plenty of talented and hungry attorneys. Enlist them through an incentive program that will deter misconduct and ultimately save the government billions and protect the integrity of the stimulus package.

This is hardly a new idea. The Federal False Claims Act has been around for a few decades and has been used to return $22 billion back into the Federal coffers.

We need the passage of a Federal False Claim Act tailored specifically to protect the programs and spending of the Stimulus package. “A False Claims Act on Steroids”.

It must have:

  • stronger penalties,
  • expedited procedures (to eliminate undue delay and stalling),
  • liberalized standards to be deemed a “whistleblower”; and
  • stiffer penalties just to name a few.

Government legislation must protect and incentivize honest, hard working contractors who are willing to ferret out fraud and serve as whistleblowers. As they have proven in the past, they will zealously bring to light fraud and ensure government funding remains safe and working for taxpayers.

A new “False Claims Act on Steroids” should receive bi-partisan support. Republicans and Democrats alike cry for accountability. Expansion of the false claims act requires no new bureaucracy and no additional outlays of federal spending. Not a penny, but the Administration must act quickly before the barn door opens and it’s too late.

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