72,000 stimulus payments went to dead people

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 89,000 stimulus payments of $250 each went to people who were either dead or in prison, a government investigator says in a new report.

The payments, which were part of last year's massive economic recovery package, were meant to increase consumer spending to help stimulate the economy.

But about $18 million went to nearly 72,000 people who were dead, according to the report by the Social Security Administration's inspector general. The report estimates that a little more than half of those payments were returned.

An additional $4.3 million went to more than 17,000 prison inmates, the report said. Most of the inmates, it turns out, were eligible to get the payments because they were newly incarcerated and had been receiving Social Security before they were locked up.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20101007/D9IN53PO2.html

[Bigmack]

1. This report would gladden the hearts of Repubs...

... if they had hearts, of course.

Only thing is... any money that's spent, not saved, will stimulate the economy.

If somebody forged the check and bought beer... hey, the breweries need stimulus, too.

The original idea for Social Security, the Townsend Plan, had as one of it's stipulations, that the whole monthly allowance had to be spent during the month.

People forget that one of the functions of SocSec is to provide a small amount per subscriber that will all be spent on more-or-less necessities.

[Orrex]

2. Drop in the bucket. And a duplicate thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9276453

[ProSense]

3. That's

one-tenth of one percent of the checks sent to seniors.

In all, the $250 payments were sent to about 52 million people who receive either Social Security or Supplemental Security Income, at a cost of about $13 billion. Other federal retirees also received the payments, but they were not part of the inspector general's review.

Good that more than half of the 89,000 were returned.

[maxsolomon]

4. well, this proves the stimulus package was a failure

:sarcasm:

keep piling on, AP.

[Mimosa]

5. At least the computer programs found it? n/t

[groundloop]

6. Good ol' AP, trying their darndest to rain on President Obama

The president can't possibly control where each and every check goes, though the AP would like us to believe otherwise.

[sam sarrha]

12. see post #10

[L0oniX]

7. I see dead people. They pay dead people ...and crime pays.

[LiberalFighter]

8. The dead were probably all Republicans

[texastoast]

9. The government needs to keep better records of deaths

To prevent stuff like this from happening.

I just created a job to save the taxpayers money!:bounce:

[sam sarrha]

11. do the math.. dont fall for Tea Party spinn so easily. always suspect Voodoo Statistics

[texastoast]

16. Voodoo statistics or no

The government's records are generally far behind.

Three years after my son passed away, I got a letter from the Department of Justice saying all the bad things that were going to happen to my son for not registering for the draft. That sucked, was unnecessary, and if their damned records had been even close to up to date, the taxpayers wouldn't have had to pay for someone drafting the letter, printing on paper, stuffing the envelope, and paying the postage to send out a letter that upset me tremendously. That was in addition to all the solicitation calls I received from the armed forces in an attempt to get my late son to join them.

I'm all for eliminating government waste when the money is wasted because database upkeep is not performed. I wish I had that "drop in the bucket" that was wasted in these stimulus payments.

Sorry for the rant, but wasting tax dollars is not going to play well with a lot of Dems, much less the hateful teabaggers.

[sam sarrha]

10. 6,744 deaths in the US per day. .. 72,000 is about 10.8 days worth.. not really time to count.,

this is just ReThuglicker spin to make propaganda.. records take longer to change than 11 days nationwide between departments..

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_die_each_day_in_the_US

[AnnieBW]

13. Dick Cheney got stimulus money?

What for, his creepy heart thing?

[2Design]

14. election news from the repub media n/t

[smuglysmiling]

15. It is designed to shape the message...

that government doesn't work. The headline should have been "0.12% error rate in Social Security stimulus payments".

[Mikeystyle]

17. GOP stimulus love fest exposed

Despite their public condemnations of the economic stimulus plan approved last year, hundreds of Republican officials have been discovered holding secret crushes on this legislation, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The plan was approved with near-unanimous opposition from Republican lawmakers, yet interviews with Republican staffers, leaked documents and even public statements indicate that members of the GOP have been gushing over the stimulus since its inception.

Hints of a Republican love affair with the stimulus surfaced last week when a notebook owned by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) was found in the hallway outside his Congressional office.

“Oh Stimulus, I watch you all the time from my desk and in the hallway but you don’t seem to know I’m alive. I’ve handed out the big checks that you made to my constituents and taken credit for your success, but you just don’t seem to notice,” one of the passages read. “I know you’ve created jobs in my state and in my district but I just can’t bear to admit it. Why can’t other legislation be just like you.”

(continued….)
http://www.thechicagodope.com/2010/10/04/gop-stimulus-love-fest-exposed/