Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Sarah Mamula
Talk Radio News Service

Despite the fact that his administration has received frequent criticism over the Recovery Act, Vice President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that it has been a success. By acting with “transparency, responsibility, and accountability,” he argued that the Recovery Act, or stimulus bill, has revived the U.S. economy by spurring growth and creating jobs with minimal cases of fraud.

According to Biden, out of 170,000 checks that have been sent out to companies and individuals involved in stimulus projects, only .2% are under investigation for fraud.

Biden who was tapped by President Barack Obama last year to oversee the implementation of the Recovery Act, echoed the President's desire to fully account for all money spent, and that appropriate actions will be taken to handle evidence of fraud.

"We should take every action possible [and] legally under our power to...impose sanctions in freezing those funds," said Biden.

The Vice President said he believes new technologies and programs that allow the government to detect fraud more easily will deter future attempts at fraud.

“We have weapons,” he said. “We have weapons that we didn’t have, didn’t use before.”