Administration Has Zero Tolerance For Stimulus Fraud, Says Biden

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.”

Job Creation Remains Vital In Economic Recovery Says Biden

By Justine Rellosa-Talk Radio News Service

Vice President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the economy is, in fact, "on the mend" and added that job creation is still at the forefront of change.

According to government figures, the Recovery Act has created 2.5 million jobs so far and it increased the current GDP by as much as three percent last quarter. Biden said that nearly $100 billion of the Recovery Act tax cuts are pulling "double-duty" shifts by helping families gain efficient income through multiplier effects and boosting economic activity.

"The economy is clearly on a mend. In the first quarter of this year we added 54,000 jobs per month. Now, I know, and we all know, that that rate of job growth is too slow to bring down the unemployment rate," Biden said. "Continued weakness in job creation remains a major challenge, one the President and the whole administration is committed to meeting."

The Vice President said that the plan for economic growth includes rules and regulations that protect consumers and tax payers, education reform, sustainable federal spending and energy independence.

"The next expansion is characterized by prosperity that is broadly shared by new economic opportunities for the middle class," Biden said. "By finally tearing down the barriers to health care and education [and] by starting us down a path toward energy independence, we’ll be building the America we need in order to compete... and lead in the 21st century."

Biden To Cops: You're All Nuts And I Love You For It

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Vice President Joe Biden was awarded the Distinguished Service Award From the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Monday night.

While the Vice President was flanked by tele-prompters during his acceptance speech, Biden lived up to his reputation for candor by appearing to deviate from his prepared remarks.

"You take [risks] every damn day," Biden said. "Walking up a three story walk-up for a domestic dispute, you're as likely to get your head blown off as you are to be greeted with a hug."

"Stopping a vehicle on a side street in broad daylight these days, you don't know when they role down the window if you're going to have a glock-9 pointed at you or if you're going to have somebody hand you ... the license," the Vice President continued.

"I think you're all nuts," Biden added. "I love you for it."

The Memorial Fund cited Biden's unique career in the Senate, with special attention paid to the years Biden spent on the Senate Judiciary Committee, as the basis the for the award.

In attendance were Biden's two sons Beau and Robert, along with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) who was a past recipient of the award.

Boehner Accuses White House Of Lying About Stimulus

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

During a press conference Wednesday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.) said President Obama and Vice President Biden have been telling lies about why the Stimulus package hasn't reversed the nation's spiraling unemployment rate.

“I found it interesting in the last couple of days, the Vice President and the President mentioned the fact they didn't realize how difficult an economic circumstance we were in. Now this is the biggest fabrication I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress. I’ve sat through those meetings at the White House with the President, the Vice President, trust me there’s not one person that sat in those rooms that didn't know how serious our economic crisis was,” Boehner said.

Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio.), Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wa) cautioned that the recent legislation put forth by the Democrats will do nothing but increase taxes which, in the long term, will hinder consumer spending.

“Republicans know and the American people know that what we need is fiscal discipline in Washington D.C and we need to give the American people a tax relief, working families, small businesses and family
farms need more of their hard earned money to put this economy back on its feet,” said Pence.

As for health care, McMorris-Rodgers explained that “We cannot forget that doctors are the experts, we must guard that relationship between the doctor and his patient; it is one of the most valued relationships
that we have,” adding that “We can reform health care, and we can give options to the uninsured without the federal government setting up shop as a big health insurance company or the health care gate keeper.”

Biden: Hospitals Back Health Care Reform

Hospital associations will be aiding the White House’s health reform effort by providing $155 billion in medicare and medicaid savings over the next ten years, announced Vice President Joe Biden Wednesday.

“All of these savings are based on policies the administration proposed in its budget to fund health care reform,” said Biden, adding that the announcement represented President Barack Obama’s goal to achieve deficit neutral reform.

The Vice President, who appeared with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for the announcement, stressed health reform’s urgency, stating that a plan needs to be in place by the end of August.

“We have tried for decades to fix a broken system. We have never, in my entire public tenure in public life, been this close,” said Biden.

The hospital associations will achieve the promised savings by reforming their delivery systems and reducing inflationary updates.