Government gives ineligible homeowners billions in stimulus loans

This is the kind of thing that Rep. Darrell Issa should be investigating. I realize that he wants to avoid a lot of controversy at the beginning of the term, but this IG report from one department of government on how the stimulus money was misspent on one program should raise an alarm somewhere in the GOP. The Washington Post:

An internal Agriculture Department report says the government may have given out more than $4 billion in stimulus housing loans to ineligible borrowers.

A preliminary report from the USDA inspector general made available Friday says a sample of 100 loans out of 81,000 showed that almost a third were given to ineligible borrowers - including some with income that exceeded the program limits, others who already owned homes and borrowers who purchased homes with swimming pools. The loans were paid for by the 2009 economic stimulus.

The inspector general's report says the loans precluded other, eligible borrowers from receiving the help. Based on the sample results, the report estimates that 27,206 loans worth about $4 billion - or more than a third of those granted - could be ineligible.

Fully 1/3 of the stim money for this one program was wasted. Do you think it's going to be any better in other departments, other programs?

Stay tuned...

Hat Tip: Ed Lasky

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