It has been widely suspected that President Obama's $800 billion economic stimulus spending program was riddled with waste, fraud and abuse. Now there is evidence. A yearlong investigation by the McClatchy newspaper chain reporters exposed "a massive labor scheme that harmed workers and cheated unsuspecting American taxpayers." Worse yet, the probe showed that "government regulators watched as money slipped out the door and into the hands of companies that rob state and federal treasuries of billions of dollars each year ..." A congressional inquiry is called for.


Here's a report that should make taxpayers sit up and take notice. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the average day, an unemployed worker is more likely to be shopping -- for things other than groceries and gas -- than to be looking for a new job. And President Obama wants to provide more government unemployment benefits.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, apparently thought it was "casual Friday" when she delivered a one-minute speech recently. The Hill newspaper reported she was wearing a pair of flip-flops. The paper said she was "all business on top" (red suit jacket with a black and white scarf and pearl necklace) but "she was ready to hit the beach on the bottom, with her toe-baring shoes."