BY MEGHAN TISINGER – Alexandria, VA – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) and John McCain (R-AZ) released a new oversight report: “Summertime Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects that Give Taxpayers the Blues,” detailing 100 questionable stimulus projects.
The report, which is the third in a series, includes several projects that were discovered and reported on by the Franklin Center’s network of reporters.
“The Franklin Center’s Watchdog investigative reporters have maintained a watchful eye on the allocation of the stimulus money and have broken numerous news stories about these questionable projects,” said Franklin Center President Jason Stverak. “This report reiterates how vital the work that these watchdogs are doing by keeping our government accountable and transparent to the American people.”
Among the 100 projects detailed in this report include stories broken by Texas Watchdog, West Virginia Watchdog and MacIver Institute. Their stories were captured on their websites as well as the national news website Watchdog.org.
Watchdog.org is a collection of independent journalists covering state-specific and local government activity. The program, which began in September 2009, is an initative of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity.
The authors of the report Sen. Coburn and Sen. McCain said that some projects that appear in the report may have merit, but are being mismanaged or were poorly planned.
In addition, to the projects discovered by Franklin Center’s Watchdogs, the report cites a biomass power plant that was awarded hundreds of thousands of stimulus dollars, but may close in months, and a rail line to two professional sports stadiums— that is hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and only “shovel ready” because it was years behind schedule when funding came available.
To read more about Franklin Center’s network of Watchdog please visit Watchdog.org. About Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity promotes social welfare and civil betterment by undertaking programs that promote journalism and the education of the public about corruption, incompetence, fraud, or taxpayer abuse by elected officials at all levels of government. Founded in January of 2009, The Franklin Center is a nonpartisan organization that believes that new technology can advance the cause of transparency in government.
The Franklin Center aims to educate, to advise and to train individuals and organizations from all backgrounds to become thorough, unbiased and responsible reporters well versed in new media techniques and journalistic integrity.
For more information on the Franklin Center please visit www.FranklinCenterHQ.org About Watchdog.org