Senators Demand Obama Administration Stop Sending U.S. taxpayer Stimulus funds Overseas

In response to this report of $1.4 billion dollars of ARRA funding, that's Stimulus dollars, claiming to create U.S. jobs, instead being funneled offshore to foreign nations, Senators Schumer, Brown, Tester & Casey demand the Obama administration Suspend Stimulus Program Funneling Billions Overseas.

In the wake of a new report revealing that a clean-energy grant program in the stimulus has paid out more than $1 billion to foreign manufacturers, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jon Tester (D-MT) urged the Obama administration Wednesday to suspend the program indefinitely until the law can be fixed so that funds only flow to projects that will create jobs in the United States.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, the senators pushed for a moratorium on all payouts from a clean-energy grant program until Congress can consider new legislation that they introduced Wednesday.

It's just unreal, in Texas alone, there is $450 million dollars going straight to China to create jobs, in China.

It appears our lovely Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, is the one who can stop this stimulating China's economy instead of our own.

Look at what Senator Sherrod Brown is telling us about the Obama administration doing anything. Look at this claim!

Administration officials have said they do not have the authority to prevent that payment.

This is in response to trying to block $450 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars going to China. Do not have the authority? Please!

Look at the absurdity of what the Energy Department says:

The Recovery Act has doubled the pace of investment in America’s wind industry — including helping attract more than $10 billion of foreign investment to create U.S. jobs,” said Stephanie Mueller, press secretary at the Energy Department. “The best way to stimulate our manufacturing base is to stimulate demand for wind turbines in America, since manufacturers tend to locate where the demand is.

Right o, giving away our manufacturing base, making sure turbines are built in China, funding the manufacturing of turbines in China....magically creates jobs in America.

Jesus. I'm sorry but talk about fictional economics and this is clearly corrupt. No, we really do not want to help China get even a further leg up to dominate alternative energy manufacturing. That's not the plan and giving them U.S. taxpayer dollars to do it, well, it's treasonous.

From Schumer's press release:

The project is a joint venture comprised of China’s Shenyang Power Group, a Texas company called Cielo Wind Power and the U.S. Renewable Energy Group. It would build a 648-megawatt wind farm in west Texas, covering 36,000 acres. The electricity generated by this wind farm will be enough to power 135,000 to 180,000 American homes every year.

The senators said the project was certainly worthwhile, but it should not be eligible for stimulus funds since it did not rely on U.S. manufacturing. While the project is anticipated to generate as many as 3,000 jobs in Shenyang, China—which, according to the project’s announcement, will be the main site of the wind turbines construction—its job impact in the United States will be roughly one-tenth that amount. According to the New York Times, the project will only generate 330 jobs in the United States—and 300 of those are temporary positions.

The Senators are trying to fix this mess with a new bill.

Senators Announce Legislation To Deny Stimulus Funds To Any Project That Doesn't Create Bulk Of Jobs In US—Demand Moratorium On Clean-Energy Program Until Law Is Fixed To Ensure Taxpayers Don't Subsidize Job Creation Overseas

When I find a bill number and title, I will update this post. All of the Senate should be passing this, cosponsoring such a bill immediately, not just 4. Stimulus must be Hire America and Buy American in order to work.

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Forget about Obama

If this complaint is coming from a "liberal" senator forget about it. He only listens to compromises with or caves to repuglican/conservative senators.

Look at yesterday, "progressives" were pushing hard for the public option on health care reform. President, said 'thanks but no thanks'.

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