Government sends 3,900 stimulus checks to inmates

[Admiral Piett]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government sent about 3,900 economic stimulus payments of $250 each this spring to people who were in no position to use the money to help stimulate the economy: prison inmates.



The checks were part of the massive economic recovery package approved by Congress and President Barack Obama in February. About 52 million Social Security recipients, railroad retirees and those receiving Supplemental Security Income were eligible for the one-time checks.
Prison inmates are generally ineligible for federal benefits. However, 2,200 of the inmates who received checks got to keep them because, under the law, they were eligible, said Mark Lassiter, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration. They were eligible because they weren't incarcerated in any one of the three months before the recovery package was enacted.


"The law specified that any beneficiary eligible for a Social Security benefit during one of those months was eligible for the recovery payment," Lassiter said.


The other 1,700 checks? That was a mistake.


Checks were sent to those inmates because government records didn't accurately show they were in prison, Lassiter said. He said most of those checks were returned by the prisons.


"We are currently reviewing each of those cases to determine whether or not the recovery payment was due," Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue said in a statement issued Wednesday evening. "Where we determine payment was not due, we will take aggressive action to recover each of these erroneous payments."


The Boston Herald first reported that the checks were sent to inmates.
The inspector general for the Social Security Administration is performing an audit to make sure no checks went to ineligible recipients, spokesman George E. Penn said.


The audit, which had already been planned, will examine whether checks incorrectly went to inmates, dead people, fugitive felons or people living outside the U.S., Penn said.


The $787 billion economic recovery package included $2 million for the inspector general to oversee the provisions handled by the Social Security Administration. The audit is part of those efforts, Penn said. There is no timetable for its conclusion.


The federal government processed $13 billion in stimulus payments. About $425,000 was incorrectly sent to inmates.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stimul....html?x=0&.v=2


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Epic fail for stimulus!

[Arto]

I just feel bad for Obama.

[BNS]

Unexpected, no. Does it make me angry, no. That money was already stolen from me in the first place.

I wonder how they plan to recover it. Chances are the inmates have already spent it or hidden it.

[Player989random]

Unexpected, no. Does it make me angry, no. That money was already stolen from me in the first place.

I wonder how they plan to recover it. Chances are the inmates have already spent it or hidden it.

Wasn't that the goal of the checks?

Bad for Obama, but I still don't care.

Apathy is great.

[BNS]

Wasn't that the goal of the checks?

Bad for Obama, but I still don't care.

Apathy is great.

Exactly, they aren't "stimulating" the economy any less by having criminals spend it rather than some bureaucrat keeping it or spending it on some pet project.

My concern for the money stopped when the government seized it and decided they could play god with it.

[Bleda]

Unexpected, no. Does it make me angry, no. That money was already stolen from me in the first place.

I wonder how they plan to recover it. Chances are the inmates have already spent it or hidden it.

They spent it on cigarettes that they store up the ass of their es (prison "girl" friends)

Even in absolute terms: It's less than $1 million wasted, that's nowhere near enough to have even the slightest impact on the economy.

It's obvious you are just looking for the smallest of slip-ups to call it an "Epic fail", because you are against this project to begin with.

There are plenty valid reasons to call this project "Epic fail", but you choose to go this road which - ironically - is itself Epic fail.

Well then what was the point of using any millions to stimulate the economy? I'm all about making the economy work, but there was no forethought on this bill. They rammed it through congress before anyone could read the thing. According to the Obama administration and Nancy Pelosi, its un-American to debate the bill in congress.

[Erik]

Epic fail for stimulus!

1700 mistakes on 52000000 checks, that's less than 0.0033% gone wrong.

[Twist of Cain]

1700 mistakes on 52000000 checks, that's less than 0.0033% gone wrong.

OH NO OH NO EPIC FAILURE ALERT REMOVE THE FROM OFFICE! 0.0033 PERCENT, OH NOES!

/sarcasm

[Dr. Croccer]

They're clearly sub-human waste who deserve none of the money of the upper classes.

[danzig]

They're clearly sub-human waste who deserve none of the money of the upper classes.

No they dont and the money ends up coming out of everyones pocket not just the "upper class".

Reread the article. Part of these checks were a mistake and most were returned by the prison authorities. But being in prison does not mean that Congress did not authorize the expenditures. This is not a problem with the executive, but it clearly is another reason why our legislative officials need to read the text before voting.

Hell man Im convinced it is an unwritten agreement amoung congress to not read text of bills so they can let it pass when congressman x inserts a few million for a pet project, plus reading bills would cut into their time spent raising money from lobbyists.

[Cougar109]

Mistakes happen, get over yourselves. Somehow I doubt the government purposely sent checks to inmates.

[Ó Cathasaigh]

Do not question Obama.

[Gaidin]

Someone forgot to update their database

Also: Erik so totally nailed it.

[Martin N]

Doesnt surprise me, alot of the money was paying for partys and yachts and nice fancy bonuses, so why not some money to crooks and robbers ? bank execs are as good as thiefs anyway, maybe these checks will actually do some good in the normal world, maybe theyll invest it.

[Count Froody]

Mistakes happen, and there have been far worse ones in the history of bureaucracy. Nothing to get too worked up about, even though it's admittedly kinda stupid.

[Carach]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government sent about 3,900 economic stimulus payments of $250 each this spring to people who were in no position to use the money to help stimulate the economy: prison inmates.

prison is about rehabilitation not punishment these days FF. The money can be deposited into their accounts and gain interest whilst they cant do anything with it. when theyre released they have lots of dead presidents = stimulus!!!!!!!!!

lol.

seriously though: u guys constantly criticising the US government stimulus ideas, all up in arms about it; look at ur history lads. No financial meltdown has ever been set right by what u keep advocating. Only swift government intervention has been the (least painful) way out. Roosevelt was far more 'dangerous', if u will, in terms of the threat of losing all ur rights blah blah blah blah - have some trust in ur government and institutions. The commies arent taking over...

[BNS]

prison is about rehabilitation not punishment these days FF. The money can be deposited into their accounts and gain interest whilst they cant do anything with it. when theyre released they have lots of dead presidents = stimulus!!!!!!!!!

lol.

eriously though: u guys constantly criticising the US government stimulus ideas, all up in arms about it; look at ur history lads. No financial meltdown has ever been set right by what u keep advocating. Only swift government intervention has been the (least painful) way out. Roosevelt was far more 'dangerous', if u will, in terms of the threat of losing all ur rights blah blah blah blah - have some trust in ur government and institutions. The commies arent taking over...

Roosevelt's "bright" ideas gave us the longest depression in our history.

[Carach]

Roosevelt's "bright" ideas gave us the longest depression in our history.

are u actually kidding me?

[BNS]

are u actually kidding me?

I am actually not. The depression was the longest one in our history and the crash that preceded it was not our biggest.

[Cougar109]

Roosevelt's "bright" ideas gave us the longest depression in our history.

Educate me please. How did Roosvelt's idea lead to the longest depression in it's history despite the fact that he didn't come into office until 3 years after Black Tuesday and the fact that since the day Roosevelt took off the U.S. GDP steadily rose back up with the exception of a few months in 1937 were it declined a bit before again steadily moved upwards before skyrocketing at the start of WW2 in Europe.