Thanks to the Drudge Report, we can now see exactly how the stimulus money is helping our economy.  All that pork claimed by certain Congress critters was apparently necessary after all.

 

Agency Name	Department of Agriculture	Project Location	LOS ANGELES
Contract Number	AG3J14120297210	Project Location – State	CA
Funding Amount	$2,531,600	Project Location – Zip Code	90058-1800
Completion Date	2009-09-30	Congressional District	CA-34

Recipient Information (Award)

Recipient Name	CLOUGHERTY PACKING, LLC	Recipient Address	3049 E VERNON AVE
Recipient City	LOS ANGELES	Recipient State	CALIFORNIA
Recipient Zip Code	90058-1800	Congressional District	CALIFORNIA-34

Description of Work/Service performed

HAM, WATER ADDED, COOKED, FROZEN, SLICED, 2-LB

Award Overview

Agency Name	Department of Agriculture	Project Location	LOS ANGELES
Contract Number	AG3J14120297196	Project Location – State	CA
Funding Amount	$1,191,200	Project Location – Zip Code	90058-1800
Completion Date	2009-06-30	Congressional District	CA-34

Recipient Name	CLOUGHERTY PACKING, LLC	Recipient Address	3049 E VERNON AVE
Recipient City	LOS ANGELES	Recipient State	CALIFORNIA
Recipient Zip Code	90058-1800	Congressional District	CALIFORNIA-34

2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED  Award Overview Agency Name Department of Agriculture Project Location CLEVELAND Contract Number AGDPDVVDOC02503 Project Location – State OH Funding Amount $1,562,568 Project Location – Zip Code 44101-3301 Completion Date 2009-08-31 Congressional District OH-11 Recipient Information (Award) Recipient Name MICELI DAIRY PRODUCTS COMPANY Recipient Address 2721 E 90TH ST Recipient City CLEVELAND Recipient State OHIO Recipient Zip Code 44104-3301 Congressional District OHIO-11 Description of Work/Service performed MOZZARELLA CHEESE       Award Overview Agency Name Department of Agriculture Project Location PLAINVIEW Contract Number AG3J14120297195 Project Location – State MN Funding Amount $16,784,272 Project Location – Zip Code 55964-1059 Completion Date 2009-06-30 Congressional District MN-01 Recipient Information (Award) Recipient Name LAKESIDE FOODS INC Recipient Address 808 HAMILTON ST Recipient City MANITOWOC Recipient State WISCONSIN Recipient Zip Code 54220-5326 Congressional District WISCONSIN-06 Description of Work/Service performed CANNED PORK       Award Overview Agency Name 57 Project Location DYESS AFB Contract Number 0006 Project Location – State TX Funding Amount $1,444,100 Project Location – Zip Code 79607-1581 Completion Date 2010-01-26 Congressional District TX-19 Recipient Information (Award) Recipient Name AFCO TECHNOLOGIES, INC Recipient Address 1535 BRADY BLVD Recipient City SAN ANTONIO Recipient State TEXAS Recipient Zip Code 78237 Congressional District TEXAS-20 Description of Work/Service performed REPAIR DOOR BLDG 5112    Award Overview Agency Name Department of Veterans Affairs Project Location BROOKLYN Contract Number VA243RA0565 Project Location – State NY Funding Amount $351,807 Project Location – Zip Code 11209-1503 Completion Date 2010-03-25 Congressional District NY-08 Recipient Information (Award) Recipient Name VETERANS CONTRACTING GROUP, INC. Recipient Address 526 FAYETTE AVE Recipient City MAMARONECK Recipient State NEW YORK Recipient Zip Code 10543-2212 Congressional District NEW YORK-18 Description of Work/Service performed RECOVERY ACT-PROJECT 630A4-08-406, REPLACE AND UPGRADE THE DUMBWAITER     Award Overview Agency Name Department of Agriculture Project Location NORWOOD YOUNG AMERICA Contract Number AGDPDVVDOC02502 Project Location – State MN Funding Amount $5,708,260 Project Location – Zip Code 55368-9525 Completion Date 2009-08-31 Congressional District MN-02 Recipient Information (Award) Recipient Name BONGARDS’ CREAMERIES Recipient Address 13200 COUNTY RD 51 Recipient City NORWOOD Recipient State MINNESOTA Recipient Zip Code 55368-9525 Congressional District MINNESOTA-02 Description of Work/Service performed PROCESS CHEESE

Please note that the above details were copied directly from the recovery.gov website as they appeared as of the posting time of this piece.  If you go to an entry and the information has changed, well, all we can say is that perhaps it wasn’t the waiter’s dumbness that needed to be fixed.

Or it’s all about that “transparency”.

UPDATE from Jake Tapper’s blog.  Because you knew there was going to be an “Oops!” associated with this:

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack just issued a statement referring to the $100 million available to the states for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) through the stimulus bill. TEFAP, he said, “acquires food that is distributed to local organizations that assist the needy – including food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens.”

Said Vilsack: “The Recovery Act funds referenced in press reports allowed states to purchase ham, cheese and dairy products for these food banks, soup kitchens and food pantries that provide assistance to people who otherwise do not have access to food. This program will help reduce hunger of those hardest hit by the current economic recession. The references to ‘2 pound frozen ham sliced’ are to the sizes of the packaging.  Press reports suggesting that the Recovery Act spent $1.191 million to buy “2 pounds of ham” are wrong. In fact, the contract in question purchased 760,000 pounds of ham for $1.191m, at a cost of approximately $1.50 per pound. In terms of the dairy purchase referenced, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) purchased 837,936 pounds of mozzarella cheese and 4,039,200 pounds of processed cheese.”

Vilsack said that the “principal purpose of these expenditures is to provide food to those hardest hit by these tough times” though they also offer “a modest economic benefit of benefiting Americans working at food retailers, manufacturers and transportation companies as well as the farmers and ranchers who produce our food supply.”

But here’s the bottom line as mandated by our Constitution:  While this is all nice and warm & fuzzy, people who aren’t in the “tough times” affected states are not responsible for the problems created by the governments of those “tough times” affected states.  If they wish to donate to an organization set up to help fund these types of charities, terrific and more power to them for Americans are nothing if not generous.  But if not, just like abortions, they should not be forced to pay for them with their tax dollars.