Texas is big.
But it isn't quite this big.
The federal Web site tracking stimulus money shows aid dollars going to Texas' 91st Congressional District, as well as five others that don't exist and a curious district by the number 00. All told, the site recovery.gov lists $14.7 million going to districts that don't exist.
Problem is, Texas only has 32 Congressional districts. A good number, for sure, but nowhere near 91.
The feds' curious numbering of districts was uncovered yesterday by New Mexico Watchdog and expanded upon by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.
The feds listed tax dollars going to 440 Congressional districts that don't exist, according to a Franklin Center analysis of data at recovery.gov. Their full listing of "phantom districts" can be found here.
(Texas Watchdog is not affiliated with New Mexico Watchdog, but has provided journalism training to both New Mexico Watchdog and the Franklin Center.)
Federal officials tell ABC News that the mistakes can be attributed to human error.
"Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in," a federal official told ABC.
A plausible explanation.
But here's hoping some dutiful federal official is keeping a closer eye on the dollar-sign numbers than he was the district numbers.
Federal stimulus Web site says $14.7 million in aid went to Texas Congressional districts that don't exist
Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009, 08:25AM CST |
By Lee Ann O'Neal
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Comments
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Fred
Wednesday, 11/18/2009 - 12:23PM
It appears you are not being sarcastic when you say that the federal official's explanation is plausible. The federal Web site says there were millions spent in the 99th Congressional District in the Virgin Islands and the 99th Congressional District in the Northern Mariana Islands and the 99th Congressional District of Puerto Rico. Those are easy errors to catch.It's unforgivable that the person posting such stuff on the federal Web site doesn't know: 1) The U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico do not have even one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives; 2) Not even California has 99 representatives. That would be 99 out of 435 representatives and would require a population of about 68 million. Look here yourself: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jobs-saved-created-congressional-districts-exist/story?id=9097853 You have damaged Texas Watchdog's credibility by showing such ignorance. |
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Lee Ann O'Neal
Wednesday, 11/18/2009 - 12:59PM
Hi, Fred, thanks for commenting. We welcome all opinions. You may have missed it, but we also linked to the story you mentioned. Take care, and thanks for reading, Lee Ann O'Neal leeann@texaswatchdog.org |
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