The independent board overseeing stimulus spending will not correct information on Recovery.gov that indicates the government is paying more than a million dollars for two pounds of frozen ham, a spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board said on Monday.
The blogosphere and WTOP reporters over the weekend and Monday morning joked that the government is apparently spending $1.2 million for "two pound frozen ham sliced," according to a contract description on Recovery.gov, the official stimulus-tracking site.
Vice President Joseph Biden's office on Monday called WTOP to clarify that the stimulus contract covers thousands of 2-pound packages of ham and dairy products for soup kitchens and food banks, according to the radio station.
But the board, which maintains Recovery.gov, said the Agriculture Department, which purchased the commodities, is responsible for getting the data right, not the board.
"We get this information from the agency and we're not going to correct their information," board spokesman Ed Pound said. "We're not going to go in and clarify these summaries. We're not going to fix it. I suppose if they send us a note to change it, we might."
In a written response to the media's initial jabs, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack elaborated that the stimulus bill provides $100 million to buy food for food pantries and other local organizations that assist the needy.
"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 $1.191 million, at a cost of approximately $1.50 per pound. In terms of the dairy purchase referenced, Agriculture's Farm Service Agency purchased 837,936 pounds of mozzarella cheese and 4,039,200 pounds of processed cheese. The canned pork purchase was 8,424,000 pounds at a cost of $16,784,000, or approximately $1.99 per pound," Vilsack stated.
COMMENTS
this just adds to the gaffe and stupidity of this all. yes the board is responsible for what it does. ditto for WTOP. even nextgov is responsible for getting it right. no one gives a darn, it seems. so, as per usual: government looks dumb, the so called "media" (none dare call them journalists) look like playing gotcha--just like talking heads on the cable news shows who don't know what they are reading. last but not least, the blogger looks bad. why read this stuff at al? you'd think was nothing important to report and interpret.
Observer 07/23/09 08:07 am ET
To the board; if you know that the listing seems wrong and needs correcting, why post it to the public? Make the correction before Recovery.com posts it and your top Agriculture official has to come back and attempt to correct it. Make him look better as a manager and keep the smaller details where they belong.
Glenn M. Harbin 07/21/09 08:37 am ET
Waitaminnit... who assumed that the money was going for a single 2 lb package of ham? A few people made fun of the way it was phrased, but I have yet to find anyone who thought that the pork in question was $6,000,000/lb
DRH 07/20/09 10:42 pm ET