Stimulus Money went to Watching Movies and Playing Video Games

February 13, 2013


(Photo: ABC News)

The Washington Free Beacon reported about how taxpayer money from Obama’s Stimulus was spent:

According to a report from the Energy Department’s inspector general, lithium ion battery manufacturer LG Chem used money from a $150 million stimulus grant to pay workers to watch movies, play video games, and volunteer at local nonprofit groups.

 

LG Chem cited poor demand for the Chevrolet Volt, the electric car for which the batteries were to be manufactured, as cause for its lackluster grant performance. The company’s Holland, Mich., plant, which received the grant, has not manufactured a single battery that can be used in electric vehicles, according to the IG.

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) said it best: “Only the government could spend $150 million to start a battery company and not come up with a single battery.”

This news comes at the end of a long line of failed Stimulus boondoggles including Solyndra, which went bankrupt after  receiving $535 million in loan guarantees from taxpayers and A123 Systems, a battery company that is also bankrupt after receiving $249 million in taxpayer grants.