Icet promises audit of federal stimulus dollars
State Rep. Allen Icet, a Republican candidate for state auditor, on Wednesday announced that his first act -- if elected -- would be "a vigorous audit of federal stimulus funds received by the state of Missouri."
Icet's GOP rival, St. Louis lawyer/professor Tom Schweich, has made a similar pledge. And the incumbent Democrat, Susan Montee, says her staff already is monitoring the spending.
But Icet, R-Wildwood and chairman of the House Budget Committee, says he'll bring to the job a skepticism of the Obama administration. In fact, Icet says his announcement is prompted by media questions about the numbers of jobs saved or created with the stimulus money.
"We owe it to Missouri taxpayers to ensure that our tax dollars are being used as intended," said Icet in a statement. "As Missouri auditor, I'll keep careful watch over all of the stimulus funds coming into our state for fraud and effectiveness. If there's fraud, we'll put an end to it. Where there's ineffectiveness, we'll expose it and I will work to try and re-direct funds to better serve the tax payers of Missouri."
"The Obama Administration might think funny math is good enough for stimulus funds, but I don't." Icet continued. "Missouri taxpayers deserve to know whether this flood of new spending is working as President Obama claimed it would."
