Written by Biloxi
Senator Tom Coburn, who has been dubbed the nickname 'Dr. No,' is targeting again the Office of Justice Programs, a division in the Department of Justice on federal spending.
From the Legal Times, Senator Coburn targets the Weed and Seed program:
42-page critique of DOJ programs that try to prevent crime through social services and community programs, including such events as basketball tournaments. The department calls the strategy “weed and seed,” and it dates to the anti-drug efforts of then-Attorney General William Barr, who served from 1991 to 1993.
Drawing on stories from local newspapers nationwide and from photos posted on Facebook, the report from Coburn’s office says the programs are a waste of money. It highlights, for example, a luau held in East Chattanooga, Tenn., and summer programs involving trips to amusement parks and bowling alleys.
“Amusement parks and bowling can never take the place of law enforcement, and taxpayers should never be forced to pay extra for police protection while available funds are being spent on such recreation when the evidence is lacking to demonstrate such activities reduce crime,” says the report (PDF), titled "Party at the D.O.J."
The program’s site director for East Chattanooga Weed and Seed, Vivian Hixson, said that the event, intended for children, was staffed by volunteers and paid for with private donations. Ms. Hixson told the Legal Times:
“This is not some luau party like he’s making it sound,” Hixson said. She added that Coburn’s office did not contact her before issuing its report. “I wish that we had been asked,” she said, “because I think that we could have cleared this up very easily.”
Told of the Chattanooga program’s response, Coburn spokesman John Hart wrote in an e-mail: “In many of these cases, it comes down to a question of whether the funds in question are fungible. Also, because DOJ does not track the funds, it is difficult to pin this down.”
According to Senator Coburn's report, he gives a guess that Department of Justice spent $100 million over the past five years on frivolous spending at the expense of public safety. Since Senator Coburn has become the sheriff of cracking down on wasteful federal spending, how come Senator Coburn hasn't cracked down on misspending of the Weed and Seed program in his own state for the past six years? According to his own local newspaper:
The auditor also found $153,971 in unsupported and unallowable costs that were charged to federal grant money.
But, I guess recreation to Senator Coburn is a waste of spending but not the misspending and poor management of funds from the Oklahoma City's Weed and Seed program. By the way, in March 2009, Senator Coburn had proposed eliminating funding for such programs. OJP division has become the new target of alleged wasteful spending, yet, Senator Coburn stood silence when the former OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores gave grant money to First Tee, who chairman head is former President George H. W. Bush, because "golf was off the hook." Since when golf became the formula for juvenile justice prevention? That is what Mr. Flores thought as he steered millions of dollars of grant money to individuals and organizations that had ties to the Bush Administration. Read more of the Juvenile Justice Scandal. Click here.
Senator Coburn is still looking for that needle in the haystack to attempt to eliminate and also nickel and dime the Weed and Seed program, a program with the intention to improve high-crime neighborhoods.
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