(PresidentialInsider.com)- According to internal data provided by the IRS, over a million prison inmates received COVID stimulus checks from the American Rescue Plan amounting to more than one billion dollars.
In a letter sent to Republican Congressman Don Bacon, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig admitted that these stimulus checks were disbursed to prison inmates, including about 163,000 inmates that are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Rettig was unable to say how many death row inmates may have also received stimulus checks.
Congressman Bacon told the Washington Free Beacon that the “reckless” spending in the 2021 American Rescue Plan had no off-sets and giving stimulus checks to prisoners “is a glaring example” of that.
In total, prison inmates received an estimated $1.3 billion in stimulus checks last year.
In 2021, Republican lawmakers warned that Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan lacked the appropriate guardrails to prevent abuse after it was reported last year that the Boston Marathon Bomber on death row was among those who received a $1,400 stimulus check.
The American Rescue Plan offered stimulus checks to individuals earning less than $75,000 and couples earning less than $150,000. However, the plan did not bar prison inmates from receiving these stimulus checks.
Rettig admitted in his letter that those in state and federal prison can still apply for a stimulus check if they haven’t yet received it.
Rettig’s disclosure about inmates receiving stimulus checks is just the latest problem arising from the unfettered government spending in response to the COVID pandemic.
In May, the Small Business Administration admitted that it had no plan to prevent fraudulent loan applications for the nearly $1 trillion Paycheck Protection Program.
Experts estimate at least $80 billion from the Paycheck Protection Program was disbursed to phony businesses. Former US Attorney Matthew Schneider called the Paycheck Protection Program “the biggest fraud in a generation.”
