The American Pundit

Well, one person certainly isn’t suffering in this massive economic downturn.

It turns out that Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton’s staunch ally and presidential campaign pollster in 2008, was rewarded handsomely for his loyalty to the top Democrat. Unfortunately for us, that reward came in the form of $6 million in stimulus funding for his firms.

Nearly $6 million in stimulus money was paid to two firms run by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton’s pollster in 2008.

Federal records show that $5.97 million from the $787 billion stimulus helped preserve three jobs at Burson-Marsteller, the global public-relations and communications firm headed by Penn.

What a deal! We spent $5.97 million in taxpayer funds to preserve three jobs at a high-class public relations firm run by a Democratic crony. Where can we sign up for more of this? Hell maybe?

Burson-Marsteller won the contract to work on a public-relations campaign to advertise the national switch from analog to digital television. Nearly $2.8 million of the contract was issued to Penn’s polling firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, according to federal records.

And Clinton’s cronies weren’t the only bunch being rewarded with our tax dollars. The Obama crowd got in on the action, too.

Federal records also show that a former adviser to President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign received nearly $70,000 from that contract to help alert viewers in difficult-to-reach communities that their televisions would soon no longer receive broadcast signals.

The adviser, Alfredo J. Balsera, who heads a public-affairs firm based in Coral Gables, Fla., helped craft Obama’s Hispanic advertising message.

How is the Obama Administration responding to these reports? A spokesman says it doesn’t matter that many millions of dollars went to projects or contractors that should have received the money, just as long as most of them aren’t bad. Because nobody messes with Joe.

Your tax dollars at work.