Vice President Biden In Philadelphia, Praises Federal Stimulus

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Vice President Biden was in Philadelphia Tuesday to praise hundreds of government investigators and auditors who've been keeping tabs on federal stimulus dollars.

The vice president says you can argue all you want about the effectiveness of the stimulus program but no one can say that the program lacks transparency or accountability.

He claims it's the single best implemented major piece of economic legislation in American history:

"As of September 30, 2010, the recovery board and the federal inspectors general have received a total of 4,809 complaints of wrongdoing associated with the recovery act. Only 577 are currently open and active investigations."

In his address to the  National Procurement and Grant Fraud Conference, Biden also said cutting-edge technology and the website, www.recovery.gov, have created what he called a new template for how to root out fraud in every government spending program.

Reported by: Paul Kurtz, KYW Newsradio