Earlier this year, a friend who lives in Oceanside, New York, told me how the Long Island Power Authority came over and replaced his refrigerator with brand new one for free! It was a funny story at first, because they gave him a fridge that didn't fit into the designated space in his kitchen. Meanwhile, they had already carted the old one away. When he notified them of the mistake, they advised him to alter the placement of his cabinets to accommodate the sparkling new unit. That was unacceptable to him and they eventually came with a fridge that fit the space.

Here's the thing, when delivering the replacement for the replacement, my friend asked if this initiative to provide Long Islanders with more energy efficient appliances was part of the Obama stimulus plan. He was told that was the case. Well, according to LIPA's website, they were only to be offering rebates of $75.00 to customers who purchased their own upgraded refrigerators.

Presumably, this was part of a $300 million cash-for-clunkers government program. So what gives with the freebies?

Again earlier this year, a Colorado watchdog group brought attention to Obama refrigerators being given away in the Rocky Mountain State. Since Colorado is a swing-state -- that would seem to make sense if one were inclined to a little "vote buying." But why New York, which is solidly a blue state?

In any event, my friend's refrigerator sits quietly and without power in Oceanside in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Perhaps some of our tax money spent in the Obama Stimulus should have gone to infrastructure rather than in payoffs to a blue state like New York --and what looks like vote buying in Colorado.