Friday, November 6, 2009

A Stimulating Pay Raise

We call it stolen stimulus around here:

"reported saving jobs when using the money to give pay raises, pay for training and continuing education, extend employee work hours, or buy equipment"

Yup, you are JUST a TOOL, worker! A PIECE of EQUIPMENT! I'm guessing you DIDN'T GET OVERTIME PAY either!

And even if they did claim to add jobs:


"Some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two, three, four, or even more times. The government has overstated by thousands the number of jobs it has created or
saved"

"AP found job counts that were more than 10 times the actual number"

Related: Stimulus Was Stolen

Stimulating Sophistry

More:

"Pay raises used to tally number of jobs saved by stimulus" by Brett J. Blackledge and Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press | November 5, 2009

WASHINGTON - The government’s latest tally of stimulus jobs counted pay increases for existing workers as jobs saved in a popular federal preschool program, raising fresh questions about the process the Obama administration is using to tout the success of its $787 billion economic recovery plan.

A review of the latest stimulus reports - which the White House promised would undergo extensive reviews to ensure accuracy - found that more than two-thirds of 14,506 jobs credited to the recovery act by Head Start programs involved pay increases. Health and Human Services spokesman Luis Rosero defended the practice. “If I give you a raise, it is going to save a portion of your job,’’ he said.

(Blog editor truly does not know how to respond to such convoluted thought)

But Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for Republican House minority leader John Boehner, retorted, “That’s more than ridiculous.’’

Elizabeth Oxhorn, a spokeswoman for the White House recovery office, said the Obama administration was reviewing the Head Start data.... Most of the inflated figures were like those cited in the 935 saved jobs reported by the Southwest Georgia Community Action in Moultrie, Ga. Director Myrtis Mulkey-Ndawula said she followed the guidelines the Obama administration provided and multiplied her 508 employees by 1.84 - the percentage pay raise they received - and came up with 935 jobs saved. “I would say it’s confusing at best,’’ she said. “But we followed the instructions we were given.’’

The raises were appropriate because the stimulus law set aside money for Head Start salary increases, but converting that number into jobs saved proved difficult.... More than 250 other community agencies receiving stimulus cash from the HHS Administration for Children and Families similarly reported saving jobs when using the money to give pay raises, pay for training and continuing education, extend employee work hours, or buy equipment, according to their spending reports.

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So that is how Massachusetts claims they saved 23,000 jobs!?

More phantom workers:

"Mass. chases stimulus cash for broadband

Hoping to win a new chunk of federal stimulus money, Governor Deval Patrick pitched the Obama administration yesterday on three proposals that would expand broadband access in areas of Massachusetts that lack adequate high-speed connections. Beginning a two-day visit to Washington, Patrick met with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to lobby for projects totaling $154 million that would expand high-speed Internet availability in Western Massachusetts and Boston and on Cape Cod.

Since they never actually do anything for us -- despite what they say -- I wonder what angle the state is playing here.

What do they care if I'm hooked up to the web or not? What business is it of government? Want to hook you all up to their info flow? Or just more tax loot to tech corporations?

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