Related: Second Stimuloot on the Way
"reported saving jobs when using the money to give pay raises, pay for training and continuing education, extend employee work hours, or buy equipment"
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"
Also see: Stimulus Was Stolen
Stimulating Sophistry
Stimulus Was a Perk
And YOU PAID FOR IT ALL, America!!
Well, not yet! Interest will be added on from the borrowing.
But let's start you off with a nice pile of breakfast bulls***.
"Study sees small lift from stimulus; $20 billion failed to cut jobless rate" by Matt Apuzzo and Brett J. Blackledge, Associated Press | January 12, 2010
Was it worth it, America?
WASHINGTON - A federal spending surge of more than $20 billion for roads and bridges in President Obama’s first stimulus has had no effect on local unemployment rates, raising questions about his argument for billions more to address an “urgent need to accelerate job growth.’’
An Associated Press analysis of stimulus spending found that it didn’t matter if a lot of money was spent on highways or none at all: Local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless. And the stimulus spending only barely helped the beleaguered construction industry, the analysis showed.
With the nation’s unemployment rate at 10 percent and expected to rise, Obama wants a second stimulus bill from Congress including billions of additional dollars for roads and bridges, projects the president said are “at the heart of our effort to accelerate job growth.’’
Yeah, let's toss MORE TAX MONEY down a LOOTING RAT HOLE!
*********************************
“There seems to me to be very little evidence that it’s making a difference,’’ said Todd Steen, an economics professor at Hope College in Michigan, who reviewed the AP analysis.
Since when did evidence ever stop politicians from doing anything?
And there’s concern about relying on transportation spending a second time.
“My bottom line is, I’d be skeptical about putting too much more money into a second stimulus until we’ve seen broader effects from the first stimulus,’’ said Aaron Jackson, a Bentley University economist who also reviewed AP’s analysis....
My bottom line: NO MORE LOOTING by this or any other government!
Spending needs to be CUT and TAXES need to be LOWERED!!
END the DAMN WARS for starters!
Even within the construction industry, which stood to benefit most from transportation money, the AP’s analysis found there was nearly no connection between stimulus money and the number of construction workers hired or fired since Congress passed the recovery program. The effect was so small that one economist compared it to trying to move the Empire State Building by pushing against it.
Translation: The stimulus was WASTED, thus the term STIMULOOT!
Despite the disconnect, Congress is moving quickly to give Obama the additional road money he requested.
Yeah, SPEND US INTO OBLIVION so you can feed your pet perks and projects, Democrats!! You guys can't lose power quick enough.
“We have a ton of need for repairing our national infrastructure and a ton of unemployed workers to do it. Marrying those two concepts strikes me as good stimulus and good policy,’’ White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said. “When you invest in this kind of infrastructure, you’re creating good jobs for people who need them.’’
I'm sorry, I can no longer translate government double-speak.
Even so, transportation spending is too small of a pebble to create waves in the nation’s $14 trillion economy. And starting a road project, even one considered “shovel ready,’’ can take many months. “It would be unlikely that even $20 billion spent all at once would be enough to move the needle of the huge decline we’ve seen, even in construction, much less the economy,’’ said Kenneth D. Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America.
But if you say it enough it will become conventional myth and then wisdom and you won't have to worry anymore. You can just be a demagogue and insult anyone who questions official orthodoxy.
--more--"
And if at first you don't succeed, JIGGER the NUMBERS!!!
"White House shifts rules on counting job creation
WASHINGTON - The White House has abandoned its controversial method of counting jobs under President Obama’s economic stimulus, making it impossible to track the number of jobs saved or created with the $787 billion in recovery money.
Didn't we get rid of this s*** with the last guy?
Of course, he's going to be real tough on those bankers that funded his campaign!
Despite mounting a vigorous defense of its earlier count of more than 640,000 jobs credited to the stimulus, even after numerous errors were identified, the Obama administration now is making it easier to give the stimulus credit for hiring. It’s no longer about counting a job as saved or created; now it’s a matter of counting jobs funded by the stimulus.
That's NOT CREATING a JOB or STIMULATING anything except my ANGER!!
That means that any stimulus money used to cover payroll will be included in the jobs credited to the program, including pay raises for existing employees and pay for people who never were in jeopardy of losing their positions.
You know, like BONUSES and such!
The new rules, quietly published last month in a memorandum to federal agencies, mark the White House’s latest response to criticism about the way it counts jobs credited to the stimulus.
Shades of the George W. Bush administration, no?
When the Associated Press first reported flaws in the job counts in October, the White House said errors were being corrected and future counts would provide a full and correct accounting of how many stimulus jobs were saved or created. President Obama has promise that the stimulus would save or create 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.
I must be getting jaded because another broken promise, deception, and lie isn't even causing me gas.
--more--"
And I guess the story is so worthy it gets two mentions:
WASHINGTON - The White House has abandoned its controversial method of counting jobs under President Obama’s economic stimulus program, making it impossible to track the number of jobs saved or created with the $787 billion in recovery money.
Despite mounting a vigorous defense of its earlier count of more than 640,000 jobs credited to the stimulus - even after numerous errors were identified - the Obama administration now is making it easier to give the stimulus credit for hiring. It’s no longer about counting a job as saved or created; now it’s a matter of counting jobs funded by the stimulus.
That means that any stimulus money used to cover payroll will be included in the jobs credited to the program, including pay raises for existing employees and pay for people who never were in jeopardy of losing their positions.
The new rules, quietly published last month in a memorandum to federal agencies, mark the White House’s latest response to criticism about the way it counts jobs credited to the stimulus. When the Associated Press first reported flaws in the job counts in October, the White House said errors were being corrected and future counts would provide a full and accurate accounting of just how many stimulus jobs were saved or created.
Numbers published last month identified more than 640,000 jobs linked to stimulus projects around the country. The White House said the public could have confidence in those new numbers, which officials argued proved the administration was on track to keep Obama’s promise that the stimulus would save or create 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.
That seemed oddly familiar, didn't it?
But more errors were found, with tens of thousands of problems documented in corrected counts, from the substantive to the clerical....
Interesting that the political blurb chopped that, 'eh?
--more--"
More wasted tax loot:
Massachusetts will get $8 million in federal stimulus money over the next two years to expand job counseling, search, and placement services at the state’s 37 one-stop Career Centers, the Patrick administration said yesterday.
The state recently received the first of two $4 million installments, allowing career centers to hire staff and provide more individualized attention to job seekers. The money has also helped the state upgrade online tools, including an expanded database known as JobQuest. It allows residents to search state and national job listings, as well as training opportunities.
For jobs that aren't out there. Pffft!
Bill Linnehan, director of North Central Career Centers in Leominster and Gardner, said the stimulus money allowed the centers to hire 10 additional staffers to provide customized job search plans for unemployed workers. The plans assess skills and job readiness and identify training and other programs.
There is you stimulus: MORE PEOPLE to help the GROWING NUMBER of UNEMPLOYED!
Over the past year, North Central Career Centers served about 17,000 unemployed workers, double the number in the previous year, Linnehan said. More than 300,000 workers in Massachusetts are unemployed, according to the most recent statistics. The state unemployment rate is 8.8 percent, compared to 10 percent nationally.
Who jiggered those numbers?
In announcing the federal grants in Lynn, Governor Deval Patrick said: “We need to help people get the skills to do the jobs of tomorrow. These funds will help us do that. “
How far away is November?
