We've been reporting on the bogus "saved or created" jobs allegedly coming from President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package, most notably all of the broken promises and misleading information on which taxpayers were sold this massive government intervention.In addition to the stimulus's complete failure, the Obama administration has touted inflated and flat out wrong job creation numbers as evidence that it has "worked."
We've compiled a list of states, from Oregon to Massachusetts to Florida to Texas, where reported "saved or created" jobs claims were exaggerated or simply pulled from thin air:
Arkansas: The Fayetteville National Cemetery received more than $1,000 to buy a single riding lawnmower from the Toro Company. The Recovery Act report claims this purchase "saved or created" 50 jobs. A Toro spokesman said that the 50-job figure is inaccurate. (NY Times, 11/4/09)
California: California State University received $268.5 million in stimulus funding, which supposedly "saved or created" 26,156 jobs. That number is more than half of the entire workforce in the CSU system. University officials also confirmed that half of their workers would not have been laid off without the stimulus, and that the number of jobs "saved or created" according to their report doesn't represent "a real number of people." CSU did confirm that they complied in "strict adherence with federal reporting requirements." (Sacramento Bee, 11/6/09)
Colorado: In Colorado Springs and Saguache County, two child development centers received a total of about $650,000 and reported saving or creating close to 300 jobs combined. The money, however, went toward giving employees cost-of-living raises. In reality, only three new jobs were created. (Denver Post, 11/10/09)
Connecticut: In Plymouth, a $15,355 stimulus grant was used to buy computers for the police department, which employs 22 officers. According to the Recovery Act report, these computers "saved or created" 108 jobs. Plymouth Mayor Vincent Festa said there were no plans to lay off any of its police officers with or without the stimulus, and that he could not explain the report. (USA Today, 11/2/09)
Florida: In DeLand, Stetson University counted all of the part-time work-study positions that the stimulus funded. Its report also sometimes counted more than one position held by the same student. The conclusion was 483 "saved or created" jobs, a number that the spokeswoman later said should be somewhere between 18 and 30. (WSJ, 11/4/09)
Georgia: The Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, which employs roughly 500 people, received $1.3 million in stimulus money. Even though it only employs about 500 people, the Recovery Act report said the money "saved or created" 935 jobs. Beverly Wise, the group's fiscal officer, said she thought the number was high, but that she followed the advice of federal officials on her calculations. (USA Today, 11/2/09)
Illinois: In North Chicago, a district with only 290 teachers received $4.7 million in stimulus aid. The Recovery Act report says that the money "saved or created" 473 teachers. In response, the local superintendent said, "I don't know where that [number] came from." In Wilmette, the stimulus was credited with saving or creating 166 jobs, but the superintendent said that number should be zero. And at Dolton-Riverdale, officials claimed 382 "saved or created" jobs, which is 142 more than the district has. (Chicago Tribune, 11/4/2009)
Kentucky: In Campbellsville, Buddy Moore received just under $900 in stimulus money to provide nine pairs of work boots to the Army Corps of Engineers. The Recovery Act report said this "saved or created" nine jobs. Moore described the paperwork as "unreal" and actually had to ask his daughter to help him make sense of it all. In answering the question about how many jobs were saved or created, Moore's daughter could not leave the box blank, so she arbitrary listed nine jobs, since nine pairs of shoes went to nine workers. Moore's daughter said, "The question I would like to know is: How do you answer that [question]? Did we create zero? Is it creating a job because they have boots and go out and work for the Corps? I would be really curious to hear how somebody does create a job." (WSJ, 11/2/09)
Massachusetts: Boston Land Company received $2.7 million in rental subsidies for its properties in Waltham, an amount the report lists as "saving or creating" 26 jobs. The director of property management for the company, however, says, "There were no jobs created. It was just shuffling around of the funds." In Worcester, Plumley Village East, a property company, listed 46 jobs "saved or created" even though it only has 23 employees. (Boston Globe, 11/11/09)
Michigan: The city of Detroit reported 342 "saved or created" jobs from a $10 million grant as part of the stimulus. But recently, the city acknowledged that those jobs were just projections, not actual jobs "saved or created." In Sault Ste. Marie, the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan reported 99 "saved or created" jobs, but an official with the council said no jobs would have been lost without the stimulus funds. (Detroit Free Press, 11/15/09)
Nevada: Although the federal government says that the stimulus has "saved or created" 5,658 jobs, the state itself says the number is only 5,080 job. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office says the number is more than 6,100. The state's controller, Kim Wallin, said flatly: "I wouldn't say they're making up numbers, but there are no standards or consistency." (Las Vegas Sun, 11/13/09)
Ohio: In Columbus, the school district reported that 65 percent of their "saved or created" jobs were "saved," even though the district's federal programs manager says that those "saved" jobs would not have been lost without the stimulus. "They weren't 'created,' obviously, so our only other choice was 'saved'." Voters passed a measure in 2008 that will keep the district more than adequately funded through 2012, rendering the stimulus dollars unnecessary, but the Recovery Act still took credit for jobs "saved or created" there. (Columbus Dispatch, 11/3/09)
Oklahoma: A joint venture company based in Oklahoma won six Army contracts (located in Georgia and North Carolina) and reported 60 "saved or created" jobs. The only problem is that the ten jobs actually created were each counted six times. The report also indicated that Fort Bragg in North Carolina was located in Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/15/09)
Oregon: In Salem, the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency reported 205 "saved or created" jobs from nearly $400,000 in stimulus aid. The executive director of that organization said in response, "Holy moly, that's not right." She said the money was actually used for pay raises. (WSJ, 11/4/09)
Texas: In Blooming Grove, a town of less than 900 people, Bob Bray used $26,000 in stimulus money and hired five roofers and an inspector to fix roofs. According to the Recovery Act report, stimulus money "saved or created" 450 jobs. Told by a federal official that six jobs created was not right, Bray instead reported the hours worked, meaning the 450 "saved or created" jobs was actually just a measure of time spent. (USA Today, 11/2/09)
Utah: In San Juan County, a resurfacing project used $850,000, a project that the Recovery Act report lists as "saving or creating" 25 jobs. The actual count, according to an independent review by the Salt Lake Tribune, is less than 8. In addition, the Clearfield Community Council plans to use $62,000 in stimulus money to help resurface a road. The report says that since no contract has been awarded, there have been no jobs saved or created, but the report goes on to claim that 10 jobs were "saved or created" anyway. (Salt Lake Tribune, 10/31/09)
Washington: According to the Recovery Act report, the stimulus "saved or created" 34,500 jobs in Washington, which is the third highest in the nation behind California and New York. However, 24,000 of those jobs likely weren't in danger in the first place, which is around 70% of the total jobs claimed to have been "saved or created." (News Tribune, 10/31/09)
Wisconsin: In Douglas County, roughly $7.3 million of stimulus money will pay to replace a sewer system. The Recovery Act report lists 100 "saved or created" jobs from this project. The project won't start, however, until Spring 2010, and the Parkland Sanitary District treasurer admitted that the number is actually only five jobs "saved or created." Throughout the state, Head Start grants reported that the stimulus "saved or created" 157 jobs, even though all of the money was used to make cost-of-living increases in pay. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/5/09)
