The $787 billion economic stimulus package is meant to save or create 3.5 million jobs. That goal may be much less important than it was when the package was first approved by Congress. Unemployment will go over 10% later this year and could average that though 2010. The stimulus package cannot come even close to plugging that hole.
The Administration is fond of putting out reports and making statements about how well the $787 billion investment is working. It is now clear that some of that was based on false data.
The AP did an exclusive study of documents related to stimulus job creation and found that the Adminstration’s count is shy by at least 30,000 workers. The research found that “some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times.”
The news is likely to blow a hole in the government’s credibility and to raise, once again, the wisdom of a huge federal program meant to “create” jobs. There are other reports about stimulus employment gains coming to the administration in the next several weeks. The head count from those could also be inflated, which may push the miscounting of added jobs closer to 100,000.
The White House is back in Congress asking for more stimulus cash. Some of it is in the form of a $250 payment to 52 million older Americans and people with disabilities. Another seeks to extend the first time home buyer credit. Each of these has a price tag well into the billions of dollars.
A 30,000 job count mistake is big enough to cause an outcry among stimulus spending opponents just as efforts to expand the programs becomes a more essential part of the White House plans to keep the economy from a second dip into recession.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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