Before we get into the nuts and bolts, let's take a quick trip back to February 13, 2009. Obama's Presidency was still in its early days. His approval numbers were sky-high, and he had a limitless supply of political capital. The national unemployment rate was at 8.2%. People were afraid, but they had just elected a new, vibrant leader who seemed to have all the answers."At $789 billion, the final package "is just not going to pack the same jobs punch" as some earlier versions, which cost as much as $100 billion more, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com, whose analyses have been cited by White House officials as well as congressional Democrats. Zandi estimates the measure will create only about 2.2 million jobs by the end of 2010, leaving unemployment hovering around 10 percent and probably forcing lawmakers to undertake another stimulus plan.
The White House has officially pared its own projection to 3.5 million jobs in recognition of the bill's smaller size. But Christina Romer, who leads Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said the administration remains convinced that the package of tax cuts and spending initiatives has sufficient power to boost the sagging economy toward recovery by year's end."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/12/AR2009021203832.htmlBy the White House's own estimates, the stimulus plan ($789,000,000,000) was going to create 3.5 million jobs (that's $225,428/job).
789000000000/3500000=225428
Fast forward to today. Unemployment is at 10.2%--that is a 25% INCREASE since February. Our government has allocated untold quantities of money--money we DO NOT HAVE--to "stimulate" the economy. Gold is at an all-time high, indicating the rapid devaluation of our currency. Not only are more people unemployed, but what little money people do have is buying less and less each day. In the 9-10 months since it began, the White House claims to have created or saved some 640,329 jobs. How exactly does one measure how many jobs have been saved? More importantly, why should that "figure" even matter? The stimulus plan was supposed to CREATE 3.5 million jobs (over 2 years)--Obama's words, not mine. It wasn't sold to us as a plan that would SAVE 3.5 million jobs. The real measurement of a healthy economy isn't a STEADY 10.2% unemployment rate, it's a DECREASING unemployment rate. Anyone who supported this plan was outright swindled, and anyone who continues to support this plan is selling the rest of us down the river.
Some more facts:
"On Friday, in the name of holy transparency, the White House released the list of jobs created or saved with the stimulus funds. Now, let’s assume that the government can create jobs even though it can’t. Let’s assume that “job saved” is not the lamest excuse for government spending I have heard in my life time as a budget analyst. And let’s look at what this data means.
The White House claims that 640,329 were created or saved. That, by the way, is way less than what Christina Romer claimed would be created. Last week, she mentioned 1.4 million during a Joint Committee hearing. Remember.
First, $159 billion has been spent so far. That’s $248,273 per job.
However, when you look at some specific contracts that were awarded you find that some jobs were created or saved at an insane cost to taxpayers. For instance, $1,359,633,501 were awarded to CH2M WG IDAHO LLC, in WA to create 2,183 jobs. That’s $622,827 per job. That’s not as bad though as the $258,646,800 awarded to the Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC in NY, to create 25 jobs. That’s over $10.3 million per job.
I would be happy with one of these jobs.
Second, while the administration is promising good and in time reporting, we can see that it’s far from being the case. Agencies report having spent $207.3Billion and yet only $36,688,660,161 were reported by states. That’s a big gap, isn’t it?
Third, some 85 percent of the money went to 4 agencies: HHS, Labor, Education and Social Security. That money wasn’t spent on shovel ready projects. For instance, some of the HHS funds went to some rural high school and college students from Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee to conduct medical research this summer with a team of leading scientists at Vanderbilt University. The Department of Labor spent $11,058,877 in unemployment insurance (UI) modernization incentive funds to the state of West Virginia. And the Department of Education is mainly spending its money to keep union protected school teachers in their jobs. Not really shovel ready projects, are they?
But the most relevant information on Recovery.gov is that most of the jobs created or saved are in the public sector. For instance, according to Vice President Biden, out of the 640,329 jobs, 325,000 went to education and 80,000 to construction jobs. The difference we will soon find out is going to other government jobs.
You need more evidence? 13,080 grants went to the private sector, and 116,625 went to feral agencies.
So even if we assume that the government could create jobs by spending our money, we can see that what this money is being spent on is big government. Or bigger government I should say.
So when you think that, on top of everything, the government can’t create jobs (here and here), this data is transparently depressing."
http://biggovernment.com/2009/11/02/stimulus-job-creation-bigger-government/#more-24206HANDING DEMOCRATS THE KEYS TO THE ECONOMY IS LIKE HANDING THE KEYS TO A DRUNK DRIVER. How can they possibly think that boosting the number of public sector jobs can stimulate growth?! Don't get me wrong--I don't want ANYONE to be out of a job, but don't come at me spouting off about saving the teachers. I do not have a problem with teachers--don't get me wrong--but it doesn't matter how many teachers we have if there is no public sector demand for their product (high school/college graduates). All the knowledge in the world isn't going to help these young Americans if there are no private sector jobs waiting for them on the other side. Again, I don't think our leaders understand how things work. Government jobs are supposed to be supported by private sector taxes. Public sector jobs and costly progressive reform (healthcare, cap & trade, etc) are AMENITIES to be enjoyed by countries with already healthy (GROWING) economies. These are NOT effective means for achieving economic stability. If you increase the number of government jobs without increasing the number of private sector jobs, you're going to have a problem on your hands. Could it be that Democrats aren't interested in improving the economy? With their perceived satisfaction with the idea of a "jobless recovery", you really have to wonder. It seems Democrats are counting on voters to think with their hearts instead of their brains. They've effectively conned America into believing them to be the party of compassion. Empty words and promises have carried them for a long time, but the modern alternative media is revealing the true, dark nature of their agenda. Just as the Democrat party once stood for slavery, the modern Democrat party is once again promoting slavery. Through irresponsible fiscal policy and economically destructive "reform", they are creating an entire new constituency of voters--a massive, jobless, demoralized class of people who WANT to work but CAN'T find jobs. Just as Democrats have always enjoyed the complete support of unemployed voters, they're counting on this new class of otherwise productive citizens having no choice but to support the party of handouts--thus ensuring unchecked, unencumbered control to the Democrat party. This is truly our Liberty vs. Tyranny moment. -Palm Tree Doc (http://palmtreedoc.blogspot.com)
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