The state of Michigan received $3.7 billion from the federal stimulus passed this year, with just $620 million set aside to "create and save" jobs. Since receiving this funding the state has "created or saved" an astonishing... 397 jobs. Yeah...
(Sidenote: The rest of the $3.7 billion went to pay down Gov. Jennifer Granholm's burgeoning budget deficit across the state. I don't want to assume politics played a role in any of this, but you sure wouldn't want an outgoing Democrat governor to leave behinds all kinds of spending shortfalls for a new Democrat gubernatorial candidate to try and defend against Republican opposition, would you?)
As the Detroit Free Press has reported, the hard numbers coming out from the Obama administration on stimulus spending and job are a far cry from the claims Granholm and the Democrats promised. Just a few days ago, Gov. Granholm claimed the stimulus had "created or saved" 19,500 jobs.
And the problem isn't just in the state of Michigan, but nationwide. The Hill reported yesterday that the $787 billion stimulus has only "saved or created" 30,083 jobs nationwide!
Of course, the Obama administration said these numbers exceeded their expectations...
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"All signs -- from private estimates to this fragmentary data -- point to the conclusion that the Recovery Act did indeed create or save about 1 million jobs in its first seven months, a much needed lift in a very difficult period for our economy," said Jared Bernstein, the chief economist for Vice President Joe Biden.
According to the White House recovery office's rough calculations, the 30,083 jobs number projects out to a total of 1.2 million jobs saved or created by the stimulus through September.
The White House recovery team said that the reported jobs number represented just 5 percent of the jobs directly saved or created by stimulus since it came out of contracts that represented only 5 percent of the stimulus spending so far. And as many jobs came directly from the spending, just as many jobs were indirect results of stimulus programs and tax cuts, the White House recovery office said.
That sounds promising for our tax dollars.
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