Tax Dollars Flushed Away

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October 29, 2009 01:57 PM EDT by John Stossel

Tax Dollars Flushed Away

When an initial report by a government oversight board claimed President Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan had already resulted in 30,000 jobs, the White House said that was evidence the stimulus was working.

Now the Associated Press has reviewed the stimulus contracts and found, oops, the government exaggerated the job numbers.

The AP review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced.

That's government math for you. Some of the examples the AP found are shocking even for government:

A company working with the Federal Communications Commission reported that stimulus money paid for 4,231 jobs, when about 1,000 were produced.

A Georgia community college reported creating 280 jobs with recovery money, but none was created from stimulus spending.

A Florida child care center said its stimulus money saved 129 jobs but used the money on raises for existing employees.

AP discovered that some people were very creative when counting "jobs created."

Officials at East Central Technical College in Douglas, Ga., said they now know they shouldn't have claimed 280 stimulus jobs linked to more than $200,000 to buy trucks and trailers for commercial driving instruction, and a modular classroom and bathroom...

You always suspected your money was being flushed away. Now you have proof.

7 Comments

rick

i think the bailout of the banks and auto manufacturers was a bad idea. all that money should have been equally given to each taxpayer,then the people could paid their mortgages or bought a home,paid all their bills which in turn would kept everyone working since all the money would be back in circulation,yet the rich got he money and still the economy is in the pot,ask anyone that would have been the best for the american econmy.thats my opinion

October 30, 2009 at 4:57 pm

(1 Reply)

LAD

The notion that government hiring creates a net increase in jobs is a fallacy. Studies by Martin Feldstein and Greg Mankiw (both of Harvard) show that for every $1 spent by government, the private sector loses approximately $2.50. So for every one public sector job a politician claims to have created, two and a half private sector jobs have been destroyed.

October 29, 2009 at 5:55 pm

Ao1Ao2fi

Hey John, Rachel Maddow is on calling you a, paid for schill on healthcare. I bet she doesn't have the guts to let you on and speak for yourself.

October 29, 2009 at 4:12 pm

Fred

Weep for your children, America.

October 29, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Carolyn

This report once again proves that what this adminstration tells us must be measured carefully for the truth. We need more of the news media to report as the AP has. As the previous message said Kudos to AP and as always thanks to Fox and any other news reporting this matter.

October 29, 2009 at 2:58 pm

jonat

The govt. math is bad enough. These companies receiving the funds don't need to contribute to the deception. Unfortunately, the folks in congressional oversite don't want to show the numbers as being false. THIS IS WHY WE NEED A FREE PRESS!!! Kudos to the AP service and kudos to any news org that serves as a govt. watchdog. I'll applaud MSNBC if they would hold Washington accountable. I look forward to a show, John, where you can broadcast "fuzzy math" and other nefarious deceptions via TV

October 29, 2009 at 2:30 pm

About this Web Site

John Stossel joined FOX Business and FOX News in October 2009. His show, Stossel, airs on the Fox Business Network on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET

He is the New York Times best-selling author of Give Me A Break and Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity. His "Give Me a Break" commentaries take a skeptical look at a wide array of issues, such as education, the economy, parenting, and more.
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