Posted by
B4REALITY on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 1:24:38 AM
A non-existent district in Tennessee received nearly $41 million in stimulus funds and used that money to produce 0 jobs. District 00 received all but $13 million that was sent to the seven phantom districts in the state, but produced fewer jobs than the non-existent 11th district, which created or saved 3 jobs using $39,000.
More than $2 million was given to the 99th District of North Dakota, a state which has only one congressional district. In order to qualify for 99 districts, North Dakota would have to have a population of about 60 million people, almost 24 million more people than California.
"Your Guide to the Stimulus, District by (Phantom) District" provides a state by state overview of federal stimulus funds sent to phantom congressional districts and the number of jobs "created or saved" as a result of the spending. This latest story, found on Watchdog.org, provides links to articles and state analysis reported by a network of watchdog journalists.
------------------------------------------------------
Stimulus watchdog: Job creation data flawed
(AP) – 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — The government watchdog overseeing economic stimulus spending says the White House was too quick to take credit for saving or creating 640,000 jobs.
The White House trumpeted job figures released last month, saying they proved the administration is on track to save or create 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year.
But Earl Devaney, whose agency collected and released the data, said Thursday there are too many errors to know how many jobs have been created. Under questioning on Capitol Hill, he agreed the White House should have acknowledged the doubt surrounding the numbers.
He said the downside of the unprecedented transparency is embarrassment, and there's enough embarrassment over the accounting problems to go around.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Today’s roundup of stimulus coverage:
Yesterday’s GAO
report [1] (PDF), looking at errors and inaccuracies in the first round of reports provided by recipients of stimulus money, is covered from a variety of angles. Reuters’ Lisa Lambert
looks at [2] the audit itself, while and the
New York Times’ Michael Cooper
notes [3] the accompanying Congressional testimony of Earl Devaney, the chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, that the actual job numbers could be higher or lower than claimed. Meanwhile, ABC’s Rick Klein
reports [4] in
The Note that Republicans are using the discrepancies in stimulus reporting to bolster their argument that the government shouldn’t be allowed to play a greater role in health care.
Acting U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro of the Government Accountability Office; Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board; Deputy Education Secretary Anthony Wilder Miller; and Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari are sworn in before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)ProPublica’s Jennifer LaFleur and Michael Grabell have noted that the data errors at Recovery.gov should be kept in perspective [5].
Jared Bernstein, the chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, told an audience at the Brookings Institution that the administration was open to more stimulus, the Washington Post‘s Alec MacGillis reports [6]. “Bernstein emphasized that he was not expressing any official administration preferences about how to proceed,” MacGillis writes. “But his comments showed far more openness to more direct approaches to hiring or retaining workers than he signaled just three weeks ago in a speech at American University, where he dismissed a question about direct government job creation by arguing that public works programs take longer to get going than people realize.”
Finally today, the Boston Globe‘s Green Blog reports [7] that the University of New Hampshire is getting $700,000 in stimulus money to test “the nation’s first floating deepwater wind turbine.” The Globe reports that the beauty of the project is the possibility of moving offshore wind farms far enough away from coastlines that they don’t sully the view, thus reducing public opposition.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Government Accountability Office released a
report [1] (PDF) today criticizing the quality of the data used to calculate how many jobs have been generated by the stimulus.
The findings echo media reports [2] in recent weeks. Some highlights:
- Nearly 4,000 reports filed by recipients of stimulus money showed no dollar amount received. Yet those same reports claimed to have created or saved more than 50,000 jobs.
- Some 9,200 reports showed no jobs, even though they spent a total of almost $1 billion in stimulus money.
- Nearly one in 10 stimulus recipients failed to file reports.
- Almost one quarter of reports from primary stimulus recipients were not reviewed by a federal agency.
- Recipients used different formulas to calculate how many jobs they had created or saved.
The Washington Post said coverage of the glitches may be undermining confidence in the stimulus [3]:
The constant barrage of such stories may be taking a toll. In the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 23 percent of respondents say they think the stimulus act has hurt the economy, and 39 percent say that it has made no difference.
For more context, see today’s
piece [4] by ProPublica’s Jennifer LaFleur and Michael Grabell about why some criticism might be overblown. And don’t forget our
Unofficial Guide to Recovery.gov [5], which points out some of the tricks and traps in the government’s data.
---------------------------------------------------
This year’s $787 billion stimulus bill is under scrutiny from a watchdog group that says it’s not living up to its promise.
At issue is the President’s claim the stimulus package would help create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.
The government watchdog says the White House is overstating the success.
The Stimulus Oversight Board says the data is full of inaccuracies and errors.
Those errors include reporting that jobs were created in congressional districts that don’t exist.
The Government Accountability Office also says some reports claim jobs were created or saved with money that hasn’t been spent yet.
Republicans call it White House propaganda.
“The whole jobs created/saved metrics is not only trouble, it is entirely deceitful. No government agency, private sector group or research economics has any idea what the reliable calculation track for these numbers would be,” Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California.
White House officials acknowledged that job numbers could change and that some forms were filled out incorrectly.
They also say the focus should be on creating jobs, not counting them.