Stimulus, They Cried [Jonah Goldberg]
From Eric Cantor's shop (PDF):
As we looked back over the past year of the Democrats’ Stimulus, two reoccurring themes emerged:
1. Every time the Administration or Congressional Democrats would claimcredit for some number of jobs created or saved, a subsequent fact-check would debunk the claim
2. The unemploymentrate kept marching upward.
February 17, 2009: $787 billion Recovery Act signedinto law. Unemployment rate stands at 7.6%.
February 17, 2009: Administration releasesspecific state-by-state numbers reflecting the expected impact of the RecoveryAct .
February 17, 2009: The nation’s first Recovery Act project is announced, a new bridge in Tuscumbia, MO.
February 24, 2009: President Obama announcesthat Vice-President Biden will “lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort – because nobody messes with Joe.”
March 3, 2009: President unveils“Recovery Act” logo designed by the same Chicago firm that helped create the Obama Campaign logo.
March 4, 2009: CNN reportson the controversy surrounding the first Recovery Act project in a segment titled “A New ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’”
March 6, 2009: Department ofLabor announcesthat 651,000 jobs were lost in February and that the unemployment rate rose to 8.1%.
March 16, 2009: Press reports indicatethat even Recovery Act “Czar” Earl Devaney is questioning the state-by-state jobs figures released by the Administration
April 3, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 663,000 jobs were lost in March and that the unemployment rate rose to 8.5%.
April 13, 2009: The Administration announces 2,000thRecovery Act project, but an ABC News fact check reveals that far fewer projects are actually underway.
May 8, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 539,000 jobs were lost in April and that the unemployment rate rose to 8.9%.
May 12, 2009: Reportsbegin to surface of dead people, some deceased for 40 years or more, receiving $250 stimulus checks.
May 13, 2009: The Administration releasesits first quarter Recovery Act report stating that as of May 5, $28.5 billion had been spent.
May 21, 2009: The Administration quietly releasesa footnote to its previous report announcing a $10.4 billion accounting error that reduces the actual spending by roughly one-third of what was reported a week earlier.
May 27, 2009: President Obama marks the 100 day anniversary of the Recovery Act by claimingthat 150,000 jobs have been saved or created.
May 29, 2009: Politifact.com reportson the President’s claim of 150,000 jobs created or saved, saying it is “not much better than a guess presented as a fact.”
June 5, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 345,000 jobs were lost in May and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.4%.
June 22, 2009: Administration releasesrules for counting jobs “saved” and “created.”
July 2, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 467,000 jobs were lost in June and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.5%.
July 8, 2009: It is reportedthat the Administration will spend up to $18 million to revamp its recovery.gov website.
July 27, 2009: Congressional Democrats claimhighway and transit spending from the stimulus has created or sustained 48,000 jobs.
July 31, 2009: ProPublica checksin on the Democrats’ claim of 48,000 highway and transit jobs created or sustained and says the estimate suffers from “fuzzy math.”
August 5, 2009: Reportsindicate that only 12% or $70 billion of stimulus funds have been spent.
August 7, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 247,000 jobs were lost in July and that the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.4%.
August 17, 2009: Speaker Pelosi marksthe six month anniversary of the Recovery Act, saying, “the Recovery Act is already paying dividends for workers, families, and small businesses.”
September 3, 2009: Vice President Biden statesthat the Recovery Act is "doing more, faster, more efficiently, and more effectively than most expected."
September 4, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 216,000 jobs were lost in August and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.7%.
September 28, 2009: Reportsindicate that Recovery Act spending has reached $102 billion.
October 2, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 263,000 jobs were lost in September and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.8%.
October 15, 2009: Administration announcesthat contracts awarded with Recovery Act funds have created or saved 30,383 jobs.
October 29, 2009: Associated Press analysisreveals that the 30,883 job count previously released by the Administration overstated the jobs created or saved. “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.”
October 30, 2009: Administration announcesRecovery Act has saved or created 640,329 total jobs.
November 6, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 190,000 jobs were lost in October and that the unemployment rate rose to 10.2%—surpassing the 10% unemployment mark for the first time since 1983.
November 16, 2009: The press reportsthat many of the jobs created or saved were, according to the government’s official website, created or saved in congressional districts that do not exist.
November 16, 2009: Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI), one of the principal authors of the Recovery Act, condemnsthe inaccuracies reported on recovery.gov as “ludicrous mistakes.”
November 19, 2009: Administration confirmsthat they cannot confirm their claim that 640,329 jobs were saved or created by the Recovery Act.
December 4, 2009: Department of Labor announcesthat 11,000 jobs were lost in November and that the unemployment rate edged down to 10.0%.
December 18, 2009: Administration sends out a memosaying they will no longer count jobs created or saved, but instead count jobs funded in whole or in part by the Recovery Act.
January 8, 2010: Department of Labor announcesthat 85,000 jobs were lost in December and that the unemployment rate remained at 10.0%.
January 26, 2010: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) increases the estimated costof the Recovery Act by $75 billion to $862 billion plus interest.
February 3, 2010: Reports indicate that one-third of stimulus funds have been spent.
February 5, 2010: Department of Labor announcesthat 20,000 jobs were lost in January and that the unemployment rate edged down to 9.7%.
February 12, 2010: The press reportsthat Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent Democrat Members of Congress a memo stating that "The Recovery Act is a hallmark achievement of this Congress…"
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