More well spent "stimulus" dollars

[harold_bush]

Phantom zip codes also found in Virginia | Washington Examiner

[harold_bush]

well, George Bush.....uh...ummmm.....George........uh, it's George Bush's fault!

[kbsooner21]

Wonder if any of that supposedly sent money went into ACORN accounts?

[Jamaicanman]

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE, Associated Press Writer Brett J. Blackledge, Associated Press Writer –
WASHINGTON – The White House has abandoned its controversial method of counting jobs under President Barack Obama's economic stimulus, making it impossible to track the number of jobs saved or created with the $787 billion in recovery money.

Despite mounting a vigorous defense of its earlier count of more than 640,000 jobs credited to the stimulus, even after numerous errors were identified, the Obama administration now is making it easier to give the stimulus credit for hiring. It's no longer about counting a job as saved or created; now it's a matter of counting jobs funded by the stimulus.

That means that any stimulus money used to cover payroll will be included in the jobs credited to the program, including pay raises for existing employees and pay for people who never were in jeopardy of losing their positions.

The new rules, quietly published last month in a memorandum to federal agencies, mark the White House's latest response to criticism about the way it counts jobs credited to the stimulus. When The Associated Press first reported flaws in the job counts in October, the White House said errors were being corrected and future counts would provide a full and correct accounting of just how many stimulus jobs were saved or created.

Numbers published last month identified more than 640,000 jobs linked to stimulus projects around the country. The White House said the public could have confidence in those new numbers, which officials argued proved the administration was on track to keep Obama's promise that the stimulus would save or create 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.

But more errors were found, with tens of thousands of problems documented in corrected counts, from the substantive to the clerical. Republicans have used those flaws to attack what so far is the signature domestic policy approved during Obama's presidency.

The new rules are intended to streamline the process, said Tom Gavin, spokesman for the White House's Office of Management and Budget. They came in response to grant recipients who complained the reporting was too complicated, from lawmakers who complained the job counts were inconsistent and from watchdog groups who complained the information was unreliable, Gavin said.

"We're trying to make this as consistent and as uniform as we possibly can," he said.

The new stimulus job reports will continue to offer details about jobs and projects. But they were never expected to be the public accounting of Obama's goal to save or create 3.5 million jobs, Gavin said.

The quarterly job reports posted on the Web site for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board reflect only a fraction of the jobs created under the program and can't account for job creation stemming from other stimulus programs such as tax rebates and other federal aid, the spokesman said.

But the result of the new rules will be that future claims of job creation from the stimulus will be even more misleading, said Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"It is troubling that the administration is changing the rules and further inflating the Recovery Act's impact and masking the failure of the stimulus to produce sustainable economic growth or real job creation," Issa said in a letter sent last week to the government board monitoring stimulus spending.

Recipients of recovery money no longer have to show that a job would have been lost without the stimulus help, and they no longer are required to keep an ongoing tally of jobs saved or created. The new rules allow stimulus recipients to limit the job tally to quarterly reports, making it impossible to avoid double-counting a job that was created in one quarter and continued into the next.

Issa wants the Recovery Board, the government's independent oversight panel, to change how it identifies the count of stimulus jobs and to add a note on its Recovery.gov Web site explaining that there is now a different definition for what constitutes a job under the stimulus.

[BigWeiner]

This is normal for something like this to take place. They didn't just drop suitcases full of money at random addresses. The fear guys had to come up with something today. You don't see them posting the repayments of the bailouts, do you?

[Jamaicanman]

This is normal for something like this to take place. They didn't just drop suitcases full of money at random addresses. The fear guys had to come up with something today. You don't see them posting the repayments of the bailouts, do you?

Huh? Rewriting the rules for how jobs saved or created (a joke) is normal? And do you want the postings of what DC wants to do with the paid back money? Or how about the money that will NEVER be paid back.

[BigWeiner]

Huh? Rewriting the rules for how jobs saved or created (a joke) is normal? And do you want the postings of what DC wants to do with the paid back money? Or how about the money that will NEVER be paid back.

I wasn't talking about the jobs, that's just politics. Yes I do want to hear about those things, will you get back to me in about 3 years. This everyday bashing stuff is ridiculous.

[Jamaicanman]

I wasn't talking about the jobs, that's just politics. Yes I do want to hear about those things, will you get back to me in about 3 years. This everyday bashing stuff is ridiculous.

So what do you want to hear? The 12 billion made by the govt on bank bailouts, or the 120 billion they will lose? How about the banks who have paid back TARP funds and are going to have to pay into a fund to reduce the deficit? Did they create or enlarge the deficit? Personal bashing is one thing but these snake oil sales tactics that are going on in Washington during a "change themed" regime is insane. We are going to be in the s hitter in 3 years if this garbage continues.

[BigWeiner]

The system was fucked, of course we're gonna lose money. We had no choice but to bailout the banks, but I don't think it'll be as bad as you think. I'm not arguing with you, I have my opinion and you have yours. You think we're screwed, and if you call running up a ridiculous debit and putting ourself in a situation where other countries could squash us if they want, fucked, then yea we're fucked, but don't blame the current administration, and flood a gambling website with this shit everyday. I'll save you guys some time, everything's not gonna be perfect, we're in a shitty situation. I'm sure you don't wanna hear it, but Bush fucked us. Obama couldn't do more damage if dropped a nuke on us, and he just might, because he's a muslim terrorist racist, right? Deal with it.

[Jamaicanman]

The system was fucked, of course we're gonna lose money. We had no choice but to bailout the banks, but I don't think it'll be as bad as you think. I'm not arguing with you, I have my opinion and you have yours. You think we're screwed, and if you call running up a ridiculous debit and putting ourself in a situation where other countries could squash us if they want, fucked, then yea we're fucked, but don't blame the current administration, and flood a gambling website with this shit everyday. I'll save you guys some time, everything's not gonna be perfect, we're in a shitty situation. I'm sure you don't wanna hear it, but Bush fucked us. Obama couldn't do more damage if dropped a nuke on us, and he just might, because he's a muslim terrorist racist, right? Deal with it.

You do read right? Where have I written that President Bush had no hand in the current situation? He blew up the debt and government spending. The numbers I gave you are from the government, not my made up "not as bad as you think" ones. Where are my posts flooding a gambling website everyday either? I responded to other people's postings. Are you that stupid that anyone who posts anything transparent about the current administration thinks the President is a muslim, terrorsit racist?

[husker]

the banks are paying back the money with interest. THEY aren't the problem. AIG and the auto co's are the black hole, and i believe AIG has a much better chance to pay the money back than the auto co's.


i didn't like the bank (or any other) bailouts then and i still don't like it now, and that includes bush, mccain, obama, and anyone else that voted for it.