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So, how do you measure a "saved" job?
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AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
In recognition of the 100 days that have transpired since he crammed his $787 billion economic stimulus package down the throats of America's free enterprise system, President Obama claimed that his record-setting spending spree was actually working.
According to the White House, the U.S. economic stimulus plan has created or saved 150,000 jobs since it was enacted. But according to Jared Bernstein, chief economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, these are simply projections mixed with some hard data. That makes this claim nothing more than a good guess at best.
Exactly how this can be considered good news remains a mystery. When he was pressing for the passage of the stimulus package, using the same kind of fear-mongering he accuses others of using when they oppose him, he promised that he would create or save 3+ million jobs in the first two years. With apologies to President George Herbert Walker Bush, that sounds like "voodoo economics" to me.
So, I ask again, how do you measure a "saved" job?
Would it be the police officers in Columbus, Ohio that Obama made a big deal about, even traveling to Ohio to watch them get sworn in? In a display of pomp and circumstance, Obama declared that jobs "all across Ohio will now be saved because of this recovery plan." Not according to a story run by the Columbus Dispatch, where it was reported that if voters turn down a proposed income tax hike in an upcoming August election, nearly 300 police officers will lose their jobs, including the 25 new officers who shook the president's hand.
Would it be the Caterpillar employees that he promised would be rehired if they got laid off back when he was using a combination of fear and campaign rhetoric to get his spending plan passed? Since his visit in February, there have been over 2400 Caterpillar employees laid off across the midwest, with an additional 25,000 being bought out.
Unfortunately for Obama, the data indicates that his stimulus package hasn't stimulated anything other than his own ego. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed persons increased by 563,000 to 13.7 million in April, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 6.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 3.9 percentage points, with every sub-catagory across the board showing worse numbers than the year before.
To quote Bernstein again, "The fact that the unemployment rate is going up or the fact that we are losing jobs, should not be taken as evidence that the plan is ineffective. To the contrary, the unemployment rate would rise more quickly, job loss would be deeper in the absence of the act."
So, ignore the facts and use unproveable projections. I guess that's how you measure a "saved" job.
More articles by David: Obama looks for an unclenched hand - gets the finger, More political pandering by Ritter and Colorado Democrats,Marketing is what you do when your product is no good, G.M. now stands for Government Motors, Obama's "fair minded words" doesn't apply to everybody, ASU was right - Notre Dame is wron
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