Just How Many Jobs Did the Stimulus (Porkulus) Bill Save?

Someone is finally crunching the numbers. So far the stimulus package has saved, not the hundreds of thousands of jobs but only 30,083 jobs. For this the Democratic led Congress along strict party lines voted a $787 billion "economic stimulus" package. The information released was posted on Thursday, and was a direct result of the Administration's accounting for all the billions and billions of dollars that have, so far, been spent. That amounts to roughly $338 billion. For that, we get 30,083 jobs "saved". The administration claim's that if you "project out" the numbers...1.2 million jobs "have been saved" but the evidence discounts this.

Unfortunately, the early statistics show that the "stimulus package" has in fact failed. Thus the preliminary data that has inspired more stimulus criticism from GOP lawmakers. Mr. Obama claimed that by passing the stimulus, he would peak unemployment at 8%, unfortunately the current 9.8 percent unemployment rate is the highest in 26 years. This easily feeds the charge that the stimulus has been an abject failure.


The graph shows what the Obama administration projected unemployment with and without the stimulus. However, in October, 2009, unemployment "officially" reached 9.8%, but that doesn't count those who have given up looking for work, nor those, like my wife who are underemployed, or only able to obtain part-time work. If those figures are included, the unemployment rate is above 17%.

Aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) noted that nearly 3.4 million jobs have been lost since the stimulus was passed in February. They also dug up quotes by President Obama, Biden and their economists in which they predicted that the stimulus would save or create 3 to 4 million jobs. "Despite numerous promises from Congressional Democrats, there are still 15.1 million Americans out of work," said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "After wasting taxpayer dollars to produce an unimpressive 397 jobs in Michigan, middle-class families are still asking one thing: Where are the jobs?"

Therein is the rub. Mr. Obama, you conned America into $787 billion boon-doggle, but where are the jobs?

UPDATE: From seekingalpha.com
http://seekingalpha.com/article/166903-job-losses-higher-than-reported-comstock

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently announced that they will be making downward benchmark revisions to past monthly nonfarm employment data that casts doubt on the validity of the recent figures as well. As we will explain, it is highly likely that substantially more jobs are now being lost than is currently reported.

Once more...where are those jobs you promised, Mr. Obama?

UPDATE II: From the blogprof.blogspot.com
http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2009/10/disaster-hard-stimulus-data-reveals.html

Disaster: Hard Stimulus Data Reveals That Michigan "Saved Or Created" Only 397 Jobs For 620 Million Stimulus Dollars, FAR Short Of 19,500 Claim
Michigan received $3.7 billion is stimulus money, of which $620 million was to be used to "create and save" jobs, while the remainder will be used by Granholm to backfill the budget deficit that she has created with her overspending so that she doesn't have to make any substantial cuts before she leaves office. When she walks away, she will have lost more than 1,000,000 jobs in a state with a population of only 10 million. A few days ago, Granholm claimed that stimulus money "created or saved" 19,500 jobs (Enron accounting: Stimulus saved or created 19,500 jobs in Michigan). Turns out, the number is an utter fabrication, as I suspected when I wrote that prior post. Fact is, that $620 million "created or saved" 397 jobs.

Let's just do the math. $620 million divided by say 400 jobs = $1,550,000 per job! That is an outright waste of taxpayer dollars. Worse yet, the rest of the $3.7 billion is going to keep Michigan in perpetual deficit that will be even more painful to deal with since we have had an AWOL governor for 6 1/2 years running. From The Detroit Free Press: So far, stimulus contracts aren't big boost for Michigan jobs.

Once more, Mr. Obama, where are the 3 million jobs you said would be saved this year?