Shuster statement on the Stimulus' 1 year anniversary

One Year Stimulus Anniversary:
365 Days and $862 Billion Later, No Results for the American People

“It’s been a year since the Democrats in Congress passed President Obama’s stimulus into law and we continue to see double digit unemployment, housing foreclosures, and a sluggish economy.

The President and congressional Democrats squandered an opportunity for a targeted stimulus program that should have been focused around a mixture of tax cuts and infrastructure investments. What the American people got instead was a near trillion dollar grab-bag of big government social spending and pet projects from the political left.

Taxpayers at home and across the nation are tired of the excuses coming from Washington and the massive debt that has been laid at their feet by the stimulus. Unspent stimulus funds should be returned to the Treasury to pay down the debt.”

One year later, the stimulus timeline

A Timeline of Fail - the Stimulus by the numbers:

Source: House Republican Whip

February 17, 2009: $787 billion Recovery Act signed into law. Unemployment rate stands at 7.6%.

February 17, 2009: Administration releases specific state-by-state numbers reflecting the expected impact of the Recovery Act.

February 17, 2009: The nation’s first Recovery Act project is announced, a new bridge in Tuscumbia, MO.

February 24, 2009: President Obama announces that 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 reports on the controversy surrounding the first Recovery Act project in a segment titled “A New ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’”

March 6, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 651,000 jobs were lost in February and that the unemployment rate rose to 8.1%.

March 16, 2009: Press reports indicate that even Recovery Act “Czar” Earl Devaney is questioning the state-by-state jobs figures released by the Administration.

April 3, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 663,000 jobs were lost in March and that the unemployment rate rose to 8.5%.

April 13, 2009: The Administration announces 2,000^th Recovery Act project, but an ABC News fact check reveals that far fewer projects are actually underway.

May 8, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 539,000 jobs were lost in April and that the unemployment rate rose to 8.9%.

May 12, 2009: Reports begin to surface of dead people, some deceased for 40 years or more, receiving $250 stimulus checks.

May 13, 2009: The Administration releases its first quarter Recovery Act report stating that as of May 5, $28.5 billion had been spent.

May 21, 2009: The Administration quietly releases a 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 claiming that 150,000 jobs have been saved or created.

May 29, 2009: Politifact.com reports on 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 announces that 345,000 jobs were lost in May and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.4%.

June 22, 2009: Administration releases rules for counting jobs “saved” and “created.”

July 2, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 467,000 jobs were lost in June and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.5%.

July 8, 2009: It is reported that the Administration will spend up to $18 million to revamp its recovery.gov website.

July 27, 2009: Congressional Democrats claim highway and transit spending from the stimulus has created or sustained 48,000 jobs.

July 31, 2009: ProPublica checks in 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: Reports indicate that only 12% or $70 billion of stimulus funds have been spent.

August 7, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 247,000 jobs were lost in July and that the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.4%.

August 17, 2009: Speaker Pelosi marks the 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 states that the Recovery Act is "doing more, faster, more efficiently, and more effectively than most expected."

September 4, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 216,000 jobs were lost in August and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.7%.

September 28, 2009: Reports indicate that Recovery Act spending has reached $102 billion.

October 2, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 263,000 jobs were lost in September and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.8%.

October 15, 2009: Administration announces that contracts awarded with Recovery Act funds have created or saved 30,383 jobs.

October 29, 2009: Associated Press analysis reveals 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 announces Recovery Act has saved or created 640,329 total jobs.

November 6, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 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 reports that 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, condemns the inaccuracies reported on recovery.gov as “ludicrous mistakes.”

November 19, 2009: Administration confirms that they cannot confirm their claim that 640,329 jobs were saved or created by the Recovery Act.

December 4, 2009: Department of Labor announces that 11,000 jobs were lost in November and that the unemployment rate edged down to 10.0%.

December 18, 2009: Administration sends out a memo saying 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 announces that 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 cost of 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 announces that 20,000 jobs were lost in January and that the unemployment rate edged down to 9.7%.

February 12, 2010: The press reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent Democrat Members of Congress a memo stating that "The Recovery Act is a hallmark achievement of this Congress…"

CNN Poll: 3 of 4 Americans Say Much of Stimulus Money Wasted

CNN Poll: 3 of 4 Americans Say Much of Stimulus Money Wasted
January 25, 2010 7:58 a.m. EST

Washington (CNN) -- Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday morning also indicates that 63 percent of the public thinks that projects in the plan were included for purely political reasons and will have no economic benefit, with 36 percent saying those projects will benefit the economy.

Twenty-one percent of people questioned in the poll say nearly all the money in the stimulus has been wasted, with 24 percent feeling that most money has been wasted and an additional 29 percent saying that about half has been wasted. Twenty-one percent say only a little has been wasted and 4 percent think that no stimulus dollars have been wasted.

"One reason why the economic stimulus bill is no longer popular with the American public is the perception that a lot of the money has been wasted. Six in 10 believe that the projects in the stimulus bill were included for purely political reasons," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

"Nearly three-quarters believe that at least half the stimulus money spent so far has been wasted, and one in five say nearly all of it has been a waste," Holland said.

According to a CNN poll released Sunday, 56 percent of the public opposes the stimulus, with 42 percent supportive of the plan. Last March, just weeks after the stimulus bill was signed into law by President Obama, a CNN survey indicated that 54 percent supported the program, with 44 percent opposed.

The program, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, attempts to stimulate the country's economy by increasing federal spending and cutting taxes at a total cost to the government of $787 billion. No Republicans in the House of Representatives and only three in the Senate voted in favor of the bill.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted January 8-10, with 1,021 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

More Information on Recovery.gov Recovery Board Chairman Can’t Certify Any Jobs Data

Adding to the brewing controversy over the Obama Administration’s inability to accurately report the jobs “saved or created” by the stimulus on its $18 million dollar Recovery.gov website is this report from ABC News: “Recovery Board Chairman: We Can’t Certify Jobs Data at Recovery.gov.”

According to the ABC report, Earl Devaney, the chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, stated the following in response to a congressional inquiry on the reliability of stimulus related jobs data:”

“Your letter specifically asks if I am able to certify that the number of jobs reported as created/saved on Recovery.gov is accurate and auditable. No, I am not able to make this certification.” ABC posted Devaney’s letter on its site.

As noted in a press release sent out earlier this morning, the Recovery.gov site reports that $149,694,747 in stimulus money has been spent in the 9^th district to ‘create or save’ 239 jobs at a cost of $626,337 per job.

In addition, Recovery.gov also reports 21.5 jobs were ‘saved or created’ in Pennsylvania’s 23^rd congressional district for $1,487,259. Seven jobs were saved for $6,729,345 in district 00 and zero jobs – that’s right – zero jobs saved in the 96^th district for $1,960,179. All of these are districts that do not exist.

The inability of the Administration to certify its jobs figures, as well as the chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board’s lack of confidence in his own website should lead everyone to question whether the 239 jobs reportedly “saved or created” by the stimulus in Pennsylvania’s 9^th district actually exist at all.

BREAKING NEWS: Pennsylvania Gains House Seats, Invisible Jobs ….According to the Brain Trust at Recovery.gov

Click the image to enlarge the PA jobs report from Recovery.gov

As news reports continue to break about the flawed job numbers coming out of President Obama’s Recovery.gov stimulus website, Congressman Shuster (PA-09) thought it would be interesting to see for himself how the government’s $18 million website is reporting the number of jobs “created or saved” in Pennsylvania from the trillion dollar stimulus. What he found was surprising and simply defies common sense:

“With national unemployment at 10.2 percent and rising, the American people and many of my own constituents are wondering where the jobs are and I don’t blame them. It’s only right for the people who paid for the trillion dollar stimulus to see what they got for their money. I went to the recovery.gov website to find out and what I found was simply amazing.

According to Recovery.gov, $149,694,747 in stimulus money has been spent in the 9^th district to ‘create or save’ 239 jobs at a cost of $626,337 per job. But that’s not all. Recovery.gov also reports 21.5 jobs were ‘saved or created’ in Pennsylvania’s 23^rd congressional district for $1,487,259. Seven jobs were saved for $6,729,345 in district 00 and zero jobs – that’s right – zero jobs saved in the 96^th district for $1,960,179. The problem is there are only 19 congressional districts in Pennsylvania.

How can we expect the administration to lead our economy into recovery when they take credit for spending $10,176,783 in congressional districts that don’t even exist?”

** At last count; there are only 19 congressional districts in Pennsylvania.

Note: According to ABC News, Recovery.gov was recently given an $18 million dollar grant. The LA Times, $9.5 million has been spent on the most recent update of the site (errors and all), with $8.5 million on the way for additional “improvements.”

Will House Leaders Now Focus on Job Creation?

House GOP Whip Eric Cantor reacts to Speaker Pelosi and President Obama's promise to focus on jobs:

Chairman Obey Slams Bad Stimulus Accounting

The Hill's Blog Briefing Room has a story on House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey calling on the President to immediately fix reporting errors on how many jobs have been "saved or created" through the stimulus. Chairman Obey is quoted in the story as saying:

“The inaccuracies on recovery.gov that have come to light are outrageous and the Administration owes itself, the Congress, and every American a commitment to work night and day to correct the ludicrous mistakes."

The Obama Administration recently deleted upwards of 60,000 jobs from its interim report on job creation tied to the stimulus due to bad accounting. In one instance, the White House reported that jobs were created in an Arizona Congressional District that doesn't even exist.

Where are those jobs being created again?

Apparently, some are being created in the land of make believe, according to ABC news:

"Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have beensaved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.

There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts."

See the video here: Web of Errors: Recovery.org's Bad Math.

How Many jobs Did the Stimulus Create or Save?

President Obama said that his stimulus bill would save or create close to 3,000,000 jobs. The Administration has already said that hundreds of thousands of jobs have been saved. However, the President's stimulus report card released this week tells another, more telling story. The number of jobs the President claims to have been saved has been grossly overestimated. Even CBS news couldn't resist to point out that the Administration's figures weren't "worth the paper they are written on."

And of the thousands of jobs promised to be created in Pennsylvania through the stimulus? Only 43 were created for the 9th district according to www.recovery.gov.

Jobs Report Highlights Democrats’ Failure of Leadership in the Economy

“This is something that I ask every single one of my economic advisers every single day, because I know that ultimately the measure of an economy is, ‘is it producing jobs.’”

- President Obama (CNN’s “State of the Union,” 9/20/09)

Congressman Bill Shuster released the following statement after the Department of Labor released its September jobs report, which showed the national unemployment rate has increased to 9.8 percent, or 263,000 jobs lost last month. The economy continues to keep pace with the highest national unemployment rate since 1983:

“Another month, another bad unemployment report from Washington. This refrain has been going on far too long and it is time for the Democrats in Congress and the President to stop their failed ‘go it alone’ strategy on the economy that has done nothing but spend us into historic levels of debt and grow an endlessly hungry federal government.

Close to 3 million jobs – 3 million – have been lost since the Democrats passed their stimulus bill that they promised would grow the economy and halt unemployment at 8 percent. Their plan failed, but instead of changing course and learning from their mistakes, the Democrats continue to push job killing policies on America all the while deaf to the objections of the people they were elected to serve.

Instead of pushing through a crippling national energy tax and a trillion dollar takeover of the American healthcare system, Democrats should open their minds to Republican alternatives that are focused on restoring fiscal responsibility and getting Americans back to work.”

Video - Where are the Jobs?

UPDATED: GOP Conference just released a video about the 134 Republicans who went to the House Floor yesterday to ask the President and House Democrats - Where are the Jobs?

Today, Congressman Shuster joined 133 of his fellow House Republicans in taking to the floor to ask President Obama and Speaker Pelosi one simple question: Where are the Jobs! You can't spend your way into prosperity and todays economic news proves it. It's time for Congress to take a look at Republican solutions to our economic problems.

In the wake of the "stimulus," unemployment grows

Courtesy of the House Ways and Means Committee GOP Press Shop:

"Today’s unemployment insurance benefit claims data from the U.S. Department of Labor reveals another record number of Americans collecting unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. The almost 9 million currently collecting UI benefits is an increase of 1 million from the level before the so-called stimulus bill. This counts the 6 million receiving State UI benefits (payable for up to six months) and the almost 3 million collecting Federal UI benefits (payable for up to another 12 months). The current total of 8.9 million unemployed workers collecting UI benefits in the week ending June 20, 2009 – the most recent week of complete data – is triple the number (2.9 million) who collected UI benefits just one year ago."

Has the stimulus "Done its Job?"

New Web video - where are those stimulus jobs?

House GOP leader John Boehner has a new video out on the stimulus. It's a must watch.

Great video - Stimulus Predictions vs. Reality

Remember the penny video that visualized how little the $100 million in budget cuts President Obama promised actually amounts to compared the overall size of his $3.5 trillions budget?

Here is a new video by the same person, this time visualizing how many jobs we have lost in the aftermath of the stimulus and the President's prediction the spending bill would help save or create 3 million jobs. It puts into context some of the numbers that have been thrown around recently and hits the point home that we cannot spend our way back into prosperity.

Original video and context can be found at politicalmath

Posted by: Press Secretary