Some other figures we learned from last week's jobs report: 3.2M Americans are out of work and have given up seeking work SINCE the Obama stimulus bill was passed. It failed to keep unemployment at 8% or below as the Administration's economic experts said it would, and indeed we know that the rate is 11% but for 661K people leaving the work force in December. When you add in all of the people capable of working and wanting to work the rate rises to 17% or more.
Monday the AP reported the results of an interesting study it conducted. It looked at 700 counties that received the most stimulus dollars and 700 counties that received no stimulus dollars. The AP then looked at the hiring and firing data from those counties. It found there was virtually no difference in the hiring, or more appropriately, lack thereof, between the two groups.
As is typically the case in these money giveaways, the money does not help those that need it. It is a giveaway to the states after the feds sucked all of the money out of the state through income taxes. Then it doles it back out in 'programs' to those that curry favor with the current administration. It is not needs based, it is who you know based. The money is then used for pet projects (literally in some cases) versus anything that creates lasting jobs. It has never worked and it is not working this time either.
Of course the Administration sticks to its 'saved or created' statistics; has to because it cannot admit the stimulus package is not working. The facts are damning enough with the reported unemployment rate rising to 10% and ready to spike even higher without the Administration admitting to them. Of course even if you accept the 'saved or created' illusion you have to accept that the jobs cost $303K each. Frankly most Americans, even with our current school system, feel that spending $300K to save a $50K job is not an equitable trade.
This link will take you to an IBD editorial explaining this historical cluster&%$# - http://bit.ly/6wSBtN
