Anderson@Large

Congress Looks behind Stimulus Numbers

There are lies, damn lies and jobs numbers. The reports posted to Recovery.gov notwithstanding, only seven percent of Americans believe stimulus spending has created jobs, according to a new CBS News poll. 

Media outlets from Massachusetts to California have looked behind the numbers and discovered there are no jobs there. Hell, in some instances, the congressional districts aren't there.

Recovery czar Edward DeSeve says “the mistakes are relatively few”:

More than 130,000 such reports were filed. You can go to Recovery.gov and look them up by zip code, or search for them on a map. It’s a “real-time” update on your tax dollars at work that is unmatched by any federal initiative, ever, of this scale.

As part of President Obama’s commitment to transparency and disclosure, it’s been a huge success. When you consider the sheer number of reports that had to be filed, processed, and posted; the fact that this had never been done before; and the very short time to check reports and make sure they were right – the data collected and posted is very impressive.

Sure, it’s government work but the data collection is not good enough.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey who slammed the White House for the errors in the recipients’ reports:

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.

Credibility counts in government and stupid mistakes like this undermine it. We’ve got too many serious problems in this country to let that happen.

We designed the Recovery Act to be open and transparent and I expect the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board [aka the RAT board], who oversees the recovery act web site and data to have information that is accurate, reliable and understandable to the American public. Whether the numbers are good news or bad news, I want the honest numbers and I want them now.

Meanwhile, Republicans smell a rat. They are hauling RAT Board Chairman Earl Devaney before the House Committee on Oversight and Government’s hearing, “Tracking the Money: How Recovery Act Recipients Account for Their Use of Stimulus Dollars.”

You can view a live webcast here on Thursday, beginning at 10:00 am ET.

Obama’s Job No. 1

For most Americans, a “jobless recovery” is no recovery at all. Academic lectures about the gross domestic product or lagging indicators do not mean a thing to someone without a job.

With record unemployment, Americans with a job are too spooked to spend any money. And since consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, employers are “reluctant to hire.” The economy will not get moving again until Americans are confident an unemployment line is not in their future.

President Obama’s job approval will rise -- or fall -- with the national unemployment rate. So, too, will Democrats’ fates in the midterm elections.

With millions of Americans unemployed, saving jobs is not enough. So Obama is convening a jobs summit in December:

We all know that there are limits to what government can and should do, even during such difficult times. But we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible step that we can [take] to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country. And that’s why, in December, we’ll be holding a forum at the White House on jobs and economic growth. We’ll gather CEOs and small business owners, economists and financial experts, as well as representatives from labor unions and nonprofit groups, to talk about how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again.

Obama must do more than talk to death about good ideas. The administration must craft a plan that will create jobs and reduce unemployment.

The bottom line: If Democrats want to keep their jobs in 2010, job creation must become job number one.

Recovery.gov: There’s an App for That

OK, I admit it: I’m obsessed with stimulus spending and transparency. Thankfully, I’m not alone. A lot of folks are drilling down into the data posted on Recovery.gov.

A review of the data by the Boston Globe, for instance, found that Massachusetts’ numbers don’t add up to real jobs:

While Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus money collectively report 12,374 jobs saved or created, a Globe review shows that number is wildly exaggerated. Organizations that received stimulus money miscounted jobs, filed erroneous figures, or claimed jobs for work that has not yet started.

The Globe’s finding is based on the federal government’s just-released accounts of stimulus spending at the end of October. It lists the nearly $4 billion in stimulus awards made to an array of Massachusetts government agencies, universities, hospitals, private businesses, and nonprofit organizations, and notes how many jobs each created or saved.

But in interviews with recipients, the Globe found that several openly acknowledged creating far fewer jobs than they have been credited for.

The Globe further reports:

Another source of confusion over the job counting is because Congress this year labeled as stimulus initiatives several longstanding programs, such as student work-study and low-income rental subsidies, that it otherwise regularly funds in annual appropriations bills. In some cases Congress increased the funding amount, too, so the stimulus legislation was a vehicle for expanding government support for people in need.

Regardless of its label, the recipients treated the funding as business as usual. Only in September, when government officials told them they had to report on their stimulus spending, did they confront the issue of how to account for jobs associated with the money they received.

I want to give a shout-out to Jon Udell who has developed an app for Recovery.gov. Type in Any City, USA, for information about the number of awards, amount and description, funding agency and recipient. Jon’s app helps users find out where the money is going.

For more info, visit Tracking Change Wiki.

Recovery.gov for Dummies

The media’s attention is focused on the healthcare debate and the American jihadist, but some of us are following the stimulus money.

One of the best stimulus trackers, ProPublica, has compiled FAQ about Recovery.gov to help you sort through the mountain of data.

I am frequently asked whether minority-owned businesses are getting any stimulus contracts. An examination of federal stimulus contracts found the answer is: very few.

Jason Reece, senior researcher at the Kirwan Institute, said:

Based on this early data, it appears that small, minority and disadvantaged firms are receiving few of the initial ARRA federal contracts. We are drawing attention to this inherent inequity in the hope that it will be rectified. While other funds are disseminated through the states, which are not reflected here, we feel it is important to note this disparity and take it into account as future funds are allocated.

Duly noted.

Race Matters in the Age of Obama

I just got back from Orlando. It was fitting that I read the latest Gallup poll while waiting for my flight. After all, a “post-racial” America is as real as the Magic Kingdom.

Gallup reports:

A year out from the 2008 presidential election, the high hopes Americans had for race relations right after Barack Obama’s victory at the polls have yet to be fully realized. Currently, 41% of Americans believe race relations have gotten better since Obama’s win; another 35% think they have not changed, while 22% say they have gotten worse. Last November, 70% thought race relations would improve as a result of the landmark outcome.

Fifty-three percent of blacks and 39% of whites think relations have improved overall, but only 11% of blacks and 7% of whites think they have improved a lot.

Then as now, 24 percent of Americans believe President Obama “will go too far in promoting efforts to aid the black community.” In fact, more Americans think “Obama’s policies to aid blacks will not go far enough.”

Among African Americans, 32 percent now say Obama hasn’t done enough, up from 20 percent in June 2008.

It bears repeating: Black folks have to stop hoping for “the big payback.” They must push for the change they voted for in November 2008.

During a recent National Action Network weekly rally, the Rev. Al Sharpton observed:

We voted for the possibility of change. You can’t have one vote and think that’s the end of your contribution. There is no one-vote revolution.

To bring about change, one must stay engaged. Civic engagement is a process; voting is an event. You can have a record turnout on Election Day and record unemployment one year later.

So, while Gallup focuses on the perception of racial inequality, the reality is that in the age of Obama, blacks still do not enjoy the same opportunities that whites have.

Unemployment Rate Tops 10 Percent

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the national unemployment rate increased to 10.2 percent, the highest since 1983. More than 190,000 Americans lost their jobs in October.

The official black unemployment rate is 15.7 percent. On Election Day 2008, the black unemployment rate was 11.3 percent.

President Barack Obama addressed the rising unemployment during remarks in the Rose Garden:

Although we lost fewer jobs than we did last month, our unemployment rate climbed to over 10 percent -- a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead.

When we first came into office our immediate goal was to stop the freefall that caused our economy to shrink at an alarming rate. We have succeeded in achieving that goal, as our economy grew last quarter for the first time in a year. But history tells us that job growth always lags behind economic growth, which is why we have to continue to pursue measures that will create new jobs. And I can promise you that I won't let up until the Americans who want to find work can find work and until all Americans can earn enough to raise their families and keep their businesses open.

That’s welcome news.

My colleague George Curry told the Final Call:

While his election should be celebrated, we cannot abandon our role of holding whoever sits in that office accountable. Basically Blacks remained silent, hoping that Obama would get around to us, and that's not the way politics work.

People react to voices, and just as he get nudges from women and gay groups and everybody else, he needs a kick in the butt from the African American community, because our needs must be addressed as well.

Indeed, Obama says he wants to be held accountable. The President needs to hear from black leaders and organizations that purport to represent the interests of African American families, including “Cousin Pookie.”

It’s not about second-guessing. Instead, it’s about speaking truth to power. And the truth is, the stimulus package has not reduced black unemployment.

Election Post-mortem

The verdict is in: If black voters had turned out, there would not have been a Republican rout in Virginia.

Mind you, African Americans represent 20 percent of the voting age population in the Old Dominion. Democrats cannot win with the black vote alone.

While the White House says Election '09 was an election about nothing, Republicans are fired up and ready to go.

In a statement, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele crowed:

Electing Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey is just the beginning. With the continuing commitment of RNC Sustaining Members like you, I am confident we can elect more GOP governors, make real gains in the U.S. House and Senate, stop the Democrats' radical leftist agenda and cut President Obama's term in half in 2010.

Meanwhile, an Associated Press review of the state reports posted to Recovery.gov raises more questions about the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The AP reports:

The government's latest count of stimulus jobs significantly overstates the effects of the $787 billion program under a popular federal preschool program, raising fresh questions about the process the Obama administration is using to tout the success of its economic recovery plan.

An Associated Press review of the latest stimulus reports — which the White House promised would undergo extensive reviews to ensure accuracy — found that more than two-thirds of 14,506 jobs credited to the recovery act under spending by just one federal office were overstated because they counted pay increases for existing workers as jobs saved.

The inflated job count is at least partly the product of the administration instructing local community agencies that received money to count the raises as jobs saved.

It is clear that fuzzy math does not motivate unemployed Americans to turn out and vote.