The Boston Globe is the latest publication to expose systematic exaggeration of stimulus job creation. The Obama administration’s claim that the stimulus created 650,000 jobs runs into the same realities in Massachusetts as in California, Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, and other states as well. A few key excerpts, although the whole story is a must-read.
“There were no jobs created. It was just shuffling around of the funds,’’ said Susan Kelly, director of property management for Boston Land Co., which reported retaining 26 jobs with $2.7 million in rental subsidies for its affordable housing developments…
…[The town of] Revere spent $485,500 in stimulus funds to install solar panels on the roof of a city school. Revere’s job count? 64….
…Plumley Village East in Worcester listed 23 jobs for each of its two contracts for a total of 46 jobs, even though it has only 23 employees working throughout the complex.
One other thing: In state after state, Head Start programs, which presumably teach children to do math and follow directions, keep popping up as major culprits in stimulus job exaggeration:
…The community action agency based in Greenfield reported 90 full-time jobs associated with the $245,000 it got for its preschool Head Start program…The agency said it used the money to give roughly 150 staffers cost-of-living raises. The figure reported on the federal report was a mistake, a result of a staffer’s misunderstanding of the filing instructions…Several other Head Start agencies also reported using stimulus funds for pay raises and claimed jobs for it….
