The Associated Press reports the latest in fake jobs “saved” by the stimulus package.
In its report to the federal government last month, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported saving 18,229 correctional officer jobs since May by using the stimulus money to pay their salaries as the state struggled with a massive budget deficit.
State Auditor Elaine Howle questioned the total. The department is planning about 5,000 layoffs, less than a third of the jobs it claims to have saved.
The remaining 13,229 jobs appear never to have been in danger, Howle said in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders.
“It appears that Corrections simply reported how many correctional officers’ salaries were paid with Recovery Act funding, regardless of whether these positions were truly at risk of being eliminated without federal funding,” she wrote.
This is the latest addition to our map of jobs “not really created or saved” by President Obama’s stimulus package, which by now should cast some serious doubts on the administration’s claims and forecasts for stimulus success.
