RNC: Missing The Mark - An Investigation By The Palm Beach Post Finds Obama's Not-So-Shovel-Ready Local Stimulus Projects Fall Far Short Of Their Projected Job Creation Targets

"Though The Obama Administration Pitched Stimulus Projects As 'Shovel-Ready,' Only Half Of Palm Beach County's 12 Road Projects Were Complete Entering July …" (Charles Elmore, "Post Investigation: Did Stimulus Money Create Jobs In Palm Beach County?" The Palm Beach Post, 7/24/11)

DESPITE PROJECTIONS THAT 600 JOBS WERE GOING TO BE "CREATED", TWO YEARS LATER JUST SLIGHTLY MORE THAN 100 HAVE TURNED UP

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released today by the Republican National Committee:

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The Hours Worked On County Projects Add Up To Only "100 'Full Time Equivalent' Jobs." "Local officials forecast nearly 600 jobs at five of Palm Beach County's largest projects in early 2009. At least that many people got paychecks. But the hours worked amount to slightly more than 100 'full-time equivalent' jobs, based on 40-hour work weeks." (Charles Elmore, "Post Investigation: Did Stimulus Money Create Jobs In Palm Beach County?" The Palm Beach Post, 7/24/11)

• "The Indian Street Bridge, Once Expected To Create 3,500 Jobs But Delayed By A Legal Challenge, Employed 105 Workers In Its June Jobs Report."(Charles Elmore, "Post Investigation: Did Stimulus Money Create Jobs In Palm Beach County?" The Palm Beach Post, 7/24/11)

One Stimulus Road Project Expected To Employ 144 Workers Only Led To 23 Full-Time Jobs. "In Riviera Beach, the city projected 144 jobs for resurfacing Blue Heron Boulevard and A1A and adding sidewalks, streetlights and landscaping, consulting engineer Lal John Samadi said. As many as 162 workers have received paychecks in any given month, records show. But the 48,450 hours they've logged over a year add up to the equivalent of 23 full-time jobs." (Charles Elmore, "Post Investigation: Did Stimulus Money Create Jobs In Palm Beach County?" The Palm Beach Post, 7/24/11)

• And Another Expected To Fund 123 Jobs Only Led To 22 Full-Time Jobs. "Similarly, a Tequesta Bridge replacement project originally estimated 123 jobs, according to the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization. Based on hours reported, it created the equivalent of 22 full-time jobs in the year before its completion in December." (Charles Elmore, "Post Investigation: Did Stimulus Money Create Jobs In Palm Beach County?" The Palm Beach Post, 7/24/11)

PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS RIGHT, HIS STIMULUS "WAS NOT AS SHOVEL-READY AS WE EXPECTED" BUT UNEMPLOYED WORKERS ARE NOT LAUGHING

OBAMA: "Shovel-Ready Was Not As Shovel-Ready As We Expected." (President Barack Obama, Remarks Before The President's Council On Jobs And Competitiveness, Durham, N.C., 6/13/11)

• Since Obama's $831 Billion Stimulus Passed, Florida Has Lost 133,400 Jobs And The Unemployment Rate Has Risen From 9.0 Percent To 10.6 Percent.  (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed 7/22/11)

For Unemployed Floridians "The Joke Of Something Being Shovel-Ready Is Not Funny." "'The joke of something being shovel-ready is not funny if you've been unemployed for two years or more,' said Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness. 'I think the judgment of the stimulus package is it didn't live up to its billing.'" (Charles Elmore, "Post Investigation: Did Stimulus Money Create Jobs In Palm Beach County?" The Palm Beach Post, 7/24/11)

FactCheck.org: "It's Accurate To Say The Stimulus Has Failed To Live Up To Initial Expectations." "CBO's high estimate is still short of the 3.5 million jobs that Obama had said would be created by the end of 2010, so it's accurate to say the stimulus has failed to live up to initial expectations. White House advisers wrongly estimated that the stimulus would bring the unemployment rate down to 7 percent — though they also thought the rate without the stimulus would be lower than it actually is, and they made clear that 'substantial uncertainty' surrounded those estimates." (Lori Robertson, "Dueling Economic Ads," FactCheck.org, 6/30/11)

A Product Of The RNC Research Department
July 25, 2011
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