OK, let me get this straight. Obama promised right after his emaculation that the $1.2 trillion stimulus boondoggle (including 10 years worth of interest since it was all borrowed money) would create 3.5 million NEW jobs and that the unemployment rate would not exceed 8%. After 2 1/2 years, the unemployment level is still above 9% and there are 3 million fewer jobs than there were. And with that data Obama with a straight face is claiming that there are 3.6 million more jobs? Really? Yup. Via
memeorandum:
White House says stimulus boosted employment by as many as 3.6M jobs...The stimulus package also increased employment relative to what it otherwise would have been by between 2.4 and 3.6 million jobs, the report said.
Obama and Republicans have butted heads over the effectiveness of the stimulus, which was estimated to cost $787 billion when enacted.
Don't forget the interest!
Republicans, pointing to the latest report that unemployment rose again to 9.1 percent in May, claim it was a waste of money that did nothing to slow the recession. Obama maintains that the economy would be in worse shape without the stimulus.
The report credits the stimulus with positively changing "the trajectory of the economy" starting in the third quarter of 2009 and continuing through the first quarter of 2011.
Except that it didn't stabilize in the 3rd quarter of 2009, but rather the 2nd quarter. In fact, te recession was declared over before a single penny of the stimulus was spent (
More proof the stimulus was a flop):
More importantly is
this:
That last graph is the nail in the coffin of any claim that the stimulus actually did anything positive.
