President Obama promises to create or save 600,000 jobs from stimulus funds

The myth that is saved or created continues to grow while American workers continue to lose their jobs.

“We have to pass the stimulus bill or the economic crisis will worsen,” President Obama said while selling this dud of a program to the American people. Since the president took office 1.6 million Americans have lost their livelihood, yet the president wishes to take credit for 150,000 new or saved jobs.

That is still a net job loss of 1.45 million jobs. According to Charles Krauthammer, syndicated columnist, the only real number associated with the jobs saved or created doublespeak, “is the $787 billion this country is in debt for. The save or create jobs number is meaningless.”

The country’s unemployment rate was supposed to top out at 8 percent if congress passed the stimulus bill in February. The bill passed without a single Republican vote in the house and three in the senate, and unemployment continues to soar past the 9.4 percent mark.

It’s not working. The extravagant spending that was supposed to take place has only trickled into the economy. The White House contends of the $787 billion of emergency dollars the government was going to jolt the economy with only $44 billion has gone out the door.

This misstep has led the voters to voice their concerns. For the first time in his presidency, Obama and the democrats are no longer king in the world of U.S. economy, the republicans are. President Obama’s numbers are down to a 31 percent approval rating for the economy, according to the latest Rasmussen polls.

The Gallup poll also has the president’s numbers down. While 62 percent approve of the president overall, only 45 percent approve of his handling of federal spending and deficit numbers.

All this has prompted the president to up the ante in the spending arena. In a statement from the White House on Monday the president said, “I’m not satisfied. We’ve got more work to do.”

He then went on to promise 600,000 more jobs to be ‘saved or created.’ Again there is no way to prove these numbers unless we actually see a decrease in unemployment benefits, according to leading economists and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

Nevertheless, over the next 100 days the Obama White House will ramp up spending in these key areas in order to slow the unemployment process.

-Enable 1,129 health centers in 50 states
-Begin work in 107 National Parks
-Begin improvement work projects at 98 airports
-Fund 135,000 education jobs
-Begin improvements at 90 veteran’s medical centers
-Hire or keep 5,000 law enforcement officers (kind of that save or create thing)
-Start 200 new waste and water systems in rural America
-Begin work at 20 ‘superfund sites’ within the EPA
-Create 125,000 temporary summer youth jobs (key word temporary)
-Initiate 2,300 construction projects at 359 military facilities

The statement the White House put out was again lean on specifics. Details like names of facilities or which teachers or law enforcement officers would keep or get new jobs was conveniently left out.

“Today’s announcement is an acknowledgement that the Democrats’ trillion-dollar stimulus is not working and the American people know it,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner. “These policies are harming the middleclass families when they can least afford it.”

No amount of White House cheerleading can encourage businesses to ramp up hiring if they are worried about hyperinflation down the road. The current federal debt is $1.8 trillion and counting.

That translates into the country borrowing 50 cents on every dollar it spends, something economists say is unprecedented in the history of this country.

Another problem that comes along with the kitchen-sink stimulus package according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is lack of oversight and the potential for fraud.

Coincidentally, a few days earlier the GAO office reported the Treasury has no real details on how Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds are being spent. TARP was started under the Bush Administration with $350 billion and the Obama administration quickly doubled the spending to $700 billion.

Many on the republican side of the isle believe the economy will turn on its own without any help from the federal government. However, now the American people will never know the truth and it is any one’s guess when taxpayer rights will be returned to the people.