“Not As Shovel-Ready As We Expected”

Obama Admits A Company That Took Over $5 Million To “Create Or Retain” 3.03 Jobs That Stimulus Projects Weren’t “As Shovel-Ready As We Expected”

TODAY, PRESIDENT OBAMA ADMITTED THAT “SHOVEL-READY WAS NOT AS SHOVEL-READY AS WE EXPECTED”

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)

·       The Associated Press Said That The Obama Administration Took “The Rosiest Possible View Of Its Own Stimulus Program.” “Jack Stokes, an AP spokesman, responded in a statement to POLITICO: ‘Our story provides context that is severely lacking in an administration report that takes the rosiest possible view of its own stimulus program.’”(Matt Negrin, “W.H.: Stimulus Story Omits ‘Full Facts,’” Politico’s “Politico44” Blog, 8/26/10)

THE HOST OF OBAMA’S EVENT TODAY RECEIVED A $5 MILLION GRANT AND CREATED OR “RETAINED” ONLY 3.03 JOBS

Cree Received A $5.2 Million Stimulus Grant From the Department of Energy in September 2010 That To Date Has Only Created Or “Retained” 3.03 Jobs. (“Grants – Award Summary: Cree, Inc.; Award Number DE-AR0000110,” Recovery.gov, Accessed 6/13/11)

·       Cree Received $39 Million Though The Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit Included In The Stimulus. “Recent Business Highlights: Awarded $39 million in tax credits as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support our investment to build energy efficient LED lighting.” (Press Release, “Cree Reports Record Quarterly Revenue And Net Income For Second Quarter Of Fiscal Year,” Cree, Inc., 1/19/10)

Maybe Because President Obama Bought The Advice Of Economists Who Said Any Spending, “Even The Worst Kind Of Boondoggle” Was Stimulative. “For the Obama transition teams and their allies on the Hill, three questions loomed large in designing the package. The first was whether the proposed spending was economically stimulative: Did it save or create jobs, and thereby put money in people’s pockets? It turned out that economists believed almost any spending met this criterion. In a recession even the worst kind of boondoggle is stimulative, a fact that critics had a hard time comprehending.” (Jonathan Alter, The Promise, Simon & Shuster, 2010, p. 84)

Research: www.gop.com