Editorial: $230,000 per job

Stimulus money spent in Michigan doesn't deliver nearly enough bang for the buck

The Detroit News

The Obama administration is attempting to spin the tepid job creation sparked by the $787 billion federal stimulus program into an economic success. But the numbers don't add up to a good return for taxpayers. In fact, the numbers don't add up at all.

The administration will report this week that roughly 650,000 jobs have been created or saved on spending of $160 billion. The White House claims that may be a low-ball estimate and that real job impact may top 1 million.

But it may be far lower. The Associated Press checked the administration's initial jobs claims and found numerous exaggerations, duplicate counts and outright misstatements.

Even using the administration's more generous projection, it's still $160,000 spent for every job created or saved. In Michigan, the job-to-spending ratio is more skewed. The White House Web site, recovery.org, reports that Michigan has received $5.2 billion and has created or saved 22,500 jobs.

That's $231,000 for every job.

Half of the jobs affected have been in education, according to a report issued Monday by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. He says 325,000 teaching jobs have been saved.

Duncan should have waited a few weeks before adding Michigan to the tally. Cuts to the state education budget late last month have not yet shown up in pink slips for teachers, but that's coming unless the money is restored.

The inefficiency of government stimulus spending ought to inform policymakers on how the remaining funds should be used.

President Barack Obama is spending a great deal of taxpayer money to generate or protect 3.5 million jobs -- what the president promised when lobbying for the stimulus package. Now it appears the White House is working overtime to spin a disappointing initial jobs reports in the most positive direction.

Policy should be based on real numbers, not propaganda. Obama owes taxpayers an accurate accounting of the effectiveness of stimulus spending before additional dollars are spent.