Stimulus “Jobs Created” Overstated

You’ve heard Obama and Democrats lay claim to all the jobs “created or saved” by the so-called stimulus package, right? I believe the number they trumpet is 30,000 jobs created by the stimulus. But according to an AP investigation, it turns out that many of those jobs were phantoms… jobs that were counted multiple times or even counted where no job creation occurred.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/STIMULUS-WATCH-Stimulus-jobs-apf-3446575539.html?x=0

The AP reviewed a sample of federal contracts, not all 9,000 reported to date, and discovered errors in one in six jobs credited to the $787 billion stimulus program -- or 5,000 of the 30,000 jobs claimed so far.

Even in its limited review, the AP found job counts that were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of paid positions; jobs credited to the stimulus program that were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs that were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced.

The White House has promised to release a revised report today with more accurate figures. It is my sincere hope that the AP fact-checks these revised figures as well… just in case.

But you are aware, aren’t you, that even if we take the figures at face value and assume all good economic news came because of the stimulus, it would only be returning 65 cents for every dollar spent? That doesn't sound like a wise investment to me.
http://briansullivan.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2009/10/29/5-reasons-the-gdp-jump-isnt-all-it-seems/

Instead of thinking in percentage terms, think of GDP in dollar terms. The 3.5% growth is from a jump in total seasonally-adjusted output from $12.901 trillion dollars in 2Q to $13,014 trillion last quarter. In other words, the economy added approximately $112 billion dollars in output quarter-over-quarter. Yet we have spent $173 billion worth of the $787 billion dollar stimulus plan so far.

In other words, the stimulus plan is 'returning' just 65-cents for every dollar spent.

The so-called “stimulus” was anything but, and it would be an extremely good idea to repeal the thing and cancel future spending… especially in light of the White House admission that the stimulus has already improved the economy as much as it is likely to.
http://politicsalabama.blogspot.com/2009/10/wh-advisor-stimulus-effect-is-mostly.html

Given all this, is it any wonder most people believe the stimulus was a mistake? The only wonder here is that so many Democrats still continue to defend a bad policy.