This morning two senators -- John McCain and Tom Coburn -- released their third report critiquing 100 Recovery Act projects. And just like the last two, this one was an inaccurate and misleading attack on programs that are putting Americans to work across the nation. I'll present some details in a moment, but it's very unfortunate that, once again, instead of trying to help create the conditions for stronger growth, to help build on the momentum of the Recovery Act, McCain and Coburn spend their valuable time cooking up phony critiques and, with their Republican colleagues, blocking votes of even bipartisan measures to help small businesses.
Let's start with the bigger picture. Just last week two prominent, independent economists released a rigorous study on how actions by the government (and the Federal Reserve), including the Recovery Act, helped to end the Great Recession. One of the authors -- Mark Zandi -- was one of McCain's top advisers during his presidential bid. He and Alan Blinder (a former vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve) found that the Recovery Act has created or saved about 2.7 million jobs so far, and shaved about a point and a half off of the unemployment rate.
These jobs are the result of over 70,000 projects in action around the country, of grants to states supporting jobs of teachers, police, and firefighters, of tax cuts for working households, loans to small businesses, and investments in innovative new industries producing advanced batteries, clean energy, and much more. They've helped reverse a situation where last year, we were losing millions of private sector jobs; in the first half of this year, we've added 593,000 private sector jobs.
Now, we're always glad to take a second look at projects when concerns are raised. In fact, there's never been a stimulus program of this magnitude with anywhere near the amount of oversight that's been brought to bear on the Recovery Act. And when we find a problem, we fix it. We've shut down hundreds of projects that weren't delivering the goods.
But the inaccuracy of McCain/Coburn in this regard renders this report just as unreliable as the last two. We followed up the projects in those reports, and found half of their claims to be flat-out false or misleading. Many of the others criticized worthwhile, job-creating projects. Check out this link and you'll see that news outlets like CNN have debunked their claims in the past, often by simply going to the folks who were working on the project and learning about it:
In the current report, our review so far finds that five of the 100 projects are not even Recovery Act projects. And others are just blatantly wrong on the facts. Take for example an award that McCain and Coburn describe as "funding a WNBA Practice Facility," when in fact the award is building a tribal government center that will create education and health facilities while also creating hundreds of jobs. Moreover, the tribe has agreed to disallow any commercial use of the facility.
One of their top critiques in the new report is a clean energy program in California that's put about 50 people to work so far, expects to create 1,500 construction jobs, and then 500 permanent green jobs after that. Gov. Schwarzenegger praised the program, as did the Chamber of Commerce. What would McCain and Coburn say to these workers? That they shouldn't have this opportunity? That they should go back to the jobless roles? That building a clean energy future is the wrong way to go?
What ideas does Senator Coburn have to offer to the 35,000 people working in Oklahoma who wouldn't be there without the Recovery Act? What about the 64,000 Arizonans at work because of the Act?
Instead of answers, we're left with a partisan attack contradicted by one of the author's own former advisers. But that's not all. We're also left with a choice.
The President has shown he is willing to work with anyone who will join us to figure out new ways to create more jobs. The Vice-President spends each week making sure we're squeezing job out of every Recovery Act dollar. Meanwhile, Republicans are blocking an up or down vote on a package of bipartisan proposals that would cut taxes for small businesses and allow them access to capital through community banks. It's incredible, when you think about it: last week as they were working to turn out this hit-job of a report, these same two senators were voting against helping small businesses expand and create jobs.
Yes, we must carefully evaluate our progress, but we must do so without partisan thumbs on the scale. In that regard, the report these two senators are touting today is not a road map forward. To the contrary, it is one back to the failed policies that got us into this mess. We've tried that route. We cannot afford to go back there again.
This post originally appeared at the White House Blog.
Gary P. Steuer: Coburn and McCain: Giving the Arts a Starring Role Again
Granted, W Bush drove us into the ditch. B Oboma is driving us off into the proverbial Grand Canyon.
"Bernstein graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts where he studied double bass with Orin O'Brien. He earned a Masters Degree in Social Work from the Hunter School of Social Work, and, from Columbia University, he received a Masters Degree in Philosophy and Ph.D. in Social Welfare. He does not have a degree or any formal training in economics."
Hey, if I don't think about it too hard, then I can kind of pretend that all we have to do is have our government keep on borrowing at this incredible rate, and pay people to work with the borrowed money, and this can just keep going on for, well, why not forever? I mean, can't our government keep on borrowing money forever? There really isn't any limit to it, is there?
Well, there isn't if I just frame all of my arguments falsely and pretend that up is down and such.
What do you suggest for all of those that are being paid on borrowed money? Starvation? Exposure?
You do realize that the tax cuts for the wealthy will add $3.2 trillion to the deficit if allowed to continue for another decade?
Regardless, businesses are the ones now “On Strike” and it seems they are all waiting until after the election before they will hire again, unless of course something is done to get the animal spirits going again.
Good Luck. I was and am a fan of the entire economic team, from Summers to Romer and will miss Ms Romer.
Yet Republicans are all about extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans!
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/07/slow-to-spend.html?from=rss
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of U.S._states_by_GDP_per_capita_(nominal)
Revenue producing blue cities, states are subsidizing red rural areas and states.
Some of the people tea-partying about big government are the very ones who are benefitting most from the federal aid – obviously as the data plainly indicates. Like the tea party guy angrily shouting at the town hall meeting "keep your government hands off my medicare", there's a lot of misunderstanding out there. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/get-your-goddamn-governme_b_252326.html
For the less government crowd, it should be obvious by now that the GOP isn't actually interested in (or at least not very good at achieving) less government. Their constituents depend heavily on that aid and when we've had a GOP president or congress, the federal budget has grown by leaps and bounds.
Finally, to the tea party crowd, better think carefully. Because if government services and aid are in fact cut drastically, rural areas and red states will suffer most. The way of life (roads, emergency, water, police, county services, etc) that folks in suburbs and rural areas take for granted these days - it's government making that possible.
The biggest recipients of federal aid are the red states, particularly the poor states in the south. That's fact.
The poorest states (per capita GDP), are the red ones. Texas excepting. The richest are almost all blue. That's fact.
The GOP has not managed to shrink the federal budget, only grow it. And deficits too. That's true over several presidents and congress. That's fact.
The rich have never paid so little tax in American history. Why is it you think the top 3% need a special deal? And btw, I am upper income and I pay the top rate. I am not asking for a tax cut and the super rich shouldn't get one either.
Who is really ''misleading'' who?
www.labor.gov
And now are exploiting the remaining workers by asking that they work longer and harder often for less pay and fewer benefits.
Government expenditures benefit the private sector tremendously.
Any government contract helps the private sector that is where the government buys the goods and services we all use.
The federal government is the largest employer in the US. nuff said.
"If we are permitted to improve without interruption the great advantages which nature and circumstances have placed within our reach, many years will not revolve before we may be ranked not only among the most respectable but among the happiest people on this globe. A spirit of improvement displays itself in every quarter, and principally in objects of the greatest public utility, such as opening the inland navigation …improving the old roads and making new ones, building bridges and houses and in short pursuing those things which seem most eminently calculated to promote advantage and accommodation of the people at large. Besides these, the enterprises of individuals show at once what are the happy effects of personal exertions in a country where equal laws and equal rights prevail."
- George Washington 1793.