Recovery Act job-creation math doesn't add up in Colorado

Denver Post ^ | 10/31/2009 | Burt Hubbard and Miles Moffeit

[george76]

The federal government reported Friday that Colorado created or saved 8,094 jobs through grants, loans and contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Problem is, the figure is wrong, according to an analysis of recovery.gov data by The Denver Post.

Although a Colorado Springs Head Start program reported it had created or preserved 269 jobs, the real number was three, according to an interview with a program manager. And although the largest private contract in the state funded with stimulus dollars was estimated at $166 million, the number was off by tens of millions, apparently because of a data-entry error, contract information shows.

Despite the government's bid to provide unprecedented details of spending, figures for stimulus awards in Colorado, as with an earlier data release, are inconsistent, inaccurate or incomplete so far.

"You've got compliance issues and you have data-quality issues," said Michael Balsam, an executive with Onvia, a Seattle company tracking stimulus spending.

"The numbers are all over the map," according to an analysis of the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery.

Federal and state officials have been hailing a new era of transparency through the $787 billion spending plan, signed by President Barack Obama in Denver last spring. But because the disclosure process is still new and untested, inaccurate information must be revised as the process is improved, they acknowledged.

[MileHi]

What is up with the comPost? First they report on the Voorhis scandal and now this.

[RowdyFFC]

It doesn’t add up in California either.

I’ll swun!

[ODDITHER]

$321,225.60 per job saved or created.

There are about 139,000 employers that employee workers in the state of Colorado. About 125,000 of those employers are small businesses( less than 100 workers).

Had they taken the money 2.6 billion and divided it among small businesses based on a percentage for hardest hit by economy (ie construction)

Many of the businesses would not have had to lay of workers and some would have hired workers. Getting 25,000 in capital into a small business might have been the thing that allowed them to keep going.

There were about 5,000 employers that either closed their doors or laid off all of their workers in the last quarter.
It was 144,000 employers and is now 139,000.

Those figures include government entities that pay unemployment tax.

[MileHi]

Thanks for that.

Still can’t believe the Post printed this story.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Questioning 0’s numbers? This article is RACIST!!!!

[DontTreadOnMe2009]

Ha ha. Read this:

Although a Colorado Springs Head Start program reported it had created or preserved 269 jobs,

the real number was three, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

according to an interview with a program manager.

[george76]

0 was busy

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"You've got compliance issues and you have data-quality issues," said Michael Balsam, an executive with Onvia..."

AND you've got LYING issues. The people who win this government money are often very left-leaning non-profit agencies and public works companies who would naturally over-inflate their estimates.

[Mr Inviso]

“It doesn’t add up in California either.

I’ll swun!”

I’m away from home for the weekend up here in the Wine Country of CA, and was driving on I-80 yesterday. I saw the “funded by the Recovery Act” signs on sections of the road where repairs were already being done LAST YEAR before the Crapulus was passed. Looks like they are trying to make it look like it’s actually doing something besides stealing our future. Steaming Pantsload award.

[onedoug]

No capitalism, no jobs. And government, and government subsidized jobs will eventually implode as the layers underneath them are exhausted.

[Deepest End]

It doesn't add up anywhere ...