Boston Globe reports fraud and deception with Stimulus package. 787 Stimulus is a sham.
You read the title correctly. One of the most liberal and misguided papers in America reported, not opined, reported on fraud involving job creation with stimulus money. Somebody pinch me, this cannot be happening. Have the intoxicating effects of the Kool-Aid begun to wear off or did near bankruptcy jog some reporter's brains? Either way, this is a refreshing and welcoming article and one that should make any citizen of not only my state, but ALL states to be outraged and upset.
Before we examine the investigation, let me preface by saying that the 787 stimulus package more affectionately known around these parts as screwulus or porkulus was a disaster from the get to. This is not hindsight talking, but rather common sense. Many right of center and libertarian bloggers were outraged that the same practices that failed in the Great Depression were being implemented again on such a massive scale. Our outrage only mounted upon discovering that the bill was crafted for liberal interests and represented hundreds of billions in special interest handouts, money that had NOTHING to do with the economy. I still distinctly recall arguing with people over the merits of passing this "stimulus", people who still cling on to a false notion that in time of need a benevolent government is the only salvation. My position was and always will be, that in the central bank America we live in, in times of recessions the government has to scale down spending and consumption while giving people tax breaks so they can pay down their debt and save cash in times of need. We are doing the opposite and too many Americans fail to comprehend that.
The worst part, the absolutely worst part behind all of this - all this money squandered will turn into a tax. Just to pay the interest on this Stimulus package costs hundreds of billions and the inflation will be an implicit tax on you, me and our children. This is unavoidable as your purchasing power drops and gas shoots to the moon.
Onto the article.
Gets worse.
Before we examine the investigation, let me preface by saying that the 787 stimulus package more affectionately known around these parts as screwulus or porkulus was a disaster from the get to. This is not hindsight talking, but rather common sense. Many right of center and libertarian bloggers were outraged that the same practices that failed in the Great Depression were being implemented again on such a massive scale. Our outrage only mounted upon discovering that the bill was crafted for liberal interests and represented hundreds of billions in special interest handouts, money that had NOTHING to do with the economy. I still distinctly recall arguing with people over the merits of passing this "stimulus", people who still cling on to a false notion that in time of need a benevolent government is the only salvation. My position was and always will be, that in the central bank America we live in, in times of recessions the government has to scale down spending and consumption while giving people tax breaks so they can pay down their debt and save cash in times of need. We are doing the opposite and too many Americans fail to comprehend that.
The worst part, the absolutely worst part behind all of this - all this money squandered will turn into a tax. Just to pay the interest on this Stimulus package costs hundreds of billions and the inflation will be an implicit tax on you, me and our children. This is unavoidable as your purchasing power drops and gas shoots to the moon.
Onto the article.
One of the largest reported jobs figures comes from Bridgewater State College, which is listed as using $77,181 in stimulus money for 160 full-time work-study jobs for students. But Bridgewater State spokesman Bryan Baldwin said the college made a mistake and the actual number of new jobs was “almost nothing.’’ Bridgewater has submitted a correction, but it is not yet reflected in the report.
The federal stimulus report for Massachusetts has so many errors, missing data, or estimates instead of actual job counts that it may be impossible to accurately tally how many people have been employed by the massive infusion of federal money. Massachusetts is expected to receive an estimated $1 billion more in stimulus contracts, grants, and loans.Remember, these are the same people who advocate spending over 2 trillion dollars on health care. They cannot even manage to properly SHUFFLE money around, do you really trust them with something as precious and sensitive as your health care? One billion dollars is a massive amount of money, to give you a perspective, Congress just signed into law a desperately desired unemployment extension bill for 13 weeks at the cost of 2.5 billion.
Revere spent $485,500 in stimulus funds to install solar panels on the roof of the Beachmont School and claimed to have created 64 jobs on the project. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)That is just an outrage, pure and simple. One also would be prudent to ask how installation of solar panels created jobs. During installation perhaps, but now that the money is gone - those jobs are gone too. Fundamentally, nothing was accomplished other than an installation of a useless panel on the taxpayer's dime!
Recipients said they found the reporting system confusing, leading them to submit information erroneously, and leaving them unable to correct mistakes in their reports. Additionally, the government files are massive and unwieldy. Reports do not distinguish between newly created positions and those that were “retained.’’This a continuation of the insulting and laughable term of "saving jobs". No economist worth his or her salt would ever use the term 'save jobs' to measure one's success. The only thing we can conclude is that mountains of federal bureaucracy leads to confusion, not job creation.
Gets worse.
Some of the errors are striking: The community action agency based in Greenfield reported 90 full-time jobs associated with the $245,000 it got for its preschool Head Start program. That averages out to just $2,700 per full-time job. The agency said it used the money to give roughly 150 staffers cost-of-living raises. The figure reported on the federal report was a mistake, a result of a staffer’s misunderstanding of the filing instructions, said executive director Jane Sanders.
Several other Head Start agencies also reported using stimulus funds for pay raises and claimed jobs for it.
While the rest of us have taken pay cuts, job losses, losses in benefits - out tax money is being used to give people raises. If you provide an opportunity, people will take advantage and that is simply human nature. Which is why government and corruption are synonyms.At Bridgewater State, Baldwin said the college mistakenly counted part-time student jobs as full time.
For example, the City of Waltham said a $630,500 solar panel installation on the roof of City Hall created 10 jobs - even though the work had yet to begin.I encourage you to read the article yourself only for the rare opportunity to actually experience genuine reporting from a place that has long forgotten about journalism. Unfortunately for the rest of us, Boston is just another example of widespread fraud and deception. Ed Morissey of HotAir.com has compiled a list of all papers reporting similar horror stories.
Parts of the stimulus package can still be reversed and stopped if we get politicians who are courageous enough to stop it. This largely depends on you and your ability to recognize the failure of government intervention, especially on the heel of a Senate race in Massachusetts where every Democrat candidate expressed an interest in a second stimulus package. Out of touch?
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