Massachusetts Says Stimulus Money Created “Almost Nothing”

Government-created economic stimulus is unsustainable and does not create or save anything.  It simply delays the inevitable.   The ARRA (American Restitution and Redistribution Act) has done nothing to improve the actual economy, and The Globe finds more evidence:

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 globe goes on to help us understand that in some ways, the stimulus spending has simply been replacing money the government already spent.  The obvious ploy, to get those institutions to reply on the strong-armed ARRA survey that their jobs had been saved or created:

In other cases, federal money that recipients already receive annually – subsidies for affordable housing, for example – was reclassified this year as stimulus spending, and the existing jobs already supported by those programs were credited to stimulus spending. Some of these recipients said they did not even know the money they were getting was classified as stimulus funds until September, when federal officials told them they had to file reports.

It would also appear that the government paperwork is confusing (surprise – seen the IRS B.S.?).  Some recipients say that they never asked for the money and certainly not the administrative overhead – then again, administrative overhead is how the government creates most jobs:

“There were no jobs created. It was just shuffling around of the funds,’’ said Susan Kelly, director of property management for Boston Land Co., which reported retaining 26 jobs with $2.7 million in rental subsidies for its affordable housing developments in Waltham. “It’s hard to figure out if you did the paperwork right. We never asked for this.’’

It’s been widely-reported that the stimulus package has failed to do much more than give Obama another opportunity to practice his gift of gab.  Unemployment has continued to grow, the dollar is shrinking, gas prices are approaching $3.00 again (and have crossed it in some areas).   As the news reports float in, more may realize that speeches were not enough and the stimulus was a wasted of almost $800 billion.