This is How They Count "Jobs Saved or Created"

I was listening to the radio on my way home from work one day last week, and I heard a firsthand account of how the current Administration is counting "jobs saved or created" by the so-called "stimulus package." If you need a refresher on "saved or created" see here. The guy who called in to the station owns a manufacturing company, and one of his clients is a firm that received money from the stimulus package. This client recently placed an order with the man's company, and shortly thereafter the owner received a questionnaire from the federal agency in charge of tracking the impact of the stimulus package. The questionnaire asked how many jobs the owner was able to save or create as a result of his customer receiving stimulus money. The owner thought about it and put zero as his answer, because the customer's order had no impact on his company's head count.

Not long after mailing the questionnaire into the agency he received a call from the federal agency who received it. They asked why he put "zero" for jobs saved or created as a result of his client receiving stimulus funds and subsequently placing an order with his company. The idea here is that the man's client may have been able to place an order that it wouldn't have been able to place had it not received stimulus money. Subsequently, the revenue from the order for the manufacturing company may have been able to "save or create" a job. However, the manufacturing company's owner was not able to save or create any jobs as a result, because he was not reliant on that customer's order to avoid layoffs, so he correctly put zero. The federal employee then responded "Didn't someone have to take the initial order? Didn't someone pack it up and ship it?" The agent that called him informed the owner that the actual methods that the agency has set out for measuring "saved or created" were actually different than the method that the owner used. The owner then responded "What? You mean that you are counting everyone who touched the process in some way?" The federal employee said yes. The owner then said "So you mean I'm supposed to count the person who answered the phone, the person that took the order, the person who boxed up the order, the person who shipped the order etc. etc., even though they would have been employed without the order coming in? All of this regardless of whether or not their jobs were contingent upon receipt of that order?" The federal employee said yes.

This is the method that our government is using to measure the effectiveness of the stimulus package. We have a firsthand account from a business owner here, and he clearly demonstrates that the government's measurement system is a complete fraud. This is how we are being deceived by the government into believing that the stimulus package is actually doing something when in actuality it is nothing but a government vote-buying package. This is a blatant example of the government's attempts at deception. There is no doubt that both Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals alike, engage in this type of activity. Politicians make up numbers all of the time, because they know that most people won't check them for accuracy.

I don't care who is in Congress or the White House. This stuff happens all the time. It has been said that "eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." We are slowly seeing our liberties taken away by politicians in Washington, because we have been asleep or apathetic. When it comes to politicians do not pay attention to anything they say. Only pay attention to what they do. I'm just as disgusted with the Republicans as I am with the Democrats. The last Administration started the whole bailout mess with TARP. The last Administration is gone, however, so it's no use complaining about them. The current one has the power and the opportunity to undo all of it. Our government isn't doing it though. Not only that, they are making it worse. We are being lied to, and this country is headed down a path that will be burdensome to individuals, businesses, the economy and freedom for years to come. Vigilance was needed years ago. A lack thereof brought the current mess upon us. Action is needed now.