Citizens of Arizona’s 15^th congressional district allegedly saved or created 30 jobs through federal stimulus spending, according to a White House website set up to track the stimulus (Recovery.gov).  Unfortunately there is no such district, leaving Americans with little faith that their tax dollars are being spent wisely or reported accurately.

According to an ABC News report, there are numerous more erroneous entries like Arizona’s fictitious 15^th district.  The report can be accessed here.

“The false and misleading stimulus figures are outrageous,” said Larry Bucshon, a Republican candidate for Indiana’s 8^th Congressional district.  “It demonstrates either dishonesty or incompetence, but neither scenario gives us much confidence in Congress.  This is government bumbling at its worse.”

Rep. Brad Ellsworth, a Democrat in Indiana’s 8^th Congressional district, voted in favor of the stimulus bill that ultimately became law, otherwise known as the Recovery Act.

The White House claims it has spent $173,137,335 in Indiana’s 8^th Congressional District for only 166.4 jobs.  That equals over $1 million per job allegedly created.  Bucshon noted, “People in our district really need to ask themselves – was it worth it?”  Only 7% of respondents in a CBS News poll released Tuesday thought that the stimulus package had created meaningful jobs.

The inaccurate reporting raises questions beyond the “stimulus” to whether we can trust government management in other areas as well.  “Congress couldn’t get Cash for Clunkers right, and we now know that the stimulus funding was bungled as well.  How can we have any faith in this same government running our healthcare system?”

The government-run health care system outlined in the bill which recently passed the House would cost at least $1 trillion in 10 years according to the Congressional Budget Office and would impact 97 percent of the legal population.  Rep. Ellsworth voted with Democrat leadership in favor of the bill.

Bucshon sounded an alarm.  “The health care industry accounts for roughly one-sixth of the U.S. economy.  Turning that important segment of America over to the same characters that gave us an inept stimulus program is a recipe for disaster.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 11:53 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.