Lt. Gov Calls Brown “Flat Wrong”

Lt. Governor Tim Murray is throwing some punches at Senator Scott Brown.

Newly elected Sen. Scott Brown is “flat-out wrong” to suggest the federal stimulus package has not created a single new job in Massachusetts, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said Wednesday.

Marking the first anniversary of the $787 billion legislation, the Democrat said more than 25,000 jobs have been saved or created in the Bay State. Brown, the Republican who won the race to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, has insisted none had been created.

“He’s flat-out wrong. He was flat-out wrong in the campaign, and he’s flat-out wrong now,” Murray told reporters during a conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee.

We all know the Governor is trying to create one job… but what about real jobs–like private sector jobs?
I think we can look to another Senator, Senator Evan Bayh to substantiate Senator Brown’s claim:

“If I could create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a business, that would be one more than Congress has created in the last six months…”

Brown dismissed Murray’s comments.

“No amount of political spin can change the fact that we have lost jobs every month since the stimulus passed,” said Brown spokesman Colin Reed. “Only in the alternative universe that is Beacon Hill would they consider that a success.”

Why is Murray putting in his two cents? Is Murray’s political posturing indicative of a forthcoming bold move?

So Much For That Stimulus

Big shock…the Federal “stimulus” money is not doing so hot…in fact, the Boston Globe is reporting that number of reported jobs saved or created is not quite what they are saying…

While Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus money collectively report 12,374 jobs saved or created, a Globe review shows that number is wildly exaggerated. Organizations that received stimulus money miscounted jobs, filed erroneous figures, or claimed jobs for work that has not yet started.

The Globe’s finding is based on the federal government’s just-released accounts of stimulus spending at the end of October. It lists the nearly $4 billion in stimulus awards made to an array of Massachusetts government agencies, universities, hospitals, private businesses, and nonprofit organizations, and notes how many jobs each created or saved.

But in interviews with recipients, the Globe found that several openly acknowledged creating far fewer jobs than they have been credited for.

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.

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.

“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.’’

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.

The stimulus bill – a $787 billion package of tax breaks, expanded government benefits, and infrastructure improvements – was signed into law in February by President Obama, who said it would create and save jobs by preserving local government services and spurring short- and long-term economic development.

Fantastic. Hey, let’s have another do-nothing stimulus! Woohoo! Spend spend spend!!

So Stimulating

What is Gov. Patrick complaining about now?

Governor Deval Patrick yesterday vigorously challenged the findings of a powerful congressman who had sharply rebuked the governor for not spending nearly a half-billion dollars in federal highway stimulus funds quickly enough to create jobs for struggling families.

US Representative James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, had written a letter to Patrick on Thursday stating that Massachusetts ranks 49th in the nation in putting the money to work, having committed only 23 percent of its funds so far.

In a letter to Oberstar yester day, Patrick argued that the congressman’s rebuke was based on an “inappropriate one-size-fits-all analysis,’’ because it takes into account only the speed at which the funds are being spent and not the projects that are being undertaken or their ultimate economic benefit.

Rather than using highway stimulus money on mostly “simple maintenance and repaving projects,’’ Massachusetts is spending the money “to develop more ambitious projects,’’ Patrick wrote. He cited as an example $15 million of highway stimulus money that is being used to build a road for the redevelopment of Assembly Square in Somerville into a new shopping center with millions of square feet of mixed-used development.

“Because of its complexity, this investment will take time to deliver, but it is time that is clearly worth the effort,’’ Patrick wrote. “This investment, as well as other similar investments we plan to announce soon, will yield long-term economic growth and their job creation will greatly exceed that which could be accomplished by undertaking simple maintenance and repaving projects.’’

Massachusetts was among five states that received a letter of rebuke from Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat whose committee is charged with monitoring the use of federal stimulus dollars. Seven months after receiving $437 million in federal highway funds, Massachusetts had only about $99 million in construction work underway as of Aug. 31, according to Oberstar’s panel.

UPDATE: More from the Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Globe, WBZ and Herald.

#4

Congratulations all around…Massachusetts is ranked fourth in stimulus spending.

Massachusetts is ranked fourth in the nation when it comes to spending federal stimulus money.

State officials overseeing the stimulus program in Massachusetts said the state has been awarded $3.3 billion in federal funds and has already spent about $1.5 billion on transportation, clean energy, health and human services and education.

The money has also been used to stave off even deeper budget cuts, although state lawmakers, including Senate President Therese Murray, have warned that next year’s budget deliberations could be even tougher as stimulus funding dries up.

Also Thursday, Gov. Deval Patrick announced 75 communities will receive $40 million in federal community development grants — including $9 million in stimulus funds.

So what did we get for that money? So far, we have seen roads resurfaced that didn’t need it. We’ve seen road signs that were perfectly fine get replaced. And the sales tax went up.

Awesome! Hip hip hurray for being #4!

Help Is On The Way

So we are told…

Federal stimulus money should be flowing more quickly to state projects later this summer and fall, Gov. Deval Patrick said yesterday.

At a State House press conference, Patrick expressed some frustration with the pace of funds released from Washington, saying the Obama administration had to find a balance between getting the money out to states as fast as possible while making sure money is properly spent.

But many of those red-tape hurdles have been cleared, said Patrick, who predicted spending will pick up later this summer and fall.

“We need the jobs,” Patrick said yesterday.

The pace and effectiveness of the huge $787 billion stimulus package has come under intense criticism lately, mostly from Republicans, who say President Obama’s economic-recovery plan isn’t working.

The Herald recently reported that Massachusetts contractors are also frustrated with the pace of the distribution of the federal funds for infrastructure projects.

UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: From Red Mass Group, the New York Times, Richard R. Tisei, Todd Feinburg, Reason Magazine, Mary Z. Connaughton, Michael Graham, Matt Margolis, Scot Lehigh, Holly Robichaud, the Salem News, the Globe and the Herald.

THIRD UPDATE: More from the Globe and the Herald.