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!!

#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!

Do They Get Fresh Towels, Too?

It has been reported that Massachusetts taxpayers are footing a $2 million monthly bill to house the homeless in motels.

A record number of families are being put up in motels in Massachusetts. High unemployment and the rising number of home foreclosures is the reason the state is taking this action.

Housing Massachusetts’ homeless is costing tax payers around $2 million per month. It costs an average of $85 per night to have families, including nearly 1000 children, stay in motels.

The Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness admits that the use of motels for the homeless is not ideal, but is the best that can be done at this time.

Homeless advocates are worried that families are not getting the support of shelters with living rooms, kitchens, and play areas.

Does that come with a guarantee that we won’t get accosted on the streets of the city by these people? Certainly they must be getting free meals in addition to taxpayer subsidized room and board? Are these people even required to perform some services in exchange for this benefit? Perhaps picking up litter in the streets? Or is the state just flushing this money down the toilet without doing anything to make these people either earn what they getting, or helping them get jobs to pay for it? I know the economy isn’t in great shape (thanks goes to the federal stimulus for doing such a great job turning things around) but there is clearly a source of cheap labor here that ought to be taken advantage of. There’s enough trash in the city for all these people to clean up. They don’t need a free ride on our dollar. 

Highway Signs of the Times

I live and work north of Boston. I drive on Route 128 every day. Lately, it’s been a royal pain in the ass to go southbound between the area of Lexington and Reading–and why? Oh, well, to replace road signs and resurface the road. Sounds somewhat reasonable, maybe, except that the signs were perfectly fine before, and that stretch of Route 128 was far from needing new asphalt. But hey, be comforted to know that is the federal stimulus money being put to “good use.”

Making things worse, we are reminded that $2.6 million of the federal stimulus is paying for these new road signs we don’t need with a very special sign we get to admire while in bumper-to-bumper traffic that says:

What?!?

State transportation spokesman Collin Durrant insists the signs “need to be replaced every 10 years or so. Sign replacement supports jobs and the economy because of the need to fabricate the steel, create the actual signs, and the construction contractors that install them.”

The contractor is reportedly adding only 10 workers to the payroll to handle the job, not that big a bang for the $2.6 million. And what about those self-serving signs touting the politics behind the project?

“They are federally mandated signs,” says Durrant. “The cost of production and installation is covered in the cost of the contract.”

In other words, you’re paying so that politicians can make sure all those Route 128 drivers stuck in traffic will be made fully aware of how their government is spending millions to create a handful of jobs to meet a need that strikes some as low-priority at best.

Sorry, but in these tough economic times, perhaps $2.6 million could be spent better than on roads that don’t need resurfacing, signs that don’t need replacing, and a sign telling us that our money has gone to waste while we sit in traffic trying to get to work. Just because it’s “federally mandated” to replace the signs doesn’t mean we should–especially now. $2.6 million for 10 people to put up road signs and repave the road so thousands of people are late to work? You can take that “federal mandate” and shove it up your ass…

Perhaps the sign should say this: