Posted on 05/29/2009 10:44:42 AM PDT by Liz
The Obama administration on Wednesday issued a booklet heralding the accomplishments of the $787 billion stimulus act 100 days after it was signed into law. Without question the book lists many projects that are having an impact of one way or another on the economy. But the first one of the projects featured in "100 Days, 100 Projects" doesn't seem to withstand the scrutiny of its description. The project is described by the Obama administration this way:
"Using $27 million of Recovery Act funding, a public housing development in Washington, D.C., the Regency House, has undergone a green retrofit. As part of this upgrade, the building installed solar panels, a 'green' roof, a rainwater collection system, energy-efficient lighting as well as water conserving toilets, showerheads, and faucets. The greening of this building will allow the Regency House to save money in energy costs, while lessening their impact on the environment."
In reality, the work done on the Regency House that was funded by the stimulus package amounted to $59,000 in parts and labor, according to Dena Michaelson, director of public affairs for the Washington DC Housing Authority.
The $27 million is the total amount given by the stimulus act to the Washington DC Housing Authority, the vast majority of which hasn't been spent.
In addition, though the White House's "100 Days, 100 Projects" entry for the Regency House work lists "solar panels, a 'green' roof, a rainwater collection system, energy-efficient lighting as well as water conserving toilets, showerheads, and faucets" as what was done as "part of the upgrade," the only parts funded by the stimulus were the solar panels, at a cost of $45,000, and the rainwater collection system, at a cost of $14,000.
The response of the White House to questions about the claim in the book evoked a critique of journalists.
Liz Oxhorn, Recovery Act Press Secretary, said in a statement that the Regency House work is "one of thousands of targeted investments we’re making nationwide to jumpstart new and ongoing energy efficiency renovations to public housing units and we only wish the same amount of time and energy that has gone into dissecting the structure of three sentences had gone into exploring the billions of dollars in new job-creating projects like this one now underway thanks to the Recovery Act.”
Michaelson said that installation of the solar panels necessitated 330 total man hours: 202 man hours for plumbers and helpers, 40 man hours for electricians, 50 man hours for welders, 30 man hours for superintendents, and eight man hours for a crane operator. Installationg of the rainwater harvesting system necessitated 80 man hours of work.
The booklet also mentions the "police academy graduates in Ohio" whose graduation ceremony President Obama attended in March, heralding how the stimulus enabled the city of Columbus to hire 25 cadets.
But this week Police Chief Walter Distelzweig told the Columbus Dispatch that unless residents approve a tax increase, those 25 cadets face the real possibility of layoffs.
- jpt
UPDATE: At today's briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs conceded that the entry about the DC Housing Authority project was not as accurate as it could have been.
wow.
typical I am sure
Ms Oxhorn's life experience allows her to reach better conclusions Mr. Tapper, a white male.
Correction: the money's probably gone, but no one knows what happened to it.
Jake Tapper has been courageous — that’s not too strong a word — in simply reporting what is really going on in politics today. (Yes, I know reporters are supposed to report what’s going on, but few do these days.)
Where is it going? It is goung into departmental blackholes and the backpockets of politicians who whored themselves for the cash.
“Just words. Just speeches.”
-Barack Obama
Wow when she says it like that it sounds like a lot of people working, but it ain't.
202 man hours for plumbers and helpers - one whole week of work for 5 plumbers
40 man hours for electricians - one whole week of work for one electrician
50 man hours for welders - one week and one day for one welder
30 man hours for superintendants - one supervisor got to stand around on the job for almost a whole week
8 man hours for a crane - one day
80 man hours for the rainwater gutter installation - two gutter guys got to work for a week
So in total 10 guys got to work for one week. A tremendous stimulus.
Recovery? Not likely....
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601....
Bond Vigilantes Confront Obama as Housing Falters
Other economists are more pointed. After falling from 16 percent in the early 1980s, 10-year yields have nowhere to go but up, according to Richard Hoey, the New York-based chief economist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
“The secular bull market in Treasury bonds is over,” Hoey said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “It ran a good 28 years. They’re never going lower. That’s it. It’s over.”
The money is really going to pay off political cronies and donors. He never intended it to help people or the country.
Obama: putting america to work, one hour at a time.
It was false. Any accuracy would have made it more accurate than it was.
You'd think at some point the press would become embarrassed by how bad they look not covering this white house.
Heheh----n-i-c-e comeback.
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(1) Bond Vigilantes Confront Obama as Housing Falters ........according to Richard Hoey, chief economist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in a Bloomberg Television interview: “The secular bull market in Treasury bonds is over. “It ran a good 28 years. They’re never going lower. That’s it. It’s over.” Recovery? Not likely....
(2) Federal tax revenue is down 34%.
‘I love it when a plan comes together!’ Hannibal
But the .gov will make up some lame excuse because they don’t live within the realms of reality.
Capital Strike!
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