One Man's Perspective: Surprise, surprise

Listen closely...can you hear it?

It's the sound of apologists minds grinding away trying to figure out how to turn this latest political snafu into Obama gold.

The boasts, the brags, the great benefits associated with the stimulus. All these amazing jobs created.

Vice President Joe Biden claiming that the $18 million Web site - www.recovery.gov - created by the White House (yes that's right $18 million - the government always does it up big when it comes to spending our tax dollars) would blow us away as it tracked all the amazing accomplishments across the nation spurred on by your economic stimulus tax dollars at work.

And boy he wasn't kidding. I am blown away. When the word "created" was used, I guess we never anticipated just how much creativity they really meant. Some examples of this amazing economic effort:

* 30 jobs created using $700,000-plus in Arizona's 15th Congressional District

* Another 34 million used to create jobs in Arizona's 86th District.

Very impressive indeed.

Why in Connecticut, the site was reporting that 25 new jobs were created with zero spending in the 42nd District.

In Arkansas, stimulus funding was credited with creating - there's that word again - or saving 48 jobs by spending $24 million in the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, 15th 76th, and 00 Districts.

Here's where the "creative" part comes into play.

This all sounds good - but unfortunately, none of these districts even exist. Arizona only has eight districts. Connecticut doesn't have a 42nd District; and the six districts mentioned in Arkansas are also - that's right, you guessed it - non-existent.

According to various reports from multiple news agencies, almost every state with data on the Web site has experienced a degree of misrepresented facts.

While even in Iowa - at one point - there was money and jobs created in mythical Iowa Congressional Districts. Can anybody tell me who the congressman representing our eighth district is? Me either. That's because they don't exist.

The media reports indicate that Recovery.gov is under fire for posting a number of jobs created in congressional districts that don't exist and for accepting unrealistic data from several reporting outlets.

"One recipient of stimulus funds, Talladega County of Alabama, claimed that it had saved or created 5,000 jobs from only $42,000 in government money -- which would amount to $8.40 in annual income per job if each position received an equal amount of funding.

"New Mexico Watchdog, a project of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, said in all, nearly $6.4 billion was used to "create or save" nearly 30,000 jobs in 440 non-existing districts, including in New Mexico's 4th, 22nd, 35th and 40th Districts. New Mexico has three Congressional Districts.

"Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla., issued a statement saying she went onto the Web site to see for herself how the money is being spent.

"'I was alarmed to see that Democrats have spent $3,582,587 to create five jobs in Florida's 86th congressional district. In the fighting 53rd they spent $460,000 of your taxpayer dollars to create zero jobs," she said. Florida has 25 U.S. Congressional Districts.'"

How about these specific individual project reports:

Moore's Shoes in Campbellsville, Kent., claims nine jobs were created from an $890 grant for nine pairs of work boots for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Head Start of Augusta, Ga., claimed 317 jobs with a $790,000 grant, but it was really just a one-time raise to its 317 employees. Chris Whitley, a fiscal officer for Central Savannah River Area Economic Opportunity Authority, which administers the Head Start program in Augusta. He says it was the administration's stimulus help line that advised them to claim 317 jobs.

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was outraged that one sewer project in his district was listed as creating 100 jobs. The real number is five.

These are all reports from major news sources - not conspiracy theorists folks.

Good news though, no jobs created have been reported in any districts on the moon, the sun or mars - at least this week. Stay tuned.

So confronted with this question: "Who can explain all of these screw ups from a White House created public information source?" the White House responded: "Human error."

Ya, and by human error they mean, nobody ever dreamed people would actually go to this Web site to find out where the money was going. The Obama Administration just trusted that us ignorant Americans would go along with the fact that Iowa has eight districts because it was so proclaimed by the White House.

The White House continues to maintain that the numbers are accurate - just misplaced perhaps. From where we cannot say, and by whom we do not know.