History shows that there are two foolproof ways to drive up costs: increase demand or involve the government. For the latest illustration of the latter, just look west. According to reports recently released by Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, for the $111 million in stimulus funds received by two L.A. departments, only 55 jobs have been created. That's a whopping $2 million spent per job. Greuel says that eventually the departments will create or save (those infamous words again) 264 jobs, but even that would still keep the price per job at $420,000, far higher than what the workers will receive.
Explaining the preposterous price tags, Investor's Business Daily notes that part of the money "goes to the capital costs and profit of the contractors. But much of it also gets absorbed into the normal process of government contracting" (read: bureaucracy). Even Greuel admits the numbers are disappointing, stating, "With our local unemployment rate over 12 percent we need to do a better job cutting the red tape and putting Angelenos back to work."
Is anyone among the water carriers of this sham of an Administration wondering how many of the supposed saved/created jobs (aside from their ridiculous costs) are actually sustainable once the stimulus money is exhausted? Of course not, because having to admit that would mean admitting that we just flushed nearly a trillion dollars down the toilet.
Of course, the Obama administration still wants to convince us that the stimulus is working. It seems that while Americans are stretching dollars to make ends meet, Washington is stretching our patience with its tales of economic growth, job creation and recovery.
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