We tend to become somewhat more inquisitive than many, but all these signs being posted on various construction projects that proclaim that our tax money is at work demand a closer look.
With all the dollars being handed out, we think the unemployment rate should be going down rather than arguments for extended benefits going up.
We also continue to be disturbed by the use of claimed “saved “ jobs and, even worse, the grant summaries that report “projected new jobs” with no confirmation of any jobs being created.
As we peruse the reports, which are at best confusing and at worst completely misleading, we also find that many of the so-called economic recovery projects for Colorado are government projects that have imported the labor from other states. A good example is one National Parks project, which cost nearly $140,000. The engineering and construction company came from California. The final report shows that a whopping 0.68 of a job was created. We would have gladly hired at least two full time people for a whole year for less money.
Projects funneled through the various federal housing agencies are very popular, but one we looked at closely provided “improved energy efficiency and environmental performance enhancements” at a cost of $180,000. The total number of jobs created: 0.15. We are not being critical of the project, only of the implication that it helped create jobs.
Another popular place for all this great funding is school systems. We did not go looking for the worst examples. We simply looked for ones we knew about. How can a program sold to the public as being a job-creating program be taken seriously when more than $50,000 is spent for cost of living increases for staff members, an office door and assorted “college work for teachers?” The jobs created, according to the accountability report was exactly zero.
We found example after example where temporary employees were upgraded to full time and seasonal lay-offs were prevented, but many of those proved to be highly exaggerated, providing very temporary employment at best.
We just do not think this recovery program is working. We cannot take these people seriously when they profess to be doing so much to create jobs, then pass unsustainable spending bills and increase government regulations to the point that many companies are shutting down or moving elsewhere leaving their unemployed workers behind.
Meanwhile, every time someone proposes a reduction in state personnel they get slammed with everything the current controllers can throw at them. The State of Colorado is facing a major budget shortfall, but Governor Ritter and his advisors cannot seem to find anywhere to cut costs. They actually think the problem is on the revenue side rather than on the expenditure side. In our opinion, they have flunked math 101 and excelled in creative grant writing.
