Press Release from New Hampshire House & State Republicans:
Despite Spending Millions In New Hampshire, Stimulus Has Failed to Create the 16,000 Granite State Jobs President Obama Promised
CONCORD – New Hampshire House and Senate Republicans today called on Governor John Lynch to establish an independent, bipartisan panel to review Stimulus spending in the Granite State. The request comes after a report released last week by the Office of Economic Stimulus shows that the number of jobs “created” in New Hampshire are significantly less that the 16,000 jobs promised by the Obama Administration.
“Despite spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars in New Hampshire, President Obama’s Stimulus boondoggle has failed to create the 16,000 Granite State jobs he promised. The Obama Administration has also failed to track the use of Stimulus dollars in an open and transparent manner,” said State Senator Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro). “In order to restore the public’s confidence in this program, Governor Lynch must establish an independent bipartisan panel to review the questionable data released by the State Office of Economic Stimulus. Granite Staters deserve to know why their hard earned tax dollars are being wasted on projects that have failed to put New Hampshire families back to work.”
Using a complex and perplexing “job equivalency formula,” Governor Lynch’s Stimulus office claimed last week that Stimulus spending only “created or saved” 2,021 – well short of the 16,000 promised by the Obama Administration (Nashua Telegraph, 1/29). The program has failed to create local jobs even though New Hampshire has been one of the fastest states to spend stimulus funds. (Christian Science Monitor, 9/6)
House Republican Leader Sherm Packard (R-Londonderry) said that President Obama should be held accountable for his promise of 16,000 jobs when he arrives in the state tomorrow. “The Obama Stimulus Package has done nothing to help the people of New Hampshire. The reports that we have heard about jobs created by the economic stimulus package are riddled with inaccuracies and contradictions. It’s time for Gov. Lynch to stand up for the people of this state and find out exactly where the money is being spent, because it certainly is not creating jobs,” said Packard.
Recent media reports have also indicated that the Obama Administration and the Office of Economic Stimulus have exaggerated the amount of jobs created in New Hampshire and failed to accurately account for the use of stimulus funds:
-The Union Leader (11/19) reported that the Obama Administration claimed that it had “created” jobs in imaginary NH Congressional Districts. According to Recovery.gov, the website the Obama Administration promised would accurately track the use of the $787 billion stimulus dollars, almost $200 million dollars were spent “creating” thousands of jobs in the non-existent 4th,6th, 27th, and 00th Districts.
-Fosters Daily Democrat (11/19) reported that the Obama Administration and the NH Office of Economic Stimulus had overstated the amount of money being spent in New Hampshire. Stimulus dollars that the Administration claimed were used to create jobs in New Hampshire were actually being spent on out of state projects in Richland, Washington and Albany, New York.
-The Nashua Telegraph (11/20) reported that the NH Office of Economic Stimulus has failed to keep accurate and transparent records on state Stimulus spending. Nearly half of the 754 items on the New Hampshire Stimulus project list are missing key data – making it virtually impossible to track the use of the money.
-The Portsmouth Herald (11/21) reported the White House dramatically exaggerated the amount of jobs created by a $175,606 “streetscape” improvement project in Portsmouth. The Obama Administration claimed that project had created 29 jobs, while the City of Portsmouth confirmed that it only created 3 jobs.
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