Where are all the jobs? The president recently said that the stimulus package “had done its job.”

Oh, really? We’ll look at the numbers.

Our president said that if we didn’t pass the stimulus package, unemployment would hit 8 percent!

Well, guess what? As of July 1, 2009, unemployment was at a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, and that’s with the stimulus bill.

With all the hype about getting money to the states, we are now seeing that less than 10 percent of the $787 billion has been spent, and most states are using the money to fill budget gaps as opposed to hiring and getting those “shovel-ready projects” going.

House Resolution 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law to help stimulate the economy and create jobs, or so the liberals will have you believe.

This bill was so important to pass because we were on the verge of an economic meltdown that no member of Congress had time to read it and passed it on Feb. 13, 2009, just 12 hours after being printed.

But, our president had more important things to do. After all it was Valentine’s weekend, so he headed off to Chicago.

The stimulus bill wouldn’t be signed into law until Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009 (a whopping five days later). If it was that urgent, then he could have signed the bill with or without cameras at the White House the evening of Feb. 13.

But, no, he had to have cameras present and a nice backdrop so he flew out to Denver, Colo. Apparently the White House as a backdrop wasn’t good enough.

With 135 days of “stimulus” under our belt, only about 10 percent (or about $78 billion) of the total $787 billion has been spent, mainly to states for social services.

At the rate of spending $78 billion every 100 days, it will take the U.S. Government about 1,800 days to spend it all.

Ironically, that will put us past the 2010 elections and the 2012 presidential election.

Construction jobs were supposed to be a big part of the plan. These so-called “shovel-ready” projects were going to put Americans back to work.

However, as of early May, only $11 million had been spent on highway projects. Many states are saying the money hasn’t reached them yet and others are complaining about the paperwork (well, it is government, after all).

When the president held his “100 day” press conference, he said that so far this bill has “saved or created 150,000 jobs” (wow, 14.7 million Americans are out of work and you’re praising that number). However, economists are beginning to question this number and wonder how you can track it and say such a statement when at the same time over 600,000 people lost their jobs.

It does appear that states hurting the most from the economic downtown are being left out in the cold when it comes to stimulus money. The Associated Press reported that after reviewing of 5,500 transportation projects, it appears that the stimulus is going to those counties where the jobless rate is low.

For example, Riley County, Kan., which has a 3.4 percent unemployment rate, is set to receive $56 million in government funds to build highways and other infrastructure work.

But Elk County, Penn., which has a 13.8 percent unemployment rate, won’t be receiving any road money.

The AP continued its review and stated that the government will be spending 50 percent more per person in those areas where the unemployment rate is low.

Obama promised to spend money as quickly as possible to create jobs, but it looks like it’s another campaign promise broken.

Perry County, Tenn., must wait to see if it will receive any funds to help its unemployment rate of 25.4 percent while Vice President Joe Biden’s home state of Wilmington, Del., will receive around $30 million in transit projects, even though it has an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent (below the national average).

Now there is talk by some (although the White House disputes these claims) of a second stimulus bill.

Here’s some free advice for the federal government — cut the corporate and income tax rates, don’t spend the remaining billions in the stimulus bill and GET OUT OF THE WAY.

Let the private sector lead us back to economic prosperity.

Laura Lunsford

Fayetteville, Ga.

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