*Nine Jobs Saved For Just $889.60 In Federal Stimulus Money? *Sounds
like an efficient use of taxpayer money
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/11/02/in-the-battle-for-stimulus-jobs-shoe-store-owner-offers-war-story/>,
doesn't it?
Unfortunately, the numbers come from a confused shoe store owner and his
daughter, who couldn't figure out how to fill out federal forms.
Moore's store in Campbellsville, Ky., filed one of 156,614 reports
from recipients of stimulus dollars designed to show how money from
the $787 billion program is being spent, and how many jobs the funds
have created or saved.
Moore's slice of the stimulus came in an $889.60 order from the Army
Corps of Engineers for nine pairs of work boots for a stimulus project.
[Buddy] Moore says he's been supplying the Corps with boots for at
least two decades. This year, because he provided safety shoes for
work funded by the stimulus package, he said he got a call from the
Corps telling him he had to fill out a report for Recovery.gov
detailing how he'd used the $889.60, and how many jobs it had helped
him to create or save. He later got another call, asking him if
he'd finished the report.
"The paperwork was unreal," said Moore, who added that he tried to
figure out how to file the forms online, then gave up and asked his
daughter to help.
Paula Moore-Kirby, 42 years old, had less trouble with the Web site,
but couldn't work out how to answer the question about how many jobs
her father had created or saved. She couldn't leave it blank,
either, she said.
So she guessed at nine, because there were nine pairs of boots in the order.
The story is funny --- if you aren't Moore or Moore-Kirby. And it does
tell us something about just how good those numbers on the stimulus jobs
are. (The Journal has a more general article on the subject here
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125729438785426663.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories>.)
- 11:08 AM, 4 November 2009 [link]
<http://www.seanet.com/%7Ejimxc/Politics/November2009_1.html#jrm8065>
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