R i g h t a r d i a: David Korn: The Stimulus and Jobs: Can the GOP Read?

As Republicans have been claiming the stimulus has done nothing to protect or preserve jobs, the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan research outfit, this week released a report on the impact of the stimulus (known officially as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA) that says exactly the opposite. This is not spin. Here's the relevant portion:

CBO estimates that in the third quarter of calendar year 2009, an additional 600,000 to 1.6 million people were employed in the United States, and real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) was 1.2 percent to 3.2 percent higher than would have been the case in the absence of ARRA. Those ranges are intended to encompass most economists' views and to reflect the uncertainty involved in such estimates.

What do Eric Cantor, Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and GOP chair Michael Steele not understand in those two sentences? The CBO is widely regarded as an authoritative source for such data. (Washington nearly comes to a standstill when a CBO cost-analysis of a health care bill is about to be unveiled.) In this instance, the CBO has issued a conclusion that is about as definitive as these things get: GDP is bigger and more people are working, thanks to the stimulus.

It makes sense. The government spends nearly a trillion dollars, and the money has to go somewhere. Republicans and conservatives can complain this is not the best use of taxpayer money or that the stimulus was not structured in the most effective fashion. But to say this influx of money has not helped expand the economy and protect or create jobs is ridiculous. This sort of reality-denying nonsense further undermines their lower-than-the-Democrats' credibility.

Republican supporters ought to worry about the GOP leaders' impulse to reject and denounce everything that comes out of the White House (with the exception of Obama's decision to expand the Afghanistan war). This does make it seem like they're living in an alternative (and bizarro) universe. (Cue Fox News.)

And they look juvenile. That Republican press release calls Obama's stimulus a failure in part because it's led to supposedly wasteful and fraudulent government spending. Yet it cites only three examples: $3 million for a turtle crossing in northern Florida; $6 million to an international construction company that's under criminal investigation; and $16.1 million to save a San Francisco Bay area that is home to the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. Whether or not these projects and the recipients of these funds are worthy, this all adds up to .003 percent of the total tab.

Can we be adults here? There are no programs -- in or out of government -- that don't include some waste. In fact, all human endeavors contain inefficiencies and errors. If the stimulus package were 99 percent cost-effective, that would still leave nearly $8 billion in waste. Picking out a couple of questionable projects is gotcha antics, not serious political debate.

At this point, Republicans have nothing to fear but Republicans themselves. If unemployment stays at or near 10 percent for the coming year, the GOP might well be able to ride the ensuing anti-incumbent anger to victory in the 2010 congressional elections, perhaps even draw close to retaking the House.

But the more they act like, well, jerks, the more they will undercut their own chances. It's true that politicians often use lies to great advantage. But this batch of Republicans is mugging the truth in the most inelegant manner, as it offers up nothing more than Bush-Cheney retreads: cut taxes, reduce regulations. Voters may be in the mood for a change next fall. But will they want to hand over control to pols who can't read a CBO report or be bothered to come up with more thoughtful spin?

You can follow David Corn's postings and media appearances via Twitter.

Rightardia agrees with the Korn analysis.You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see the improvement in the economy. Two months ago Wall Street said the recession was over and there were only 11,000 newly unemployed last month. The GDP has gone up to 3.5 per cent in the last quarter and housing sales have improved by the same amount.

Republicans have accused Democrats of talking the economy down in 2008 when the US was actually in a recession,but the Bush administration didn't make the recession announcement until after the election. Now that the US is starting to come out of the Bush recession, Republicans are trying to talk the Obama government down.

If John McCain had been elected president, he would have instituted tax cuts that would have done little to accelerate the recovery. The Obama approach follows closely with the Moody's recommendations that give the biggest bang for the tax bucks: increases in Food Stamps and Unemployment compensation, direct aid to states and infrastructure spending. Tax cuts--either temporary or permanent--are less effective ways to jump start the economy.