As many will recall, Joe Wilson is the Republican Congressman from South Carolina who shouted out "You lie" last September during President Obama's address to Congress about health care.  Wilson has since apologized for his outburst which was both rude and disrespectful.  Still, when it comes to claims coming from this Administration, it's hard to say that Wilson's position was completely inaccurate.

     Take the number of jobs supposedly created by stimulus dollars.

     Early this year, the Obama Administration pushed through a $787 billion stimulus package which was supposed to create 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010.  As evidence of success, the Administration recently claimed that the stimulus package has already "created or saved" 650,000 jobs. 

      I wonder what Congressman Wilson thinks about this claim?

     Here's what we know about these "650,000 jobs" (since lowered by 60,000).  Many don't exist!

     For example, Health and Human Services claimed that stimulus dollars saved 14,506 jobs.  Actually, that figure includes 9300 existing employees who received pay raises with stimulus funds.  Pay raises!

     In California, over 25,000 jobs that the government reported were "saved" by stimulus money were never in danger.  In Massachusetts, the claim that 12,374 jobs were saved is now acknowledged to have been wildly exaggerated.  In many States, jobs claimed to have been saved are in Congressional Districts which don't exist.

     Closer to home, the claim of 10,000 jobs saved in Wisconsin may be inflated by half.  In one Wisconsin case, the local newspaper found that five "saved jobs" were reported as 50 and then counted twice.  That's "government math" for you!

     It's so bad that liberal attack dog Congressman Dave Obey has taken to ripping the Administration for the "inaccuracies" in the stimulus job claims.   As Obey says, " Credibility counts in government and stupid mistakes like this undermine it".

     The real question though is: are these claims are really just "stupid mistakes" or rather calculated efforts to deceive?  For example, even after being outed, the spokesperson for HHS continued to argue that giving raises should count as saving jobs!

     And politicians wonder why people distrust government!

     With the unemployment rate currently over 10% (and really closer to 17%), it seems pretty apparent that the $787 billion stimulus package isn't going to come close to creating 3.5 million jobs over the next year. This fact is not lost on the American people.  If the Democrats who control Congress want to keep their jobs, they'd probably be well advised to start leveling with the public instead of parroting absurd claims of success where none exists.

     When it comes to job creation claims, I personally wouldn't exactly say that the Administration is lying.  Instead, perhaps it would  be more politic to simply say that the Emperor has no clothes.

     I wonder if the President feels a draft?