March 13, 2009
A “Collosal Waste of Taxpayer Funds”

Posted at 2:18 pm, in: Barack Obama, Federal Spending, Stimulus

Math might not be my strong suit, but seriously?

D.C. Auditor Deborah K. Nichols is recommending that the city end the Certified Capital Companies program, which is run by the District Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, after concluding that it created just 31 jobs after $76 million in expenditures.

The program was created in 2004 to “stimulate the growth of small and start-up businesses in the District of Columbia,” according to a report by Nichols. Increased income tax revenues generated by salaries from the newly created jobs were supposed to offset the insurance premium taxes used to fund the progam. With 31 jobs created, that repayment was a failure, according to the report.

Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) said she plans to take immediate action after an oversight hearing of DISB today.

“As Chairman of the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs the committee that has oversight of DISB, I will hold this agency accountable for this colossal waste of taxpayer funds,” she said in a statement.

Obama might want to check his numbers. If the stimulus manages a comparable ratio of dollars spent to jobs “created,” his projections might be a little off. According to these numbers, that $787 billion isn’t going to be enough to “create” three million jobs.