Sen. Scott Brown has said the economic stimulus "didn't create one new job." That prompts us to set the meter on fire.
A stimulus report card
One year after the passage of the economic stimulus, we assess how many jobs have been created and how much money has gotten into the economy.
A scorecard separating fact from fiction
The stimulus bill "didn’t create one new job."
"So far, the Recovery Act is responsible for the jobs of about 2 million Americans who would otherwise be unemployed. ... [And] the Recovery Act is on track to save or create another 1.5 million jobs in 2010."
"In the three months before the act took effect, America lost 750,000 jobs a month. In the last three months, we've lost about 35,000 jobs a month."
"There have been three people tried and convicted by the last administration in military courts. Two are walking the street right now."
Among the money spent on health care in the United States, "46 cents on every dollar spent is through Medicare and Medicaid."
President Barack Obama's "initial response when we heard about the Christmas underwear bomber" was to say that "this was the act of an isolated extremist."
The Bush administration prosecuted 190 suspected terrorists in federal courts.
Despite touting the economic stimulus as a great triumph, "The very same report, however, notes that unemployment will average 10 percent for the rest of the year."
Franklin Roosevelt never allocated more than 12 percent of GDP to federal spending, while the percentage for Barack Obama is not projected to drop below 22.8 percent.
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More changes to the Obameter list
We've made a few more changes to our Obameter data base:
We're deleting these promises:
* No. 190: Improve domestic intelligence gathering between federal ...
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The difference between Stalled and Promise Broken
We've been publishing lots of updates to our Obamater database of campaign promises and have been getting some questions about our rating system -- particularly ...
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We want to hear your suggestions and comments. For tips or comments on our campaign promise database, please e-mail the Obameter. If you are commenting on a specific promise, please include the promise number. For comments about our Truth-O-Meter or Flip-O-Meter items, please e-mail the Truth-O-Meter. We’re especially interested in seeing any chain e-mails you receive that you would like us to check out. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise.
PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on our Truth-O-Meter. We’re also tracking more than 500 of Barack Obama’s campaign promises and are rating their progress on our new Obameter. >> More
“I want you to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable.” — Barack Obama
“Okay, we will.” — PolitiFact
Tracking Obama’s promises
Promises we have rated recently
No. 221:
Double the Peace Corps
No. 41:
Freeze the 2009 estate tax law
No. 339:
Support human mission to moon by 2020
No. 335:
Work with international allies on space station
No. 349:
Support commercial access to space
"My opponent... lost 43,000 jobs in Houston since he took over; we are losing jobs." — Farouk Shami- "As Houston's mayor, I helped our area lead the nation in job growth." — Bill White
During “the recent global warming summit in Copenhagen, Nancy Pelosi and others stayed at a five-star hotel on a trip costing nearly $10,000 per person.” — David Dewhurst- Says state Sen. Steve Ogden was the “driving force behind business income tax hurting small business, crafted the Robin Hood school finance scheme making property taxes skyrocket, wrote a budget that will result in a $14 billion deficit and voted against” gun freedoms. — Ben Bius
- Says the Texas Education Agency follows up to make sure undocumented immigrants paying in-state tuition at Texas colleges are applying for permanent residency. — Rick Perry
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