Fun with Numbers
 

Recovery.gov reports 1,229,305 jobs have been funded by the stimulus bill from Feb 17 2009 to Dec 2009.

So far 278.1 billion has been out of the 787B*. Only 35%.

$278,100,000,000 / 1,229,305 = $226,225

So far it has cost the American taxpayer $226,225 to fund each gov't job. I wonder what the average salary is?

No wonder in a resent poll 6% of Americans believe “stimulus” created jobs, while 7% believe Elvis is alive. The margin of error in most polls is 3-4%, and that number is usually the assumed yahoo/weirdo/crazy people number...

*COB now estimates the number is closer to 869B.

Huh. Along those same lines, my mom sent me this in an email: ***

http://f630.mail.yahoo.com/ya/downlo...Inbox&inline=1

This is QUEEN PELOSI'S NEW JET!!! And the Democrats talk about Sarah's dresses???
Queen Pelosi wasn't happy with the small USAF C-20B jet, Gulfstream III, that comes with the Speaker's job ... OH NO! Queen Pelosi was aggravated that this little jet had to stop to refuel, so she ordered a Big Fat, 200-seat, USAF C-32, Boeing 757 jet that could get her back to California without stopping! I understand that a former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, flew commercial most of the time.
Many, many legislators walked by and grinned with glee as Joe informed everyone of what Queen Nancy's Big Fat Jet costs us, the hard working American tax payers, literally thousands of gallons of fuel every week.
Since she only works 3 days a week, this gas guzzling jet gets fueled and she flies home to California every Friday and returns every Monday, at a cost to the taxpayers (YOU and ME are those taxpayers!) of about $60,000, one way!
As Joe put it ..."unfortunately we have to pay to bring her back on Monday night and that costs us another $60,000!" Taxpayers, that is $480,000 per month and that is an annual cost to us of $5,760,000!!!
No wonder she complains about the cost of this war ... it might cramp her style and she is styling on my back and yours. I think of the military families in this country doing without and this woman, who heads up the most do-nothing Congress in the history of our country, keeps fueling that jet while doing nothing.
Queen Pelosi wants you and me to conserve our carbon footprint. She wants us to buy smaller cars and Obama wants us to get a bicycle pump and air up our tires. Who do these people think they are??? Their motto is ... Don't do as I do ... JUST DO AS I SAY!
If you think this is outrageous, forward it to all those on your email list! Keep in mind the figures above do NOT include the cost of plane or crew ... just the fuel!!! One has to wonder what the total package costs us?
And on top of that ... now she wants to tax our IRA's & 401K's!

***This is not to start any partisan debacle, just to point out the hypocrisy of our congress in general. I'm tired of hearing about them giving themselves raises, retiring with full benefits after one term, exempting themselves from legislation they impose on their subjects (us), etc. I don't care what side of the aisle you're on, that ought to get you angry.

Crazy political emails make me crazy.

I'm about as conservative, right wing as you can get these days but I did some research and it seems as though this is pretty much not true.

If it's not true I'd love to see what you've seen, I certainly wouldn't put it past her.

except that most of the crazy emails are so outdated or just plain incorrect.

snopes.com: Nancy Pelosi's Jet

also regarding the pay raises, they didn't get them last year. pelosi actually gathered up the dems and told them they weren't getting a pay raise.

furthermore, the congressional pay raises are automatic and go back to a bill signed in 1987 that implemented an annual COLA pay raise.

.... saw KPLAFIN's post as i was typing this. snopes it all. it's out there.

Apparently the "sergeant at arms" in charge of her security requested a plane that could reach Cali from DC w/o stopping to re-fuel for "security" reasons. From that someone did the math and "figured out" that only something the size of a 737 or bigger could make it w/o refueling. From there the rumor spread, there are a couple videos I found of her defending the request but she always says "it's not about size, its a matter of distance" and from what I've found there's no recorded cases of her actually flying anything bigger than a 12 seater in a domestic flight.

Type "Pelosi Jet" in your search engine of choice and you'll have plenty to read. I agree that I don't put anything liek this past her but unfortunately I have a bad habit of checking my facts before I bash people even if I don't like them to begin with, someday I'll stop doing that and learn to just have fun with it instead. :bowrofl:

Meanwhile Obama does something that's never been done before EVER and "recommends" the absolute minimum pay raise allowed by law for the Military, congress pretty much said F you and bumped it a little higher but we still got a shitty pay raise this year.

<South Park MJ> awww, mannnnn, thas ignorant... thas ignorant.... </South Park MJ>

Thanks for the corrections gays, I'll pass that back to my mom.

Hypocrisy make da world go round.

No. Needs more Gingrich. At least he was able to achieve a surplus, can speak clearly/factually, and isn't a douchebag.

I got no pay raise, so my sympathy is limited. :jerkit: Somewhere around 1 in 10 Americans is unemployed by the official counts. Since official counts don't count people who have given up looking or have been out of work more than 6 months, I'd put the number closer to 1 in 8 or 1 in 7 Americans without an income, to say nothing of the countless Americans who have taken massive pay cuts (lost a professional job and are now asking "do you want fries with that" for example). Bitching that your pay raise wasn't big enough in a situation where many are jobless or grossly underemployed seems pretty stupid. Be thankful that 1. you have an income and 2. that it's actually growing.

The yearly pay raise is for cost of living increases. Happens every year.

the key is getting a Gov't job and getting paid well without ever having the fear of getting fired ever again, let alone actually doing anything.

http://biggovernment.com/files/2010/...employment.jpg

performance based pay/service is a thing of the past.

My sympathy is limited as well. On your first point, I volunteered, I had a choice to follow in other's footsteps, to take the same route as others who are now asking "do you want fries with that?" I chose to serve my country, I love my job, but my salary sucks. I make roughly $20K a year BEFORE taxes and am on call 24/7, have a high probability of being deployed down range to risk giving my life for my country at any time, granted my housing and helath insurance is payed for but I'm also stationed overseas (in Europe) which means most of the money I spend is on the German economy, which means I spend euro...looked at the exchange rate lately? I'll give you a hint, it sucks for us.

But like I said, I don't complain, I love my job, I love serving my country, I don't do it for the money (obviously) the fact that Obama recommended such a bullshit figure for our pay raise this year infuriates me, checked his salary lately? Let me fill you in, president's annual salary is $400K PLUS $100K non-taxable travel account, $19k for "entertainment" and a $50K "annual expense account." Wanna guess how much General Casey (someone who's actually EARNED their position and worked their entire life for it rather than being elected into office, makes a year?

Bottom line, you don't have a job, that's your problem, there's always options out there even if they are "below you," I have no sy,pathy for the majoirty of the unemployed.

dude, no one is hiring right now, don't blame the person that actually wants work.

Become a DC teacher for 2 years and get tenure for life. the drop out rate is over 40%, but they get paid very well so you just gotta make sure you don't get shot.

Ok so maybe my points weren't as true as they were a few years ago BUT, if you really want to work there's always SOMETHING out there. and besides, as long as you're <42 you can always come join me in bitching about my %3 pay raise.

be happy you got a pay raise. I got a pay cut.

I got a better job, clearance, more money, shorter commute. Wait...what?

The costs of government workers are amazing. Everyone skims off the top for each position, so that number sounds about right to me (each division, healthcare and other benefits, travel, space, equipment, etc.). As a contractor, it's even worse. I can only imagine how much my company is making off of me. I have a good job and good pay, though, so I can't complain. I just think it sucks that everyone has to pay so much in taxes just to support a small number of people.

What?! I thought it was for the "greater" good...

it's like driving your car around with one flat tire. fixing it is for the greater good.

Why would we want more government mucking around in our lives? I'm all for supporting unviable candidates in order to make a point (at least, supporting them until you need to actually vote for the guy who can win), but we need more Alan Keyes, not more Ralph Nader.

Where do I sign up for one of those $225K jobs!

I was listening to NPR on the way home the other night and heard Obama talking about the stimulus package, the money spent and jobs created. I'd come to the same conclusion in my head. About 300 billion spent to create 1.25 million jobs. That's a hell of a lot of money per job.

The bigger trouble is that money spent only created those jobs in theory. They don't know what would have happened if they didn't spend that stimulus money. Would things have been worse? Maybe. They can't say for sure.

^Yep. Theres just the little problem of wanting to actually do something productive with oneself.

Newt did pretty well the last time he was on the Daily Show. I wonder if he will run for president. I think I would vote for him.

He more or less said he was last week on the Factor. He'd be my first choice.

Or it's like being forced to pay $265,000 for a spare tire that cannot perform like the other three for a fraction of the cost. Not only that, it cannot hold air, has zero tread, constantly goes on strike and will retire at the age of 50 will a full pension plan.

100% with you on serving your country. Thank You.

But frankly its damned hard to find work and most people are not lazy. I am unemployed right now, and I send out a resume a day minimum. This is made harder by the fact that I am trying to find a job that actually does something productive for society. Not bitching here by any stretch, but I do hope I convey that its not exactly easy.

I applied for one part-time position in Jan for instance and was informed last week that that I was not selected and that there were just over 200 applicants for the job. Thats 200 people for a 11 dollar an hour part-time job with no benefits about 24 hours a week.

People see all these job postings online and say "Hey look at the work out there..." and dont realize that every one of them will get 50 plus applications. I just missed getting a job this week, where I made the final cut of 16 out of 67 applicants because the job was in a much more rural area. Thats as good as it gets. If I was not 100% debt-free or if I had kids/family I would not have even bothered to apply for that job because it would have been impossible to make it work financially. One job I really wanted had over 500 applicants by the time it was over. Its not a matter of 'below you'. Its a lack of supply vs demand.

I see jobs everywhere in San antonio, and i hear people say that they can't get work. The local BBQ place is hiring starting at 10 dollars an hour. Paying people not to work apparently creates new jobs. However, if they actually gave that money to small businesses, or even allowed them to make very very low interest loans, it would create way more jobs. My buddy owns a shop back home, and he needs help, but the money isn't there. With just 100000 dollars (lots to an enlisted man like me, but not much out of that huge bill) he could hire 2 people at 30k and take 40k and invest in things for the business. Therefore creating 2 new jobs, giving him money to invest. Then the 2 workers could also put money back into the economy. Instead of giving it to huge corporations that just like to get money and hold on to it, and give more money to the people with 7 figure salaries. The bad state of affairs is our fault, because of poorly managing money. Most americans live way beyond their means. The only reason huge companies lay off, is someone got the idea that profits should ALWAYS increase. After a while you start losing key components in the search for profit increase. After a while, it is like removing your engine to make your car lighter.(I am very aware of inflation, don't throw that in there.) Then they spend money irresponsibly, and then are like, hmmm i wonder why we are going bankrupt. We need government money to keep wasting so we don't have to fire the people we haven't laid off yet. I say the Government gives no one money, and lets the people that can't manage money get whats coming.

but it gets you home instead of leaving you stranded on the freeway...?

yes...it does get you home, agreed :)

I do agree with you to an extent. Been unemployed off and on for like 5 months now. I have been trying for anything possible. I had a part time job at Costco for a little over a month (seasonal) then was promptly laid off, last day I worked was on christmas eve. I've been trying to find a full time job but have had very little to no luck. I've had interviews that went great but 3 out of 4 of my last interviewers ended up not hiring anyone at all. I have a great resume and have never ever had such a hard time finding work.

Right now unemployment is paying out the same as a part time job (thank you stimulus) so I have no motivation to take another part time job. Everyone is either laying people off or cutting pay. No one is hiring in this town.

The middle paragraph hell yes, the rest no.

You think the contruction worker or the architect or the saw mill operator is getting screwed because he/she cant manage money? They got screwed due to a sudden plunge in demand through 0 fault of their own.

See how many people apply for that 10 dollar an hour job at the BBQ.

Obviously in the current market this may have changed but...

As an employer I have used the state unemployment office match service before when I needed an employee. Not a bad deal for an employer, they pay a portion of the wages paid for a few months if you hire someone currently on unemployment. I post a job there. I get 20-30 people interested. Talk to a number of them on the phone and that thins the herd to 5-10 still interested. Make appointments for interviews with them. 2 actually show up and they both had 0 chance of actually doing the job. Completely ignored what the job required when they applied.

Granted this was a couple years ago when we were at 6% unemp.

You want effective stimulus for less than 250K per person employed? Offer a grant to every small business that has reduced workforce in the last 2 years. Pay a significant percentage of all wages, benefits, payroll taxes, social security, etc for any person they hire, for two years, up to the pre-crash employment level. Get people back to work in middle America.

The bastard financial and insurance companies that got us in this situation shouldn't have got a cent and the bonus they throw around are a slap in the face to the entire world. They didn't just screw America they screwed the financial security of the entire world. I'm suprised there wasn't more backlash from that fiasco.


EDIT: Didn't see Chickdigmiatas had pushed for small business help before I wrote this. Right on brother. Obviously mediocre minds think alike!

Thanks Cueball! Spare tire, maybe i misworded, well i did. I'm not saying that the workers lost their jobs because they personally couldn't manage money, i was saying it was the companies they work or maybe just other companies in general that caused this whole C.F. did the mishandling. They were just innocent people caught in the crossfire. However, if they are broke with a job, shit happens. I used to be in debt and got out, so can everyone else.

As for 10 dollars an hour, 400 a month is better than zero, and losing your house, and ruining your credit and/or begging for money at intersections, and cussing at me in espanol when i wont give it to you, lol.

Bingo on the small business. What scares me a bit now is this idea of forcing small (5+ plus people I think?) employers to provide healthcare. Liability insurance alone is as expensive as the employee him/herself in some places. When I was in school we looked at what it cost to hire w welder in CA. The pay was about 45% of the total cost! You tack more expenses like that on and you can forget about new hiring for most local businesses.

Virtually everyone I know at work can relate to how there is plenty of work that idealy would be done by extra people, but no way can an owner hire them right now safely. If you want to help people, make it safe for them to get hired, then lower insurance costs so they can get their own damn insurance. Catastophic insurance for me is about 100 dollars a month. I have 0 prescriptions, low blood pressure, a resting heart rate of about 55BPM and weigh a whoopong 160 LBS. I do 26 mile hikes up and down Pikes Peak for fun. And emergency only insurance is 100 fucking dollars a month. God knows what it wuld be if I was 40 and had high cholesterol and wanted some dental or vision.

Leave my employer alone, get that basic cost down to 60/mo and watch the economy improve.

Gotcha, I misunderstood. Honestly there was a lot that fugged it up way up the food chain from anybody here as far as I can tell.

But I will say that it just blows me away how people marched into these ARM and baloon payment mortgages. How the hell can you not 'read the fine print' when a 1/4 million bucks is getting thrown around? So I have revise myself a bit and say that there are also plenty of people who are actually screwed because of their own stupidity.:facepalm:

Which wouldnt be so bad if they had not been a few more gallons of water in the flood.

If the government would do no or really low interest loans, not only would they get the money back, they could stimulate the economy, instead of just giving it to the problem in the first place. But, that is how our government solves problems, they just throw bills at it and hope it works out, kinda like a rap video.