(MYSTIC) - Rob Simmons, candidate for U.S. Senate, made the following statement today in reaction to a GAO Report indicating that 1 in 10 jobs the Obama Administration claims were "saved or created" by the stimulus were from projects that had not spent any stimulus dollars:

"This report is the latest in a string that provide mounting evidence with the Democrats' failed 'stimulus' plan has done little to create jobs and stimulate our economy. As Senator Dodd has already admitted, it 'wasn't targeted as it should have been.' The fact that nearly 1 in 10 jobs that the White House claims were 'saved or created' were from projects which did not receive a single dollar in stimulus funds would be laughable, if it weren't so alarming. With the unemployment rate at its worst in a generation, Americans need real job creation, not phony statistics and numbers games."

"From government-run health care, to bailouts and the so-called 'stimulus,' Senator Dodd and Democrats' agenda is threatening our economy with a mountain of debt, and saddling our future with higher taxes. This is one more reason why unspent stimulus money should be returned to the taxpayers in the form of deficit reduction or tax cuts."

FACTS

ABC Reports That A GAO Report States That 1 In Ten Jobs The White House Says Were "Saved Or Created" By The Stimulus, Were From Projects That Spent No Stimulus Money. "More than 50,000 jobs, or one out of every 10 jobs the White House says were saved or created' by their economic stimulus plan, came from projects that reported spending no money yet, according to a government report obtained by ABC News. The report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzes the Administration's October 2009 report on jobs saved or created by the $787 billion stimulus program and finds a 'range of significant reporting and processing problems that need to be addressed.' ... The report finds that 58,386 of the more than 640,000 'saved or created' jobs listed on recovery.gov are from stimulus projects where no money has yet been spent." (Jonathan Karl, "GAO Says More Than 50,000 Jobs Claimed from Stimulus Projects That Have Spent No Money," ABC News, 11/18/09)

When Selling Stimulus In January, The Administration Predicted Unemployment Would Peak At 8 Percent With Stimulus. (Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, "The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan," 1/10/09)

The U.S. Unemployment Rate Now Stands At 10.2%. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, www.bls.gov, Accessed 11/17/09)

The U.S. Economy Has Lost 2.8 Million Jobs Since The Stimulus Took Effect. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, www.bls.gov, Accessed 11/17/09)

Dodd Admitted The Stimulus "Wasn't Targeted As It Should Have Been." "[A]s we go back and look at this is really getting these dollars into the job producing sectors. I think a lot of it frankly wasn't targeted as it should have been." (Alan Cohn, "CT Unemployment Rate Goes Up," News Channel 8 WTNH, 6/2/09)

The 2009 Record Deficit Of $1.4 Trillion Tripled From Last Year. "The federal budget deficit tripled to a record $1.4 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year that ended last week, congressional analysts said Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office estimate, while expected, is bad news for the White House and its allies in Congress as they press ahead with health care overhaul legislation that could cost $900 billion over the next decade." ("CBO: Budget Deficit Hit Record $1.4T In 2009," The Associated Press, 10/7/09)