Stimulus "Considerable Uncertainty"

The largest selling point to Obama’s boondoggle is the claim that it will create or save at least 3 million jobs. But the source for that number is a report produced by Obama’s top economic adviser who repeatedly stated that the jobs estimate carried “considerable uncertainty.”

The estimate for the number of jobs the stimulus would create, the report said, is based on the “rule of thumb that a 1% increase in GDP (gross domestic product) corresponds to an increase in employment of approximately 1 million jobs or about three-quarters of a percent.”

The report, published on Jan. 10, was co-authored by Christina Romer, who was then the nominee to become chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein, who then worked in the office of the vice president-elect. On Jan. 28, the Senate confirmed Romer as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Bernstein now serves as an economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.