Chaffetz doubts Obama's job-creation claims

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee doubt the Obama administration's claims that the stimulus will have created or saved 750,000 jobs by the end of the summer. They want to see how such numbers were developed.

They held a press conference on Thursday saying the administration has never really shown how it comes up with such numbers and said they doubt the figures are real. They asked for a better and more transparent explanation of formulas or measures to create such numbers.

"There has been no methodology expressed nor has there been any scientific data to back up any of the claims the administration has made," Chaffetz told the press conference.

The administration said it created or saved 150,000 jobs during the first 100 days of the administration, and will save or create another 600,000 this summer.

"The president promised 'unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability.' That's simply not happening," Chaffetz said.

"The president promised, and the (House) speaker promised this stimulus package was about jobs, jobs, jobs. It's not. We've seen government jobs growing. We haven't seen that translated into the private sector," Chaffetz said.

"Those of us who are skeptical of it just want to see the data. I don't think that's asking too much," he said.

The committee Republicans signed a letter to President Barack Obama saying that recovery.gov lists projects funded by the stimulus, but does not list how many jobs were created or saved by each.

They also wrote, "While 2.3 million Americans have lost their jobs during your presidency, you assert that the stimulus has so far created or saved 150,000 jobs. How can the American people possibly believe this claim, given the contradictory evidence" and no listing of jobs created by each project?

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