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WH to Boehner: 'Saved or created' jobs metric is valid
The White House on Tuesday rebuked Republican critics who doubt the accuracy of its "jobs saved or created" method of evaluating the recovery act's effects.
Those concerns are unfounded, stressed one of the Obama administration's stimulus chiefs, because recovery act data are based off reliable sources and tested economic gauges that GOPers have used to evaluate their own legislation in the past.
Boehner last week petitioned the White House in a letter to explain its job-counting methods, and he has long criticized the recovery act for stopping short of its ultimate goal of addressing rising unemployment.
He has also urged the White House to stop noting the recovery act has created 640,000 jobs since enactment because of the measure's unreliability -- a remark that triggered a proxy dispute between Boehner and the vice president's office over stimulus data.
DeSeve, however, somewhat agreed with Boehner, noting the "640,000" statistic was approximate. But he added that future estimates would revise the number upward, as it does not include the effects of direct payments and tax cuts, which can indirectly create jobs. He also pointed out to the GOP leader a recent Congressional Budget Office report, which predicted the stimulus has so far created or saved between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs.
"Indeed, having heard the Congressional Budget Office cited frequently in floor speeches and statements, it seems their report should be a particularly reliable and independent answer to any questions you may have about Recovery Act job impact," DeSeve wrote.
Nevertheless, Republicans on Tuesday will hold their own jobs summit -- to compete with similar efforts on the part of congressional Democrats and the White House -- that is sure to include some debate over the recovery act's effectiveness.
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