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A White House report released Friday indicated that the $787 billion economic stimulus and recovery act has saved or created at least 640,000 jobs, with Vice President Joe Biden suggesting that the number could be as high as 1 million.
Biden, flanked by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, said that reports from recipients of the federal funds indicated that the stimulus had directly saved or created 640,329 jobs.
He estimated that the indirect effect of those jobs, having those people participating in the economy buying goods and services, and the tax cuts and Social Security payments that were also part of the stimulus was responsible for roughly 400,000 more jobs, with just $160 billion of the total funds spent so far.
"Hundreds of thousands of men and women are receiving a paycheck now that would have not have otherwise," Biden said. "Folks, this is real stuff."
He added, "Based on those reports that we received today, the results have been quite positive."
Biden added that more jobs would continue to be created as the rest of the stimulus money is spent.
"We're only about a third of the way through," he said. "This is not the final report. This is the first detailed report."
He added, "I think this is helping put us back on track . to save or create at least 3.5 million jobs by the end of next [year]."
Biden added that the government is documenting all of the projects being funded and jobs created by the stimulus funds on a Web site dedicated to tracking the measure called recovery.gov.
"Folks, these are real results, real paychecks going to real American families in all of the 50 states and territories," he said. "These are not just statistics, not just reports that exist on nothing but paper."
He added, "This is what the recovery looks like for more than 1 million women and men in America."
Biden noted that among the jobs created, more than 80,000 were construction work positions, roughly 325,000 were in education and some 10,000 were police officers.
He also said that while the administration was pleased with reports showing that the economy and gross domestic product are growing, they recognize they have more yet to do.
"There's still plenty or work to do, plenty of families to help," he said. "But my message today is we're on track."
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, offered his own testimony about how the federal funds have helped California avoid making severe cuts to education.
"There are some people, some of my colleagues that are saying it hasn't done much or it was a waste of money," Schwarzenegger said. "I would dispute that."
He added, "We expect the federal report will show that this money has created or saved more than 100,000 jobs in California. . We also expect the report to show that stimulus dollars have created or saved more jobs in California than in any other state."
O'Malley thanked Biden for the numerous road and bridge improvement projects that the stimulus funds were buying in his state, crediting the measure with pulling the nation back from the brink of a second Great Depression.
"There is no doubt in my mind that it is working," he said.
Biden noted that through his weekly conference calls with governors around the country, he has found that what had once been a highly partisan issue of whether or not to accept the federal stimulus money has become an issue of bipartisan cooperation to see that the funds are spent in the best way.
He noted that he has yet to find a single governor on the calls saying they don't want the money, prompting Schwarzenegger to quip that he should double it for California.
However, that spirit did not hold true with Republicans in Washington. House Republican John Boehner, of Ohio, slammed the report, saying it was filled with "phony" statistics.
"The President and his economic team promised the 'stimulus' would create jobs 'immediately' and unemployment would stay below eight percent," Boehner said in a written statement. "But America has lost more than three million jobs since then, and the unemployment rate is nearing double digits."
He added, "While Washington keeps spending and piling more debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren, out-of-work families keep asking, 'where are the jobs?'"
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