Surprise! $500 Million In “Green” Training Money Wasted
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I know, you’re pretty darned surprised. Who would have thought that so much money would be wasted on “green” projects by the Obama/Democrat Stimulus plan?
(Fox News) A federal audit shows that nearly a half-billion dollars in government funds was spent on training workers for so-called “green jobs.” The only problem is that not enough positions in the growing industry exist.
The findings — released in a June report
by the Government Accountability Office — showed that only 55 percent of those trained were able to place in a new job, many of which were not technically green jobs. The $501 million in funding came from the 2009 stimulus law. The report also uncovered that the Department of Labor created a framework that led grantees to broadly interpret the program’s definition to include any job “that could be linked, directly or indirectly, to a beneficial outcome” which led to the gap between training programs and available green industry jobs.
by the Government Accountability Office — showed that only 55 percent of those trained were able to place in a new job, many of which were not technically green jobs. The $501 million in funding came from the 2009 stimulus law. The report also uncovered that the Department of Labor created a framework that led grantees to broadly interpret the program’s definition to include any job “that could be linked, directly or indirectly, to a beneficial outcome” which led to the gap between training programs and available green industry jobs.
Essentially, they were throwing money out into the wilds of private enterprise without any real knowledge of the marketplace, products, consumer interest, you know, basic economic and corporate decisions that all these folks in Government, who’ve mostly or solely spent their working lives in other than the private sector, have no idea about, except as academic notions.
“Basically, this is what can happen when you fund large programs amid much uncertainty and when there’s too little data available,” Mark Muro, senior fellow and policy director for the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, told FoxNews.com.
And a president who’s virtually never worked a day in the private sector in his life, who hires people who’ve mostly spent their lives in academia and government.
“The GAO report is just more evidence that the administration has no clue what drives a successful economy and job growth,” said Paul Chesser, an associate fellow at the National Legal and Policy Center. “President Obama tried to build this economic sector, but the buyers didn’t come. And now after the initial flurry, the ‘green jobs’ are evaporating.”
By “evaporating”, I assume he means “really never appeared, but Obama campaign contributors got some nice money out of it”.
Speaking of job, James Pethokoukis wonders where the 5% unemployment rate that the Stimulus promised by July 2013 is
Of course, we now know conclusively that this prediction – based as it was on the pixiedust magic of Keynesian fiscal multipliers – was a total failure, one even beyond what the July job numbers suggest.
Much like Obama’s reliance on “green” jobs training for jobs that didn’t exist, but were supposed to magically appear just because some people were trained.
Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.
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