Free Golf Carts Stimulus Premiers on Stossel

John Stossel made an appearance on Glenn Beck to promote opening of his new show on Fox Business. His first topic is the fearmongering video premiered at the opening of the Copenhagen Climate Conference. Stossel ends with the free golf cart stimulus program sponsored by the government. Since the topic of free golf carts is trending near the top of google search trends, those interested in that portion of the video will find it at 6:09 into the video:




Update: Stossel's clip on Free Golf Carts can be seen here

Add Golf to the List of Things Obama Doesn't Do Very Well ( Hint: He Sucks)

I had to ask my resident golf experts whether the photographers' commentary in this video was accurate. The verdict was grim. My son, who has a photo of Reagan in his room, agreed Obama sucks at golf. My husband, who is a squishy middle kind of guy (gasp, why do you think I have a blog?) wouldn't confirm or deny, but had a smirk that confirmed my son's assessment. A wife learns to read these smirks after 25 years of marriage. Any golf enthusiasts out there want to weigh in with their assessment?



H/T: Free Republic

Baghdad Bob Gibbs Spins the Stimulus Created or Saved Jobs

Baghdad Bob Gibbs has his hands full lately spinning the created or saved jobs stories that are supposed to prove the $787 billion stimulus wasn't a complete waste of taxpayer's money.  Yesterday the AP noted that a report of 30,000 jobs created or saved by the stimulus was full of problems:

"The AP review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced."

The White House blog did a fact check on the AP report, yes seriously they did.  Of course the mistakes  found by AP weren't the government's fault, the mistakes were caused by the stupid people who received the money:

Governors, mayors, county executives, private businesses and community organizations across the country submit reports to Recovery.gov so that you can get an unprecedented look at how your taxpayer dollars are being spent creating jobs and boosting the economy through the Recovery Act. These reports are not from the federal government – but from the very people putting Recovery funds to work. 

Well that's a relief that is!  I feel so much better now knowing that it was just the people who got the money who gave the inflated figures on jobs created or saved.   The White House then reported they would release an exact accounting of jobs "created and saved" on Recovery.Gov today at 3:00, it's now 3:59 and still no report.   Jake Tapper got an advance on the report and writes:

The numbers come from Congressionally-mandated reports submitted earlier this month by tens of thousands of state and local governments, private companies, colleges, universities, and community organizations nationwide, administration officials said, with the majority of the funds coming from state governments.

Factoring jobs indirectly created from the stimulus -- not reflected in these numbers -- an administration official says in a statement that "because these reports show that less than half of the spending through that date created or saved about 650,000 jobs, they confirm government and private forecaster’s estimates that overall Recovery Act spending has created and saved at least 1 million jobs."

So the new numbers come from the same people who received the money but these are Congressionally mandated reports so I guess they are supposed to be reliable this time.   Jake Tapper asked Gibbs today why the American people should believe these numbers:

TAPPER:  How credible should the American people consider these numbers, given that in many cases they're rough estimates and there has been some reporting problems in the past?

GIBBS:  Well, I -- there -- there were -- there was a reporting problem with one of the contracting numbers because that paperwork went up quite quickly.  They've had a chance to go through the numbers over the past couple weeks and address any confusion or errors.  This is paperwork directly from a project that money has been appropriated for, so I think the American people can have confidence in them.

Say what?  Here is the latest screen shot from Recovery.gov that shows the new "created or saved" magical jobs numbers:

Jobs Created or Saved as Reported by Recipients that were misleading before but now have the Federal government seal of approval.   Does anyone else think it is not a coincidence these numbers are coming late on a Friday?

Via Michelle Malkin Republican.Senate.Gov has a top ten list of "Created or Saved Jobs" stories spun by this administration to prove the $787 billion stimulus was not a complete waste of taxpayer's dollars.

Obamenomics in Action: The Golf Cart Stimulus

Seriously, it's in the Wall Street Journal.  After the IRS ruled that golf carts qualify as electric cars purchases of golf carts that are made road worthy through the addition of a few safety features qualify for tax deductions up to $5500 in addition to state credits available in several states.  This makes the purchase of golf carts nearly free to those willing to ride around in one:

The federal credit provides from $4,200 to $5,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle, and when it is combined with similar incentive plans in many states the tax credits can pay for nearly the entire cost of a golf cart. Even in states that don't have their own tax rebate plans, the federal credit is generous enough to pay for half or even two-thirds of the average sticker price of a cart, which is typically in the range of $8,000 to $10,000. "The purchase of some models could be absolutely free," Roger Gaddis of Ada Electric Cars in Oklahoma said earlier this year. "Is that about the coolest thing you've ever heard?"

Jeepers no, it's not the coolest thing I have ever heard, but evidently there are plenty of folks who disagree with me.  In South Carolina one industrious salesman has put together a package where investors can actually come out of the purchase with a cool $2000 profit.  The Villages Golf Cart Man is promoting this golf cart bonanza on his website, where he offers quite a selection of custom golf carts for those who long for the gas guzzlers of days gone by:

the 2009 Escalade

The Hummer

Don't we already own GM or is that the Chinese?

There is no limit on the number of golf carts an individual can claim under current IRS rules though some states are seeking to limit the number as the free or nearly free golf carts are crippling their budgets.  As the WSJ points out this policy illustrates the absurdity of Democratic policies:

 This golf-cart fiasco perfectly illustrates tax policy in the age of Obama, when politicians dole out credits and loopholes for everything from plug-in cars to fuel efficient appliances, home insulation and vitamins. Democrats then insist that to pay for these absurdities they have no choice but to raise tax rates on other things—like work and investment—that aren't politically in vogue. If this keeps up, it'll soon make more sense to retire and play golf than work for living.

These are the people who are going to fix our health care system, heaven help us.   Can cash for livers be far behind?

H/T: Memeorandum