Rep. David Obey (D-WI) released a statement last night slamming the Obama administration for “outrageous” inaccuracies on the federal stimulus website.
The statement comes after a report that the Recovery Act website makes erroneous claims about jobs that have been saved or created by federal stimulus spending.
Obey, a Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said of the errors:
The inaccuracies on recovery.gov that have come to light are outrageous and the Administration owes itself, the Congress, and every American a commitment to work night and day to correct the ludicrous mistakes.
Credibility counts in government and stupid mistakes like this undermine it. We’ve got too many serious problems in this country to let that happen.
We designed the Recovery Act to be open and transparent and I expect the the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, who oversees the recovery act web site and data to have information that is accurate, reliable and understandable to the American public.
He concluded: “Whether the numbers are good news or bad news, I want the honest numbers and I want them now.”
In response, the White House posted a statement on its blog today, first touting the “impressive” data posted on the site, then downplaying the errors and calling out critics:
The Administration has been criticized for pointing out to the independent Recovery Board some erroneous reports that should not have been posted – and for failing to find all the erroneous reports. Skeptics have raised doubts about reports that show jobs created with no funds spent (although that is possible, as workers are hired in anticipation of projects starting), or funds spent with no jobs created (when materials are purchased for projects that are not yet underway).
Some filers, working with the new system, punched in the wrong Congressional district, and some just got the data wrong. And about 10% of those folks who were supposed to file a report haven’t filed it yet.
The post also says: “We fully agree with those who find the mistakes in the data frustrating – and we’ve been working with the Recovery Board to find the mistakes, and fix them. Just because mistakes are inevitable in any new system – especially one this large, and this new — doesn’t mean they are acceptable.”
Late Update: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released this letter to the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board:
Are you able to certify personally that the number of jobs reported as “created/saved” on www.recovery.gov is accurate and auditable? If you are unable to do so, will you commit to incorporating some kind of qualifying information such as an asterisk or footnote to accompany the presentation of this information, warning visitors to the web site that the information is no accurate and auditable?
