It began with the Associated Press: "The White House seized on an initial report from a government oversight board weeks ago that claimed federal contracts awarded to businesses under the recovery plan already had helped pay for more than 30,000 jobs. The administration said the number was evidence that the stimulus program had exceeded early expectations toward reaching the president's promise of creating or saving 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year.

"But the 30,000 figure is overstated by thousands - at the very least by nearly 5,000, or one in six, based on AP's limited review of some of the contracts - because some federal agencies and recipients of the money provided incorrect job counts. The review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs were credited to stimulus spending when, in fact, none was produced."

And it continued in California.

The Sacramento Bee: "Up to one-fourth of the 110,000 jobs reported as saved by federal stimulus money in California probably never were in danger, a Bee review has found… In a required state report to the federal government, the university system said the $268.5 million it received in stimulus funding through October allowed it to retain 26,156 employees.

"That total represents more than half of CSU's statewide work force. However, university officials confirmed Thursday that half their workers were not going to be laid off without the stimulus dollars."

And in Colorado.

The Denver Post: "The federal government reported Friday that Colorado created or saved 8,094 jobs through grants, loans and contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Problem is, the figure is wrong, according to an analysis of recovery.gov data by The Denver Post. Although a Colorado Springs Head Start program reported it had created or preserved 269 jobs, the real number was three, according to an interview with a program manager."

And in New York.

New York Times: "In June, the federal government spent $1,047 in stimulus money to buy a rider mower from the Toro Company to cut the grass at the Fayetteville National Cemetery in Arkansas. Now, a report on the government's stimulus Web site improbably claims that that single lawn mower sale helped save or create 50 jobs."

And in Georgia.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The Associated Press exposed Wednesday how the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council in Moultrie reported that stimulus spending has saved 935 of its jobs, though only 508 people work there. Public records show the council reported receiving $187,440 in federal stimulus funds partly to fund pay raises and college scholarships for staff. The council issued a statement on its Web site Thursday, blaming the error on a misplaced decimal point. The number of jobs reported should have been 9.35, not 935, the statement says."

And in Texas.

Dallas Morning News: "Reports that Texas has created or saved 19,752 jobs so far with stimulus funding appear to overstate the impact of the program, according to interviews and an analysis of government data. More than one-quarter of those jobs, or about 5,100, were summer positions for people 24 and younger… One tiny Navarro County town's housing authority reported creating 450 jobs with a $26,174 grant, a claim that was obviously wrong but not fixed in time for last week's reports. The city of Corpus Christi said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also questioned its claim that 195 jobs would be created by the construction of a child care center."

And in South Carolina.

Greenville News: "In fact, the numbers that have come out of Washington relating to the efficacy of the stimulus bill have been either questionable or are flat-out wrong. About 8,100 jobs were created in South Carolina by the stimulus according to recovery.gov. The state Commerce Department puts the number at 3,497 jobs - less than half of what's being touted. And more than half of those were in a summer youth employment program, according to the newspaper [USA Today] report."

And in Florida, where Mike Synan of WDBO reported:

At the White House's website on the stimulus package, it claims 129 jobs were saved in Cocoa Beach. Was that what really happened, or did employees just get raises? Those 129 jobs are at the Brevard Child Care Association, so I asked the Executive Director there, and got some hemming and hawing.

"No, uh, not, well saved/maintained. Maybe it's a matter of semantics."

Stimulus my eye. This was a partisan heist of a half trillion dollars as the Chicago gang raided the Treasury. They bet the economy would rebound on its own and they could take credit. But thievery on a banana republic scale spooked the market and undermined confidence in the American economy.

Now as unemployment surges past 10% on its way to who knows where - 15%? - the administration scrambled for cover. Lost in all the math is how paltry 650,000 jobs is in a nation of 15,700,000 unemployed people.

The press is starting to wake up, smell the incompetence and do the math.

Charleston Daily Mail.