Should I believe my ears or my eyes?
When I began the journey home from my favorite supermarket,
a radio ad told me I should not vote for Barack Obama because “he spent almost a
trillion dollars in stimulus funds that didn’t create a single job.”
Minutes later I negotiated my way through a construction
project that began this spring in Plainwell,
Michigan. Most of the work will
be paid for with federal economic stimulus funds.
The Plainwell project replaces a bridge that was at the top
of Michigan’s
unsafe structures list, improves motorist and pedestrian safety on and near an
important highway interchange, and eliminates most of a major bottleneck on a
busy state highway. The project has been planned for a decade, but state government alone didn't have the funds to get the work done.
Private contractors will have been paid nearly $11 million
when the work is completed next year. The project would not have happened now
or in the foreseeable future without stimulus funding.
As I drove through the work site I saw numerous young men
and women clearing the way for giant construction equipment and performing
other tasks. Older workers were driving
trucks and operating backhoes and asphalt-laying machines. Obviously, many jobs were created or saved by
the project.
In this case, I’ll believe my eyes.
Last night, Mitt Romney told us for the umpteenth time that
government does not create jobs. Oh, well.
