David Obey Slams Obama Administration for Errors in Reporting Stimulus Job Gains

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee slammed the Obama administration Tuesday for "outrageous" errors in data that led to inflated job-creation numbers on recovery.org, the Web site that reports on the president's stimulus program. The Hill reports that, due to "unrealistic" reports from about a dozen federal agencies, the site incorrectly reported more than 600,000 jobs had been saved or created by the stimulus. An ABC News report outlined some of the site's inaccuracies on Monday.

"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," Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) said in a statement Monday. "Whether the numbers are good news or bad news, I want the honest numbers and I want them now."

Obey was a major player in writing the stimulus bill, and said he was dismayed to see it failing to meet the goal of complete transparency.

The White House has deleted at least 60,000 positions from its hard count of jobs saved, because the original figure was based on overstated reporting from agencies.