The Branstad administration has offered no response more than one month after the Iowa Accountability Project submitted a request for open records pertaining to the 'gross over the month employment gains' statistic invented by Iowa Workforce Development. Progress Iowa issued the request as part of the project, to determine how the newly invented number is calculated, as it is not recognized by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The request was made thirty four days ago, on September 19th. According to the Iowa Open Records Law, delay in permitting examination and copying of public records 'shall not exceed' 20 calendar days and ordinarily 'should not exceed' 10 business days. A copy of the request letter can be found by clicking here.
The new statistic was added to the monthly Iowa Workforce Development report in February of 2011, one month after Branstad took office. The statistic appears to allow the administration to take credit for new hires while ignoring job losses, giving a distorted view on Iowa jobs. Commonly accepted measurements of job growth include jobs lost, which are not included in Branstad's new figure.
Iowa needs a Governor who leads, not one who deceives. Every day Branstad continues his dishonesty about his failed campaign promise is a day he could have spent working for Iowans who are falling behind. Only 7,400 more Iowans are working today than when Branstad took office, which is a far cry from the 200,000 new jobs he promised. Unfortunately, Governor Branstad is looking out for his own political future more than Iowa's working families.
The Branstad administration has repeatedly attempted to inflate job growth numbers to create the false impression of progress toward the Governor's campaign promise of creating 200,000 jobs, most recently claiming the creation of 160,000 new jobs. BLS recognized statistics from Iowa Workforce Development tell a different story: resident total employment was 1,567,000 in January 2011, and was 1,574,400 in August of 2013 (only 7,400 more Iowans working), while total nonfarm employment was 1,475,900 in January 2011, and was 1,532,500 in August of 2013 (a net gain of 56,600).
The open records request submitted by Progress Iowa on September 19th has been forwarded to the Iowa Public Information Board, for their assistance in completing the request.
Additional Information:
Iowa Attorney General's Office: Getting Access to Public Records
“By statute, delay in permitting examination and copying of public records 'shall not exceed' 20 calendar days and ordinarily 'should not exceed' 10 business days.”
Iowa Accountability Project Requests Explanation on Flawed Jobs Numbers
3 Comments
He got some attention
from David Cay Johnston this morning. http://www.nationalmemo.com/jo…
2laneia Wed 23 Oct 5:26 PM
tomorrow's zombie campaign lies today
Pathetic. Mike Owen of the Iowa Policy Project pointed out a few months ago that Branstad’s job creation numbers are “inflated” even if you accept his ridiculous method of counting only job gains and not job losses.
Thanks for this diary. I will put it on the front page tomorrow.
desmoinesdem Wed 23 Oct 11:27 PM
Regulations & Job Creation
The current anti-government craze includes noise about taking apart the Clean Water and Clean Air acts, and much that followed them. There is good evidence that, contrary to some powerful opinions, these regulations actually created significant jobs in environmental services and construction. These jobs would not have existed except for legal requirements concerning pollution and the control of toxic substances.
Along with that, there is good evidence that at least the mid-sized to large corporations that were most deeply affected by these environmental regulations were well able to fund the required changes. No economic downturns can be tied to the effective dates of environmental regulations. On the other hand, think about the tremendous economic and environmental costs borne by our economy because we didn’t pursue energy independence in the 1970s but remained addicted to foreign oil.
Branstad is one of these anti-regulatory mouthpieces. He can’t be bothered with the truth, when believable lies are available. Some recent EPA regulations would have created about 20,000 new jobs in Iowa, a whopping 10% of Branstad’s promised quota from his latest spate of governance. Has anything else come close to that figure? The new fertilizer plant in eastern Iowa apparently will create 169 jobs for Iowans (and how many for out-of-state managers and engineers?).
At least Branstad is an honest politician. An honest politician is one who, once he’s bought, stays bought. Branstad has been bought and hasn’t budged from his purchasers’ policy goals ever since.
compassplant Mon 23 Jun 10:57 PM