Hannity twists Wash. Post report to claim "the stimulus is failing"

Sean Hannity stated during the May 12 edition of his Fox News program that state governments are cutting jobs "because the stimulus isn't working." Then, citing a May 12 Washington Post article, Hannity added, "According to the Post, quote, 'As the stimulus plan was being drawn up, there was an agreement -- there was agreement ... that a key goal was to keep states from making big layoffs at a time when 700,000 Americans were losing their jobs every month.' So even by their own measurement, the stimulus is failing." In fact, the Post article Hannity cited did not report that the stimulus "is failing," but rather that "many states are finding that the funds are not enough." The article also reported that the stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, prevented even more severe job losses in some states, and that some state officials are "not taking every step to avoid" job losses because "they want to proceed with cutbacks."  

From the May 12 Post article:

Officials in some states say they are grateful for and satisfied with the money. Maine has had to lay off 250 people, but because of the stimulus it will be able to avoid more layoffs, even after discovering a new $570 million shortfall. "Without any recovery funds . . . we would be in a very, very different situation," said Maine finance commissioner Ryan Low.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said the state would have had to cut 7,000 jobs without the stimulus but ended up eliminating 1,500 mostly open slots. Maryland avoided layoffs with furloughs and by using an unusually large share of its stimulus funds in next year's budget.

In some states, layoffs are occurring partly because legislators are not taking every step to avoid them. Republican lawmakers in Missouri want to use less than a third of the state's $2.1 billion in flexible stimulus funds to close budget shortfalls. They want to proceed with cutbacks and return $1 billion of the money to residents in the form of tax cuts. Using the money to plug budget gaps, they argue, will leave a deficit once the stimulus money is gone in 2011.

The Post further reported that the House-passed version of the stimulus bill included "$79 billion in 'stabilization' money to plug gaps in states' budgets," while "in the Senate, the stabilization funding was cut by $40 billion to secure the support of the three Republicans who were needed for a filibuster-proof 60 votes." Before the passage of the bill, economist Mark Zandi and the Congressional Budget Office had shown that aid to states is, in Zandi's words, an "economically potent stimulus," as Media Matters for America noted.  

On May 12, FoxNation.com also distorted the Post article with a headline stating, "States Say Stimulus Not Working." As Think Progress noted, the House GOP also featured the Post article on its website and linked to the article on twitter with the comment, "Look how many layoffs the stimulus created."

From the May 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity:

HANNITY: Now, while the federal government is expanding at an astounding rate, state governments are making painful cutbacks because the stimulus isn't working. Now The Washington Post reports that the stimulus bill won't save many state employees from the nation's unemployment lines. State governments are slashing jobs like crazy.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who has already cut 1,000 state jobs, just got rid of another 250. The state of Arizona no longer investigates all claims of child abuse, because it has cut so many social service jobs.

According to the Post, quote, "As the stimulus plan was being drawn up, there was an agreement -- there was agreement ... that a key goal was to keep states from making big layoffs at a time when 700,000 Americans were losing their jobs every month." So even by their own measurement, the stimulus is failing. So do you think President Obama will come out and tell you that any time soon?