McDonnell to claim 72,000 jobs created on his watch

Posted to: Business Jobs Virginia
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The Associated Press
© July 15, 2010

By Bob Lewis

RICHMOND

Gov. Bob McDonnell continues his rosy news rollout with the claim that nearly 72,000 jobs have been created in Virginia in his first half-year on the job.

McDonnell and his "jobs czar," Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, will announce today at a morning news conference that 71,500 new jobs have been created in the state since February.

McDonnell was sworn in Jan. 16.

McDonnell spokesman J. Tucker Martin says it's a net figure that accounts for jobs also lost during that time, particularly from budget cuts by state and local governments.

On Wednesday, McDonnell announced a surprise state budget surplus of at least $220 million just six months after an estimated $1.8 billion shortfall.

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Funny math

Submitted by gelisat on Thu, 07/15/2010 at 6:14 pm.

Let's see, he laid off thousands & then rehired 72K so that he can boast that he created jobs - give me a break.......

Public Relations Machine

Submitted by Mike Barrett on Thu, 07/15/2010 at 9:02 am.

Yes, the vaunted McDonnell public relations machine grinds on, and frankly, effectively confuses most of the public. Of course, any professional economic devleoper will tell you that eighteen months is the shortest time to convert an inquiry into jobs, so in a sense he is complimenting the Kaine administration. Of course, the real loss of jobs took place on July 1; that is, some 30,000 state and local government employees, but of course those jobs have not shown up on the surveys. Let's applaud McDonnell for his sales effort in talking up Virginia, but let us hold his feet to the fire because of his lack of political courage to actually espouse the need for support for education and transportation, the real factors that companies look for in deciding where to locate. Hyperbole and smoke and mirrors works for awhile, but failure to do the right thing will catch us with us and bury us with reality.

Smoke and Mirrors

Submitted by DBandME on Thu, 07/15/2010 at 8:36 am.

Read the subject line...

Let's Be Honest

Submitted by Pope Urban II on Thu, 07/15/2010 at 8:25 am.

Neither the governor nor the president have created any jobs.

Hyper-Sensitive Posters

Submitted by viewfromsec102 on Thu, 07/15/2010 at 7:58 am.

I think that many of those who have so far posted to this article are being just a bit over-reactive, and perhaps projecting some of their subconscious discomfort with those who are currently running things in Washington.

The article speaks in the passive voice: 72,000 jobs "have been created ...". It doesn't say that Gov. McDonnell took personal credit for creating them. And from what I've seen so far, Gov. McDonnell is gracious enough to give credit where it is due.

My guess is that this is simply a knee-jerk assumption that our governor is cut of the same cloth as the near-total gracelessness currently is on display in Washington (e.g., claiming personal credit for the success of the surge in Iran; reacting to any problem by blaming others).