Calculating total jobs created by the stimulus program has been difficult.
ATLANTA (WXIA) - Friday marks a big birthday, but not one that everyone is celebrating.
Three years after the beginning of the Stimulus program, the state of Georgia has received $7 billion, and it is impossible to tell just how many jobs the program has created in the state. The bigger question to be asked is if it was worth it.
The Stimulus was supposed to create jobs and improve Georgia's infrastructure. Some Stimulus-based programs that 11Alive News looked into did neither one.
For Larynaee Gray, the Stimulus means the difference between her small home and living on the streets. After she lost everything in a nasty divorce, she was forced to live in her car for three months.
Nearly $5,000 in federal Stimulus funds put a roof over her head, paying her deposit as well as two months' worth of rent and utilities.
"I had a job, but it wasn't enough at the time to do what I needed to do to get on my feet," she said.
According to the Department of Community Affairs, $36 million in federal Stimulus monies came to Georgia to battle homelessness. Much of that money was spent to keep families at risk from losing their homes. Millions went to families facing eviction to help pay rent and utilities for up to three years.
"It's not an enabling or an entitlement," Gray said. "It's basically, you need assistance and this is what we're going to do to help you get on your feet."
To get help, recipients have to meet certain goals - -like maintaining or finding a job.
But the multi-million dollar effort that helped Gray created very few jobs.
Another stimulus program brought Georgia $6.7 million to pay for food vouchers - allowing low income families to buy items like fruits and vegetables. That money created nothing in the way of jobs.
With a roof over her head, Larynee Gray is now working one job, while using her home to start a new business -- stimulated by the excitement of a new future.
Then, there are the Stimulus projects that left everyone scratching their heads.
A research project allowing Georgia Tech to study creativity and improvisation in jazz music created 1.2 jobs, and cost $762,000. Another $212,000 was spent to study communication among ants. It created no jobs.
Georgia Tech told 11Alive in a statement, the research from the study would eventually spur new jobs.
Georgia's Department of Transportation has put up signs boasting about Stimulus dollars at work. About $300,000 worth of the signs went up around the state, and it was totally sanctioned by the federal government. That money could have gone to fixing about 1,430 potholes.
Then, there was the Stimulus money that actually went to the dead. Nearly 1 million Social Security checks for $250 each, were sent to people who were already dead around the nation.
Politicians had mixed messages when confronted with the question of if it worked or not.
US Rep. Hank Johnson (D-4th) says he thinks the program worked and worked well.
"I think it's hard to argue with success," Johnson said. "For 23 straight months we've had growth. In Georgia, in excess of 100,000 jobs were saved or created."
In comparison, US Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-11th) differed with Johnson's assessment.
"The legacy is a failed result by any account," Gingrey said. "I think at the time, it was 7.6 percent - to keep the unemployment rate from going above 8 percent. Guess what? It's been above 8 percent for 36 straight months."
Johnson and Gingrey also differ on how to stimulate the economy now.
"You cannot stimulate the economy by pumping more and more borrowed money into it,' Gingrey said. "We have got to create a climate for job growth."
"The economic recovery we're experiencing now is somewhat lethargic, and that's because we did not put enough money into the Stimulus package," Johnson said.
And successes that came from the Stimulus? There are plenty.
For example, a high-speed broadband network in North Georgia designed to lure high tech companies to the state. Vice President Joe Biden even came to cut the ribbon.
Some $16 million went to build the East Hiram Parkway. The project manager there said it created 18 new jobs and helped a lot of people.
Finally, there's the 3.3 million jobs the Congressional Budget Office says the Stimulus may have created. That's nothing to take for granted - but those jobs do come with a steep price tag if you do the math: it comes to more than $238,484 spent for every job created.