JOSH CLAIMS: Sherrod Brown supported the failed stimulus act.

THE TRUTH: The Recovery Act saved or created more than one million jobs and possibly as many as 3.6 million jobs.

1. Four Independent Analyses Concluded The Stimulus Saved Or Created Between 1.3 Million And 3.6 Million Jobs. [Politifact, 6/20/11]

2. Steel executives credited the Recovery Act as contributing their decision to build a new steel plant in the Mahoning Valley, creating hundreds of good-paying jobs.  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/23/12]

3. Recovery Act funds helped jumpstart the installation of broadband to more than 750,000 households in Appalachia.  [Portsmouth Daily Times, 05/26/11]

Politifact: Four Independent Analyses Concluded The Stimulus Saved Or Created Between 1.3 Million And 3.6 Million Jobs.  In June 2011 after giving the NRSC a “False” rating for a stimulus attack in Virginia, Politifact wrote “Separately, the council’s report cited four independent analyses by the Congressional Budget Office and three private economic analysis companies. Here’s what the groups found:

• CBO: Between 1.3 million and 3.6 million jobs saved or created.

• IHS/Global Insight: 2.45 million jobs saved or created.

• Macroeconomic Advisers: 2.3 million jobs saved or created.

• Moody’s Economy.com: 2.5 million jobs saved or created.” [Politifact, 6/20/11]

V&M Star Executives Told Youngstown Vindicator $20 Million In Stimulus Funds “Played A Role In Speeding Their Decision” To Open New A New Pipe Plant.  In a January 2012, The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported that nearly $20 million in stimulus funds were used to to help V&M relocate a railroad line spur and pay for infrastructure for its new plant.  The Plain Dealer reported that  and that V&M executives told the Youngstown Vindicator that the stimulus “played a role in speeding their decision.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/23/12]

Stimulus Funds Were Used To Start Bringing Broadband To More Than 705,000 Households In Appalachia.  In May 2011, The Portsmouth Daily Times reported “U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, cheered Monday’s groundbreaking of a project that will expand access to broadband for 34 counties in Appalachia. The project would deploy more than 1,900 miles of fiber optic network to more than 705,000 households and connect nearly 600 community anchors. The funds were awarded to the Ohio Middle Mile Consortium, which Brown helped to facilitate after he fought to devote $2.5 billion worth of Recovery Act broadband funding for rural broadband projects.”  [Portsmouth Daily Times, 05/26/11]