Obama Cracks Jobs Joke: 'Shovel-Ready Was Not as Shovel-Ready as We Expected

Shovel-ready jobs were supposed to be a staple of Obama's Recovery Act. It was a big justification for spending the money involved in the legislation. But soon after using the phrase to sell his recovery plan, word started leaking out there there was no such thing as a shovel-ready job. Obama himself admitted that.

So maybe it's not surprising that today, Obama once again backpedaled on the shovel-ready mantra. Fox Nation reports:

President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness met today in Durham, NC at Cree Inc., a company that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting. One of the Council's recommendations to President Obama was to streamline the federal permit process for construction and infrastructure projects. It was explained to Obama that the permitting process can delay projects for "months to years ... and in many cases even cause projects to be abandoned ... I'm sure that when you implemented the Recovery Act your staff briefed you on many of these challenges." At this point, Obama smiled and interjected, "Shovel-ready was not as ... uh .. shovel-ready as we expected." The Council, led by GE's Jeffrey Immelt, erupted in laughter.

What may be surprising is that it's now so obvious the program has failed that the president is willing to joke about it.

(H/T: Gateway Pundit)