The Labor Department paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal  stimulus funds to a public relations firm to run more than 100 commercials  touting the Obama administration’s “green training” job efforts on two popular  MSNBC cable shows, records show.

The commercials ran on MSNBC on shows hosted by Rachel Maddow and Keith  Olbermann in 2009, but the contract didn’t report any jobs created, according to  records recently reviewed by The Washington Times.

Spending reports under the federal Recovery Act show $495,000 paid to McNeely  Pigott & Fox Public Relations LLC, which the Labor Department hired to raise  awareness “among employers and influencers about the [Job Corps] program’s  existing and new training initiatives in high growth and environmentally  friendly career areas” as well as spreading the word to prospective Job Corps  enrollees.

Ultimately, the firm negotiated ad buys for “two approved spots” airing 14  times per week for two months on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and “The  Rachel Maddow Show,” according to a project report, which listed the number zero  under a section of the report asking how many jobs had been created through the  stimulus contract.

David Williams, president of the nonprofit watchdog Taxpayers Protection  Alliance, called the contract “questionable” because it created no jobs and  because of the placement of the ads on shows viewed as friendly to the  administration’s policies.

“Hiring a PR firm does not create jobs and this was obviously meant for  selling a particular political agenda,” Mr. Williams said. “The placement really  reeks of a political ad rather than a job ad, and taxpayers see through  this.

“Taxpayers would be a lot happier at the end of the day to see a completed  road rather than a bunch of ads on cable television,” he said.

The public relations firm did not respond to inquiries from The Times about  who directed the ads to appear on MSNBC, but Labor Department officials defended  the expenditures, saying the decision to place the ads on the network — now NBC  News — had nothing to do with politics.

In a joint e-mail statement to The Times from two Labor Department spokesmen,  David Roberts and Michael Volpe, officials said the money was used for outreach  efforts to raise awareness among potential employers about the Job Corps’ green  training in career areas, including automotive, advanced manufacturing and solar  panel installation.

Mr. Roberts and Mr. Volpe also said Labor Department research showed  advertisements would reach the target demographic of business owners and  managers interested in hiring “green trained” employees through a programming  list that initially also included shows hosted by CNN’s Larry King and public  television’s Jim Lehrer, as well as the two MSNBC programs where the ads  eventually appeared.

But public television was eliminated because advertising rates were too high,  according Labor officials. And Larry King was dropped because MSNBC held the  potential to reach more viewers, officials said. Officials gave no indication  whether their research indicated if Fox News, ESPN or other cable outlets were  considered for the Job Corps ads.

The Labor Department said that as measured in “gross impressions per spot”, the two MSNBC shows — Mr. Olbermann is no longer with the network — were twice  as effective as compared to running ads on Mr. King’s show, which also is no  longer on the air.

Mr. Obama signed the $829 billion stimulus into law in February 2009 with the  promise it would sustain 3.5 million jobs. But at its peak it likely was  responsible for far fewer, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget  Office.

The president has since said the economy was in a deeper slump than he had  predicted coming into office, and the White House says the stimulus’s  combination of spending and tax cuts helped bolster state and local governments  and to keep the downturn from becoming a depression.

Republicans, though, argue the price tag was too large and say much of the  spending went to fund Mr. Obama’s political agenda such as green energy  programs, rather than to shovel-ready roads, bridges and other infrastructure  projects.

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