¥ Saved or created up to 1.6 million jobs;

¥ Added up to 3.2 percent to the growth of real gross domestic product;

¥ Reduced the unemployment rate by as much as 0.9 percentage points.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., voted against the stimulus act and is hell-bent on claiming failure despite the facts.

Issa also never mentions the stimulus effect on state and local governments. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports some programs were cut, but overall state and local spending inched up 0.1 percent to $2.2 trillion in 2009, and revenue increased 0.9 percent for the year. The federal stimulus package made the difference, pumping enough money into states, cities and school districts to offset a sharp drop in tax revenue.

Robert Tormey

Escondido, Calif.

Conservative challenger could take down Reid

Danny Tarkanian, a constitutional conservative, has a 14 percent lead over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. If we are to survive as a democracy, Reid must be replaced.

Tarkanian has become the Democrats’ worst nightmare because he is against the bailouts and the socialization of America by the Obama administration and liberal senators like Reid.

Al Eisner

Silver Spring

The scoundrel in the photo caption is not me

Re: “Federal law barring lies about medals is tested,” Feb. 6

The photo caption on this story misidentifies me as the person claiming to be a veteran in violation of the Stolen Valor Act. This is very incorrect.

As the body of the story correctly reports, it was Richard Strandlof who falsely claimed to be a vet. My own 25-plus years of military service are well-documented online. I am most certainly not the criminal Mr. Strandlof is.

I would be very appreciative if you were to run a correction. As a retired career military officer, my honor is very important to me, and I find this error, while no doubt a simple mistake, to be quite significant.

Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack (USAF-Ret.)

Colorado Springs, Colo.

Editor’s note: The Examiner apologizes for the error.