If it sounds too good to be true ...

The American public would be wise to keep that familiar adage in mind when listening to the Obama administration's upbeat assessment of last year's $862 billion stimulus law.

A new White House report claims the stimulus has "saved or created" between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs.

That's up from a previous report, when the figure was between 2.2 million and 2.8 million.

The number grows, it seems, with each passing quarter in a manner similar to Pinocchio's nose.

Christina Romer, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, says the law "appears to be stimulating private investment and job creation at a time when the economy needs it most."

Really?

Where are all these jobs?

The jobless rate has risen, not fallen, since the Obama stimulus was passed by Congress. Currently, the rate hovers at 10 percent.

Romer could not be blamed for putting a happy face on the struggling U.S. economy. She takes her cue from her boss, President Barack Obama, who staunchly defends the stimulus and his other economic policies.

Obama said in February of 2009 that the stimulus would "jolt the economy back to life."

It was a jolt, all right &tstr; the U.S. has lost 2.2 million jobs since the stimulus was approved.

The president also said at the time that "more than 90 percent" of the jobs created by the stimulus would be in the private sector.

Didn't happen &tstr; the public sector added jobs (399,000) while the private sector shed them at a rapid pace.

Obama also promised his housing plan would spare up to nine million families the pain of foreclosure.

But in reality, the Obama foreclosure-prevention program has helped just 340,000 homeowners.

Indeed, more homeowners have been dropped from the program than have been helped, according to Treasury Department data.

When the Obama administration unveiled the small business tax credit in May, officials cited its "broad eligibility" for companies with fewer than 25 workers and average annual wages under $50,000 that provide health coverage.

But the tax credit drops off sharply once a company gets above 10 workers and $25,000 in average annual wages.

This provides an incentive for companies to cut their work force to 10 employees and slash their wages in order to take full advantage of the tax credit.

And, remember candidate Obama's pledge not to raise taxes on middle class families?

That promise, too, is suspect.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said recently that tax cuts that benefit the middle class "should not be totally sacrosanct" as negotiators try to close a huge hole in the federal budget.

Hoyer acknowledged that it would be difficult to reduce long-term deficits without breaking Obama's pledge to protect families earning less than $250,000.

The administration and the president, himself, are suggesting that, as bad as things are with the economy, they could be worse without the stimulus and other Obama policies.

This unremarkable and unproved assertion brings to mind another adage: Talk is cheap.