Gov. Gretchen Whitmer boasted in an Aug. 2 tweet that she has been successful in luring investments in battery manufacturing plants, claiming the subsidized plants will add thousands of jobs. But the record shows a different story.

“If you’re keeping score, when I took office, we had 0 battery manufacturing facilities. Soon we will have 5,” Whitmer wrote. “We’ve brought home more than $16 billion in projects and secured over 16,000 jobs building EVs, batteries, semiconductors and clean energy.”

The job numbers Whitmer cites in her tweet are potential future jobs that have been announced, not positions that are currently filled, available, or in the process of being created. Such misleading and sometimes false claims have been a hallmark of Whitmer’s administration.

Politicians often hype tax-paid subsidies to corporations by describing jobs projected as jobs themselves. In nearly all cases, the number of new jobs ends up being far smaller than the number announced.

State officials gave $100 million to Ford Motor Co. in 2022 and announced that the company was going to create 3,000 new jobs. Ford announced two months later that it was laying off 3,000 workers.

None of the plants noted in Whitmer’s tweet exist yet. There are not 16,000 jobs secured.

Whitmer’s tweet casts a negative light on one of her predecessors’ own outlandish job-creation claims. Michigan had 2,521 battery manufacturing jobs in 2022. This was up from 763 such jobs in 2011. Gov. Jennifer Granholm spent hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds trying to establish battery manufacturing through her green energy program. Yet there were no battery manufacturing facilities in the state when Whitmer took office, raising the question of what Michigan taxpayers got for their money last time.

Granholm also boasted that her administration’s subsidies would create thousands of new jobs and make Michigan the world hub of battery manufacturing. That never happened. Now Whitmer is making the same promise.

Whitmer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Freedom River Inc., a Brighton-based nonprofit, is receiving a $5 million grant from Michigan taxpayers in 2024 state budget. The organization says its mission is to help military veterans and their families as they reenter civilian life.

Freedom River has already raised $2 million in personal contributions to purchase 93.5 acres for a recreational center near Brighton. Jeff Yeakey, a Desert Storm Army veteran, and his family, pitched the idea to others in 2021, according to the organization’s website.

The organization used its Facebook page on July 31 to announce the $5 million grant from the state. The property, it says, will offer veterans with outdoor activities such as kayaking, horseback riding and hiking. It also will host workshops and skills training.

There are 568,000 veterans who live in Michigan, and 107,576 have been given a disabled rating. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs states 7% of veterans struggle with post-traumatic stress, which would mean nearly 40,000 Michigan veterans have mental health needs.

Freedom River gave credit to state Rep. Jennifer Conlin, D-Ann Arbor Township, on its Facebook page, for help in securing the state funding.

The National Institute of Health reports that when veterans feel more socially connected, symptoms of post-traumatic stress decrease.

Freedom River Inc. did not respond to an email seeking comment.