Obama’s $38.6 billion green energy loan guarantee program created 3,500 jobs in two years, the Washington Post reported today. In other words, the White House is just 61,500 jobs short of reaching its promised goal:

A $38.6 billion loan guarantee program that the Obama administration promised would create or save 65,000 jobs has created just a few thousand jobs two years after it began, government records show.

The program — designed to jumpstart the nation’s clean technology industry by giving energy companies access to low-cost, government-backed loans — has directly created 3,545 new, permanent jobs after giving out almost half the allocated amount, according to Energy Department tallies.

So let’s get this straight. The administration has already spent half of the initial $38.6 billion loan guarantees, which would be around $19.3 billion. And it’s “created” 3,500 jobs – at a cost of roughly $5.5 million per job. Numbers like these explain why Obama has been relatively quiet on “clean energy” funding during his latest jobs push. Notice it hasn’t been popping up in his speeches lately. Obama’s getting attacked by environmental groups for it, but politically it’s his only option.

And for the White House, there couldn’t be a worse time for this information to come out. August wasn’t a kind month to Obama, but his jobs plan isn’t saving him from a September that’s shaping up to be even worse. As James Carville advised earlier today, “What should the White House do now? One word came to mind: Panic.”