VRWC Lies: Eight False Things the Public "Knows" Prior to Election Day

[boutons_deux]

1) President Obama tripled the deficit.

Reality: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first budget reduced that to $1.29 trillion.

2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.

Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.

3) President Obama bailed out the banks.

Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.

4) The stimulus didn't work.

Reality: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.

5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.

Reality: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire. Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.

6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.

Reality: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.

7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.

Reality: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.

8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.

Reality: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on "welfare" and "foreign aid" when that is only a small part of the government's budget.

http://www.truth-out.org/eight-false-things-public-knows-prior-election-day64486?print
==

Magic Negro's stimulus had $400 tax cut for individuals, $800 for couples.

The entire TeaRepugBagger, Inc campaigns bullshit are total lies.

[CosmicCowboy]

Another Bouton's fact:

The sun rises in the West.

[boutons_deux]

CC demolishes me again.

[coyotes_geek]

1) President Obama tripled the deficit.

Reality: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first budget reduced that to $1.29 trillion.

True, but it's nothing to get excited about. Obama's budgets are still going to run up more debt in 4 years than Bush did in 8.


2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.

Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.

So Obama cut taxes, and tax cuts are bad. Got it.


3) President Obama bailed out the banks.

Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.

Partially true. President Obama didn't pass TARP, but Senator Obama voted for it. Plus, TARP hasn't been the only time the government has bailed out banks over the last 3 years.


4) The stimulus didn't work.

Reality: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.

Debatable. Whether it didn't work or wasn't enough, the stimulus still didn't come anywhere close to achieving the goals Obama originally claimed it would.


5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.

Reality: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire. Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.

Someone should tell Obama because he clearly doesn't beleive this. He's offered up business tax breaks on multiple occasions. The stimulus bill, payroll tax exemptions for new hires, several small business tax breaks, and he's still talking about even more. http://www.cnbc.com/id/39505551


6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.

Reality: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.

Lie. Misleading. Lie because it's not true, links below. Misleading because the effect on the defecit and the cost of the program are two different things. If you take a trillion dollars away from the taxpayers, $138 billion of it going towards reducing the defecit doesn't change the fact that taxpayers still had a trillion dollars taken away from them.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/cbo-health-care-bill-will-cost-115-billion-more-than-previously-assessed.html

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/114xx/doc11490/LewisLtr_HR3590.pdf


7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.

Reality: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.

Lie. Since the Treasury doesn't have money to pay back social security, defecits will increase once social security starts cashing in their treasury bonds.


8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.

Reality: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on "welfare" and "foreign aid" when that is only a small part of the government's budget.

Partial true, partial lie. True that government does build roads, airports, etc. Lie that welfare and foreign aid are only a small part of the budget.

http://www.federalbudget.com/

[MannyIsGod]

Foreign aid and welfare are a tiny amount. Your link doesn't break it down by welfare but the only way you get them up to a sizable amount is if you count Medicare and SS as welfare which is BS, IMO. There is no way you get FA up to a sizable amount.

[boutons_deux]

One of America's self-congratulating myths is that it is God's gift to the planet.

But America's foreign aid as a percentage of GDP is well below that of much smaller industrialized countries.

[boutons_deux]

One of America's self-congratulating myths is that it is God's gift to the planet.

But America's foreign aid as a percentage of GDP is well below that of much smaller industrialized countries.

[coyotes_geek]

Foreign aid and welfare are a tiny amount. Your link doesn't break it down by welfare but the only way you get them up to a sizable amount is if you count Medicare and SS as welfare which is BS, IMO. There is no way you get FA up to a sizable amount.

FA is pretty small, but welfare isn't. Check out the budget for department of health & human services.

[MannyIsGod]

HHS does a whole hell of a lot more than provide welfare and I would be shocked if their largest expenditure isn't Medicare which isn't welfare.

[coyotes_geek]

HHS does a whole hell of a lot more than provide welfare and I would be shocked if their largest expenditure isn't Medicare which isn't welfare.

I looked it up. Medicare makes up a little more than half of HHS' budget, medicaid about a quarter, everything else about a quarter. Not really sure who's arguement that supports, but there you have it.

[MannyIsGod]

Medicaid being a quarter is significant but I think the point butons made stands. The problem with the way government is presented to the people of this country is that many times people are told that we're a welfare state etc etc in order to gain support by tapping into negative feelings toward the poor of this country.

The object is to make Joe Middle Class feel that Joe Poverty Line is an anchor on him and is holding him down. Vote for me because I'll make sure Joe Poverty Line doesn't hold you down anymore! Meanwhile, the Joe Rich Leech is sitting there taking more from the system than any poor person ever does through welfare.

[coyotes_geek]

Depends what your interpretation of that point was. That medicaid expenditure is still greater than the combined budgets of the departments of transportation, education and justice. So it is a fact that the federal government spends more on welfare than it does building "roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things".

[RandomGuy]

I think the OP provides a pretty valid reading of the "party line" narrative pushed by Fox "news" and the right wing talking heads.

While the counter claims boutons lists may simply be a counter narrative, one CANNOT credibly deny that the original claims effectively constitute what amounts to unquestionable dogma for most Republicans.

They are established political orthodoxy for the right in this country, and any who have the temerity to call "bullshit" on this orthodoxy, i.e. moderate Republicans, have paid the price at the primary voting booth.

One might quibble with the minutae involved, but one cannot deny the main point of the OP, namely that the points represent unquestionable political dogma.

[Wild Cobra]

Well, starting with item #1, that deficit number has not yet been adjusted with the paid back tarp money. One part of TARP was that the money paid back could not be used for anything else, hence, anything paid back will reduce Bush's last fiscal year deficit numbers.