Category Archives: US economy

Washington Post and Labor Dept. facts expose Obama lies, Bush Tax cuts, Employment data, Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, Playbook of Goebbels Orwell

“With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”…economist Joshua Shapiro, WSJ August 3, 2012

“Obama energy policy: Pander to the left, lie to the poor and working class and enrich his friends.”…Citizen Wells

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”…Joseph Goebbels

 
In a recent campaign ad video, Barack Obama makes the usual litany of false claims about the Bush tax cuts, the employment situation that he inherited and what he will do to stimulate the economy.

“When I took office we were losing nearly 800,000 jobs a month and were mired in Iraq. Today I believe that as a nation we are moving forward again. But we have much more to do to get folks back to work and make the middle class secure again.

Now, Governor Romney believes that with that even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy and fewer regulations on Wall Street all of us will prosper. In other words he’d double down on the same trickle down policies that led to the crisis in the first place. So what’s my plan?

First, we create a million new manufacturing jobs and help businesses double their exports. Give tax breaks to companies that invest in America, not that ship jobs overseas.

Second, we cut our oil imports in half and produce more American-made energy, oil, clean-coal, natural gas, and new resources like wind, solar and bio-fuels—all while doubling the fuel efficiencies of cars and trucks.

Third, we insure that we maintain the best workforce in the world by preparing 100,000 additional math and science teachers. Training 2 million Americans with the job skills they need at our community colleges. Cutting the growth of tuition in half and expanding student aid so more Americans can afford it.

Fourth, a balanced plan to reduce our deficit by four trillion dollars over the next decade on top of the trillion in spending we’ve already cut, I’d ask the wealthy to pay a little more. And as we end the war in Afghanistan let’s apply half the savings to pay down our debt and use the rest for some nation building right here at home.”

Obama has consistently blamed George Bush for our economic woes, but the truth is that the Democrats controlled both houses of congress the last 2 years of the Bush Administration and they, combined with Obama, have caused the most harm.

From the Washington Post October 1, 2012.

“Obama’s claim that the Bush tax cuts led to the economic crisis”

“Now Governor Romney believes that with even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy, and fewer regulations on Wall Street, all of us will prosper. In other words, he’d double down on the same trickle-down policies that led to the crisis in the first place.”

— President Obama, in a new two-minute television ad released Sept. 27, 2012

“This election to me is about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. This is a clear choice. The Republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. That is what got us into trouble in the first place.”

— Former president Bill Clinton, in an Obama campaign ad running since August

When two different people give virtually the same message in two different ads, it’s a good bet that the language has been carefully poll-tested. Both President Obama and former president Bill Clinton assert that Mitt Romney wants to cut taxes for the wealthy and cut financial regulations — which they suggest is a recipe for another economic crisis.

The name “George W. Bush” is never mentioned but is certainly implied. This leads to the question: Did the Bush tax cuts cause the economic crisis?

We’ve been interested in the Clinton comments for some time and never quite got a satisfactory response from the Obama campaign. But Clinton used the vague word “trouble,” which could be broadly defined as also meaning higher deficits. (Clinton’s staff did not respond to queries about what he meant.) Certainly the Bush tax cuts did play some role in higher deficits, though, as we have noted, increased spending played a bigger role.

But Obama is not vague at all. He highlights the tax cuts and then says the “same trickle-down policies” — Democratic code for tax cuts for the wealthy — led to the “crisis.” The campaign’s back-up material labels that as “economic crisis,” thus leaving no ambiguity about his reference.”

“The Pinocchio Test

It is time for the Obama campaign to retire this talking point, no matter how much it seems to resonate with voters. The financial crisis of 2008 stemmed from a variety of complex factors, in particular the bubble in housing prices and the rise of exotic financial instruments. Deregulation was certainly an important factor, but as the government commission concluded, the blame for that lies across administrations, not just in the last Republican one.

In any case, the Bush tax cuts belong at the bottom of the list — if at all. Moreover, it is rather strange for the campaign to cite as its source an article that, according to the author, does not support this assertion.

We nearly made this Four Pinocchios but ultimately decided that citing deregulation in conjunction with tax cuts kept this line out of the “whopper” category. Still, in his effort to portray Romney as an echo of Bush, the president really stretches the limits here.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-claim-that-the-bush-tax-cuts-led-to-the-economic-crisis/2012/09/30/06e8f578-0a6e-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html

Thanks to the Washington Post for clearing up the big lie.

I will address the rest of the false claims.

Probably the biggest of the many lies that Obama has told about the economy has to do with job creation and what he inherited. Without fail, all of the historical data from the Labor Dept. reveal that the job losses and economic calamity began when the Democrats controlled Congress and in many cases worsened with Obama in office.

Recently I explained how the jobs situation worsened even though the “unemployment rate” dropped. The Labor Dept. counts part time workers the same as full time for employment numbers. In September the number of people who could only get part time employment skyrocketed. So, the unemployment rate dropped but the jobs situation worsened.

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/7-8-percent-unemployment-rate-truth-obama-wont-admit-citizen-wells-analysis-of-facts-part-time-workers-counted-as-employed-obama-and-democrats-worsen-job-opportunities/

Obama stated:

“When I took office we were losing nearly 800,000 jobs a month”

The job losses were high and the Democrats controlled both houses. Approximately 4 million fewer people were employed from the time that the Democrats took control of both houses until Obama took office.

The employment population ratio was 63.3 percent in January 2007, 60.6 in January 2009 and 58.7 in September 2012. A significant drop during Obama’s tenure.

The Labor Force Participation Rate was 66.4 percent in January 2007, 65.7 in January 2009 and 63.6 in September 2012. Another significant drop during Obama’s tenure.

Obama stated:

“First, we create a million new manufacturing jobs”

Obviously, Obama’s record on creating jobs as indicated by labor Dept. data dispels that lie. Without Obama in office the statement works.

Obama stated:

“Second, we cut our oil imports in half and produce more American-made energy, oil, clean-coal”

Oh really?

“if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them”…Barack Obama

And Obama stated:

“Fourth, a balanced plan to reduce our deficit by four trillion dollars over the next decade on top of the trillion in spending we’ve already cut”

Joseph Goebbels would be proud.