8 Things The Public 'Know' Going Into The Election That Are False

[Bravus]

(I don't have access to the Politics forum but this probably belongs there - I'm happy if it's moved)

http://institute.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010104222/false-things-public-knows-they-go-vote

[bonnie]

(I don't have access to the Politics forum but this probably belongs there - I'm happy if it's moved)

http://institute.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010104222/false-things-public-knows-they-go-vote

Is it safe to assume this is a reasonably unbiased article? It doesn't square with consertvative articles and some middle of the road.

After reading that I would like to know what function Obama has served for 2 years. All that is plaguing our country belongs to Bush.So tell me just what Obama is for?

Also most everything Obama has done is to double down on what he railed against Bush for.So what is his problem and constant whining about Bush for.

[phkrause]

(I don't have access to the Politics forum but this probably belongs there - I'm happy if it's moved)

http://institute.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010104222/false-things-public-knows-they-go-vote

Thanks Bravus for the link, its all stuff I've heard for the past year and a half from many interviews I've listened to. Very interesting none the less.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

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

OK, this is big time SPIN and really pathetic. The budget deficit was on the decline the last four years of the Bush Administration. Bush's final year started in September of 2008 (Obama was elected in October of 2008 and took office in January 2009). So most of the last year of Bush's budget was actually Obama's first year. The reason the deficit was so big was because of TARP (which Obama was part of) and the GM bailout which was all Obama. So trying to blame the $1.416 trillion deficit on Bush is extremely dishonest.

Quote:

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.

OK, this one is mostly true. Obama has not raised taxes YET. The stimulus did offer several tax cuts but they were targeted. For example, the tax cuts encouraged people to buy hybrid cars and make their homes more energy efficient. I am not aware of any tax cuts that went directly to those that create jobs. Tax cuts given to the producers tend to stimulate more production which leads to a net increase in tax revenue.

Quote:

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.

Here we see more SPIN. The author of this article is obviously not an honest man. The bank bailout is known as TARP. This was passed by President Bush HOWEVER it was during the 2008 Presidential election. Bush met with both Obama and McCain as well as congressional leaders. They all came out of the meeting and all of them said that TARP was something we needed to do. Obama was a senator and he voted for TARP. He certainly is not in a position to blame it all on Bush.

Quote:

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.

The unemployment rate has been nearly 10% for over a year. Obama said if we passed the stimulus it would not go above 8%. That is failure no matter how one tries to spin it.

Quote:

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.

This is really making the water muddy. Our economy is consumer driven. He is right there. What he is missing is that businesses are some of the largest consumers. Tax cuts that give businesses money pump more money into the economy thus creating more demand for goods and services and creating more jobs. Tax cuts have stimulated the economy on many occasions.

Quote:

6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.

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

In theory. We have yet to see what is actually going to happen.