Obama's Big Lie Campaign
Politics: President Obama says he deserves four more years in the White House so he can fix the huge mess he inherited. But to make that case, he's embarked on a massive disinformation campaign on full display this week.
How else do you run on a record that includes the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression, falling incomes, low-paying jobs and little hope of a brighter future? You trot out dozens of speakers at the week's Democratic Convention, culminating with Bill Clinton, to repeat untruths that would make George Orwell proud.
Big Lie No. 1: Tax cuts and deregulation caused the economic collapse. Obama's entire re-election strategy hinges on convincing the public that Bush's income tax cuts and alleged deregulation resulted in the last recession and that, as Clinton put it, Romney would "take us back to the same old policies that got us into trouble in the first place."
But Bush's income and capital gains tax cuts — once fully in effect in 2003 — accelerated economic growth and boosted job creation. In fact, the economy created 8.1 million new jobs in the four years after the tax cuts took effect. And the "Bush deregulation" story is a complete myth. Can anyone name a single important regulation Bush got rid of?
Truth is, the recession was caused by a housing bubble created by federal government pressure — including Clinton's — on lenders to lower their standards so politicians could boast about rising home ownership.
Big Lie No. 2: Obama couldn't have done any better. Clinton got loud cheers when he said "no president, not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in one term." Except that Obama's economists expected his economic plan to do just that.
In fall 2010, Obama predicted GDP would climb 3.6% in 2011 and 4.2% this year. Actual results: not even close. Obama only started begging for more time after his policies failed to produce any of the benefits he said.
Big Lie No. 3: Obama's policies stopped another Depression. The recession was coming to a close just as Obama was being sworn in and was over before most of his plan took effect.
And since the recovery started way back in June 2009, all Obama has produced are falling incomes, more long-term unemployed, a sharp rise in the poverty rate, higher gas prices, high-paying jobs replaced with low-paying ones and an exploding national debt.
We aren't on some "long hard road to recovery," despite what Clinton and other Democrats say. We're slipping further into the abyss.
Big Lie No. 4: Obama is bipartisan. Really? The guy who brushed aside Republican concerns about the stimulus by saying "I won"? Who, after the GOP took control of the House, invited Paul Ryan to a speech in which he called Ryan's budget un-American? Who couldn't get a budget deal with an eager John Boehner?
That's the guy we're supposed to believe is "committed to cooperation" and who would be doing a better job if only Republicans weren't so obstinate?
Obama and Co. have no other choice but to try to convince the country that up is down and red is green. That doesn't mean voters should believe it. |
