Keep in mind, in the Obama era, the deficit has shrunk by $1 trillion. That’s “trillion,” with a “t.” As a percentage of the economy, the deficit is now down to just 2.5%, which is below the average of the past half-century, and down from 9.8% when the president took office.
Those are the facts, however thanks to the constant barrage of Right Wing propaganda hardly anybody knows it:
The vast majority of Americans are absolutely certain – thanks to deceptive Republican rhetoric and unfortunate news coverage – that the deficit has soared in the Obama era. Late last year, a Bloomberg Politics Poll found that 73% of the public believes the deficit has gotten bigger over the last six years.
Just the other day I heard some conservative claim that under Obama the deficit had grown another trillion dollars. I knew that was wrong, so when I saw this article on The Maddow Blog I felt is really needed to be shared with as many people as possible.
I feel it is my job as a liberal to filter through the conservative BS, find the nuggets of actual truth, and then make sure that people see and understand them.
Sometimes I really hate my job.
A big part of this lie is that most people equate defecit and debt, which is inaccurate. Defecit is the amount of money above revenue that is spent running the country, debt is the accumulated defecits of years past.
ReplyDeleteConservative pundits know this, and they exploit this ignorance.
Good post --
ReplyDeleteWhy don't Democratic candidates on every level proclaim this far and wide, along with all the other FACTS Fox lies about -- over and over -- like they do? The American People are increasingly ignorant with shorter and shorter attention spans. Hammer these good numbers home! in short bursts!
It can't hurt. We gotta try everything.
You are so right! We need to use short talking points just like they do. I know so many people that believe what little they hear on TV without doing any research on their own. I think because everyone has busy lives and don't have the time to look into the issues they just go with what they hear on TV without questioning it. It really is a failure of the 4th estate.
DeleteI like to think I'm still plugged in, and I honestly believe most people aren't fooled, especially they way the GOP primary is going and that parade of idiots.....The Libertarians are starting to spout Tea Party prop, but they will still just flood this election with paper candidates as usual.....Tea Baggers are going down in flames
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are trying so damned hard to undermine the presidency of President Obama! They are especially trying to diminish his record - countering all of his successes as if they never occurred.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they want President Obama to appear in the educational history books as to our having a half, black man hold the nation's top job for a period of two terms!
And, I would not be surprised at all that President Obama will go down in history as one of our best POTUS! I'm so glad I voted for him both times and feel he should be 'respected' for the job he has done in this country in spite of all of the obstruction, racism, hate, war and constant badgering!
Thank God, there are a majority of Americans that love and respect the man. And, I'm in that category!
And, I will be more than eager to cast my vote for Hillary Clinton who will carry on a lot of the work already established by the President Obama and his Administration!
Hey! FYI.... Bristol is blaming black women for having too many abortions over on her Facebook...She's so judgy!
ReplyDeleteAnother flip-flopper. The standard complaint about black women years ago was that they were having too many children. Especially poor women who depended on welfare to feed those kids.
DeleteDamned if you do, damned if you don't.
Robert Reich just posted an interesting video related to this discussion:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/-LlbW5SHGGA
Just the other day I heard some conservative claim that under Obama the deficit had grown another trillion dollars.
ReplyDeleteIf they don't claim that, they brag that the sequester has been the sole reason the deficit has been cut in half. That is, if they flip-flop again on who's to blame..er, who can take credit for the sequester.
Someone above said that all this misinformation is a failure of the 4th estate. So true! Given all the new outlets for information these days, it's incredible that it's so difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. In addition, the Democratic National Committee has botched the message corridor horribly. The DNC has a lot to account for not forcefully correcting the lies. Now, with the horrid debate schedule, designed to keep Hillary's name as the only one associated with the Dems, Debbie Wasserman Schultz has screwed up the information stream so badly, she should be run out of Congress. (And certainly needs to be replaced ASAP). I used to like her, but now I think she's incompetent, and could very possibly screw up a winnable election in 2016. Where is George Lakoff when we need him?
ReplyDelete