Public Believes "Facts" that Don't Happen to Be True

[Pack66Dad]

I thought this was VERY interesting:


Public Believes "Facts" that Don't Happen to Be True Permalink

[FONT=&quot]It is considered poor form for journalists, columnists, bloggers, and wannabes to point out that the public is woefully ignorant about the news, but sad to say, that is often the case. In an interesting [FONT=&quot]piece[/FONT], Dave Johnson lists and demolishes eight myths and gives links to detailed discussions of each item. The eight myths are:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=&quot]Obama tripled the deficit (No: it is lower than in Bush's last budget) [/FONT]
2. [FONT=&quot]Obama raised taxes (No: the "stimulus" contained a big tax cut) [/FONT]
3. [FONT=&quot]Obama bailed out the banks (No: the bailout happened before Obama took office) [/FONT]
4. [FONT=&quot]The "stimulus" failed (No: the CBO estimates it created 1-3 million jobs) [/FONT]
5. [FONT=&quot]Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts (No: They will hire when they sell more products) [/FONT]
6. [FONT=&quot]Health-insurance reform will cost $1 trillion (No: the CBO says it will save $138 billion) [/FONT]
7. [FONT=&quot]Social security is a Ponzi scheme (No: it will continue to be solvent for 25 years) [/FONT]
8. [FONT=&quot]Government spending takes money out of the economy (No: government buys stuff and hires people) [/FONT]

 

[jason78]

I thought this was VERY interesting:


Public Believes "Facts" that Don't Happen to Be True Permalink

[FONT=&quot]It is considered poor form for journalists, columnists, bloggers, and wannabes to point out that the public is woefully ignorant about the news, but sad to say, that is often the case. In an interesting [FONT=&quot]piece[/FONT], Dave Johnson lists and demolishes eight myths and gives links to detailed discussions of each item. The eight myths are:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=&quot]Obama tripled the deficit (No: it is lower than in Bush's last budget) [/FONT]
2. [FONT=&quot]Obama raised taxes (No: the "stimulus" contained a big tax cut) [/FONT]
3. [FONT=&quot]Obama bailed out the banks (No: the bailout happened before Obama took office) [/FONT]
4. [FONT=&quot]The "stimulus" failed (No: the CBO estimates it created 1-3 million jobs) [/FONT]
5. [FONT=&quot]Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts (No: They will hire when they sell more products) [/FONT]
6. [FONT=&quot]Health-insurance reform will cost $1 trillion (No: the CBO says it will save $138 billion) [/FONT]
7. [FONT=&quot]Social security is a Ponzi scheme (No: it will continue to be solvent for 25 years) [/FONT]
8. [FONT=&quot]Government spending takes money out of the economy (No: government buys stuff and hires people) [/FONT]

From what I remember, they were pretty "liberal" (no pun intended) on what that were claiming was a job "created" by the stimulus.

Like if the government ordered 50 toilet seats and the toilet seat factory had 500 employees, they "created" 500 jobs.

1-3 million is a pretty big variance anyway. I don't have time right now to comment on the other so called "facts" in that article.

About the only thing the stimulus did was postpone the layoff of many state workers. The money is gone and now they are being laid off.

Was it not Obama who just last week admitted there were no "Shovel ready Projects"

 

[mddickens]

There are some bald-faced lies here, and some very selective and careful prose in these "facts". The CBO is beholden to Congress and is unsurprisingly sympathetic to it's current (but not future) employer, the Democrat party, so their statements and projections are to be taken with a large pinch of salt.

When it's all said and done, it's a matter of the ROI on dollars spent. Government spending "could" be directed to projects which only government can undertake (interstate highways, air traffic control improvement, etc) and managed in a semi-efficient and effective manner. When this has happened, the return on those investments has been truly wonderful (where would we be without the interstate system?).

The problem is that government spending has been (over many recent administrations, but particularly the current one) tremendously inefficient and ineffective. Has the stimulus saved jobs? Yes..I'm sure it has, but at what cost per job? This is the fact that the Obama administration ignores and hopes that you will forget. If you give a psychotic drunk (say Charlie Sheen) billions and billions of dollars, I'd bet he could "save or create" more jobs than the Federal Government has in the last two years. It's all about the return on the investment and when that return will be realized. Using this metric, the Obama administration has failed miserably.

His abject failure is only a surprise to feckless liberals, academic elites, and other addled utopians. Those of us living in the real world, cutting paychecks every two weeks, and making a living without the Federal Government's "help" knew long ago that he was just a poser, and that this would end badly. We were right.

 

[Stray Cat]

I thought this was VERY interesting:


Public Believes "Facts" that Don't Happen to Be True Permalink

[FONT=&quot]It is considered poor form for journalists, columnists, bloggers, and wannabes to point out that the public is woefully ignorant about the news, but sad to say, that is often the case. In an interesting [FONT=&quot]piece[/FONT], Dave Johnson lists and demolishes eight myths and gives links to detailed discussions of each item. The eight myths are:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=&quot]Obama tripled the deficit (No: it is lower than in Bush's last budget) [/FONT]
2. [FONT=&quot]Obama raised taxes (No: the "stimulus" contained a big tax cut) [/FONT]
3. [FONT=&quot]Obama bailed out the banks (No: the bailout happened before Obama took office) [/FONT]
4. [FONT=&quot]The "stimulus" failed (No: the CBO estimates it created 1-3 million jobs) [/FONT]
5. [FONT=&quot]Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts (No: They will hire when they sell more products) [/FONT]
6. [FONT=&quot]Health-insurance reform will cost $1 trillion (No: the CBO says it will save $138 billion) [/FONT]
7. [FONT=&quot]Social security is a Ponzi scheme (No: it will continue to be solvent for 25 years) [/FONT]
8. [FONT=&quot]Government spending takes money out of the economy (No: government buys stuff and hires people) [/FONT]

I don't normally put my dog in this hunt....but I just couldn't take #8...Where in the hell does the government get the money to buy stuff and hire people? Oh, I forgot, they print it....

 

[PlayDate]

Everyone can lie with statistics....even people who own boats. That said...I do like this story:

Ask FactCheck

Q: Were stimulus payments made to dead people and prison inmates?

A: Yes, 89,000 of them, according to an official audit. About half of the $22 million was returned. The audit blamed both Congress and the Social Security Administration.


Makes you wonder ....if you were in prison...would you send it back?

-John

 

[Pack66Dad]

:smt043

Hilarious attempts guys, but I still don't see any actual rebuttals to the facts from this article: http://institute.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010104222/false-things-public-knows-they-go-vote

And the comments about "talking points" are choice..... almost every post with a contrary opinion is nothing but right wing talking points. The fact is, there are no left wing talking points. The republican party invented them, uses them everyday to give Fox News and their radio toadies stuff to talk about. The republican talking points (and the ditto heads who use/listen to them) got exposed and were ridiculed so now they blame them on the left, classic Karl Rove.

I just can't believe anyone would want to return to bush-care and bush-onomics after the misery and moral decay they inflicted on this country.

 

[chuck1]

Okay just one quick simple question for you. Are more people better off or worse off since the liberals/big government is good crowd took control of congress and the senate?

 

[jason78]

Yeah the "Institute for America's Future" looks like a very reliable source of information. Is this another one of George Soros' "Investigative" think tanks?

You won't hear me defend Bush but if you really think the country is better off now you have been spending too much time on the left wing blogs.

It is funny how the libs forget that their hands were on the wheel too (control of Congress) when the economy tanked.

The liberal idea that the definition of the "American Dream" was for EVERYONE to own a home didn't work out too well did it?

If you want to have a debate on facts, dig them up yourself and don't just start throwing up links from left wing sites. What would you say if I threw up an article written by some right wing website and treated it as absolute fact? You are telling others they can't come up with facts to counter your original post when in fact you did not post any facts to begin with. If you want to debate an article- fine I like to do it too, but you posted the same article again to back up the original (same) article.

Oh and as for talking points- I mean come on. Obama is flying all over the place not even talking about all the "great" things he has done. Just talking about how bad Republicans are- yada, yada yada, needs more time, Bush's Fault, yada yada yada, Party of no. Obama and the Dems got everything they wanted so why is he acting like things would have been so different if the Republicans would have voted for all of his spending?

If a Dem was going to be elected I am starting to wish it would have been Hillary. At least she seems to be able to take responsibility.

 

[comsnark]

Come on guys. . .how many "proof" links that are posted on threads like this are from Fox news?

Everyone these days plays really, really loose with the "facts". This thread is no exception. I mean, how many people believe the President is a Muslim born in Kenya? Simply because people on certain networks like to play loose with facts.

Look. . it is obvious the Democrats will get trounced next week for two obvious reasons;
1) It was inevitable after a big win in 2008.
2) The economy is still a shambles.

But on the flip side, the Republicans are poised to hugely underachieve with their upcoming spotlight. I mean seriously; the "Pledge to America" is a total joke. http://pledge.gop.gov/. Cutting taxes while not touching Medicare, SS, or defense? More cotton candy and popcorn economics that drove the ecomony into the ditch.

P.S. Wanna bet the Republicans are thinking about impeachment?

The only serious policy proposal I have heard is "repeal Obamacare". Yeah. . .the odds of that happening with a Democratic President are about the same as repealing the Bush tax cuts with a Republican President in 2007. Ain't happenin'.

Show me a politician who is campaigning on repealing Obamacare, and I will show you a politician whose lips are moving.

P.S. Wanna bet some Republicans are planning an impeachment?

 

[chumbley]

If you want to look at responsibility, I think you have to look at congress much more than the President. Blame Bush all you want. But no matter what you think of him (or any other President), there isn't that much they can fundamentally do without congress. The white house may initiate programs, but without congress to support them, they go nowhere. The reverse, however, does happen.

So, you can have the debates about parties and Presidents. I would rather focus on getting these career politicians booted to the streets. Politicians who have never worked a real job in their lives. Who make decisions that affect people based solely on whether they think it will help or hurt their next election run. And who are exempt from the majority of rules they make for you and I.

 

[rcknecht]

Next Tuesday... Don't forget to vote... When you are young if your not a liberal, you don't have a heart... When you are old if you aren't a conservative, you don't have a brain... BTW... When you are old enough to vote, you are no longer "young"..

 

[sbw1]

It does not pay to argue with a fool. Just vote.

 

[Pseudomind]

:smt043
...I just can't believe anyone would want to return to bush-care and bush-onomics after the misery and moral decay they inflicted on this country.

Moral decay???

 

[comsnark]

I intend to vote early and often.

Don't forget to use absentee voting. You can't vote in all 50 states in one day unless you do absentee voting.

Of course, electronic voting makes voting *much* easier. Then others can vote for you. The key for successful electronic voting is to recognize that you need to display what the voter wants, regardless of the vote that is recorded.



(for those that are humourless -> this post is in jest)

 

[Pack66Dad]

Moral decay, like Clinton getting a blow job in the Oval Office? You have lost what very little credibility you had.

As for the misery, that didn't start until 2007 when liberals took control of both houses.

I am through debating with you, you obviously are incapable of rational thought.

Starting a war on false pretenses with a country that was no threat to us and torture are moral virtues? A blow job in the oval office really loses all significance when you compare it to over a million casualties (4,426 U.S. soldiers killed and over 32,899 wounded).

You might want to reconsider your statement about who is incapable of "rational thought", maybe take a look in the mirror.

 

[Daddubo]

Here is something from the CBO site.

CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit was slightly less than $1.3 trillion in fiscal year 2010 and $125 billion less than the shortfall recorded in 2009. The 2010 deficit was equal to 8.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), CBO estimates, down from 10.0 percent in 2009 (based on the most current estimate of GDP). The 2010 deficit was the second-highest shortfall—and 2009 the highest—since 1945, relative to the size of the economy. CBO’s deficit estimate is based on data from the Daily Treasury Statements and CBO’s projections; the Treasury Department will report the actual deficit for fiscal year 2010 later this month.

Read the whole thing here: http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=11936

 

[tdschafer]

Starting a war on false pretenses with a country that was no threat to us and torture are moral virtues? A blow job in the oval office really looses all significance when you compare it to over a million casualties (4,426 U.S. soldiers killed and over 32,899 wounded).

You might want to reconsider your statement about who is incapable of "rational thought", maybe take a look in the mirror.

Not to be picky but the correct spelling is "loses" if you really want to make your point.
The fact is none of these guys has had our best interests at heart throughout their careers. I feel when I hit the voting booth I am always choosing between the lesser of two evils which is quite depressing. I can't remember any president that when controlling the house and senate did anything miraculous for our country. The current administration is jamming their liberal socialist agenda down our throats without listening to the people of our country. Working in the healthcare industry I think all would agree that some changes needed to be made but to pass this massive reform without open debate and really listening to both sides as well as The People is pathetic. I still hear Nancy Pelosi's remarks ringing in my ears " We need to pass this bill to see what's in it". Ridiculous!
Well, this is supposed to be a boating forum and I will now head to another thread that will hopefully be less negative and more about boating.
Todd

 

[spikedaddy99]

"A blow job in the oval office really looses all significance when you compare it to over a million casualties (4,426 U.S. soldiers killed and over 32,899 wounded).

A married man cheating on his wife is immoral.

I also be that those US soldiers killed and wounded would disagree with your opinion. They understand we are at war with people hellbent on our destruction. I served in the military, did you?

Mike

 

[Jack F]

"A blow job in the oval office really looses all significance when you compare it to over a million casualties (4,426 U.S. soldiers killed and over 32,899 wounded).

A married man cheating on his wife is immoral.

Mike

It depends on what your definition of is.. is.

 

[MaddyDean]

"A blow job in the oval office really looses all significance when you compare it to over a million casualties (4,426 U.S. soldiers killed and over 32,899 wounded).

A married man cheating on his wife is immoral.

I also be that those US soldiers killed and wounded would disagree with your opinion. They understand we are at war with people hellbent on our destruction. I served in the military, did you?

Mike

Here, here, God bless you for your service. Bottom line, these wars have saved lives. Part of the "Strategery" was to back them into corners and force communications. We can then intercept those communications and have. Case in point, the recent Terror alerts for Europe--without the man and women in our armed forces, our Allies, and their courage, you would not have heard about the alerts--you would have heard about the attacks.

God bless our men and women in the armed forces, they are doing such a great job that the people who do not pay attention do not even realize that their lives were saved.