Fact-Checking Obama's Speech

[biopowertoday]

I really do not consider any of these major errors, yet they do give the repugs fodder to feed on.





http://www.factcheck.org/politics/print_fact-checking_obamas_speech.html

Fact-Checking Obama's Speech

February 25, 2009

The president gets facts wrong about oil imports, mortgage aid and the transcontinental railroad, and more.

Summary

President Obama's first speech to a joint session of Congress was stuffed with signals about the new direction his budget will take and meant-to-be reassuring words about the economy. But it was also peppered with exaggerations and factual misstatements.

* He said "we import more oil today than ever before." That's untrue. Imports peaked in 2005 and are substantially lower today.

* He claimed his mortgage aid plan would help "responsible" buyers but not those who borrowed beyond their means. But even prominent defenders of the program including Fed Chairman Bernanke and FDIC chief Bair concede foolish borrowers will be aided, too.

* He said the high cost of health care "causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds." That's at least double the true figure.

* He flubbed two facts about American history. The U.S. did not invent the automobile, and the transcontinental railroad was not completed until years after the Civil War, not during it.

* He claimed that his stimulus plan "prevented the layoffs" of 57 police officers in Minneapolis. In fact, it's far more complicated than that, and other factors are also helping to save police jobs.

The president also repeated some strained claims we've critiqued before.


Analysis.............

[geardaddy]

1. ...

"He said the high cost of health care "causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds." That's at least double the true figure."

So does that mean it's every 15 seconds or every minute. Who cares. A bankruptcy any minute is just as bad as a bankruptcy every 30 seconds IMO.

[asphalt.jungle]

6. that's why i love that site

it allows you to decide if something is outrageous or not. that line is in fact LOL worthy because it's basically "oh no we don't have medical related bankruptcies every 30 seconds, it's more like every minute." like that's sooooo much better.

[Jennicut]

2. nitpicky...We invented the mass produced car that the middle class

could actually afford.

[zipplewrath]

3. semantics

Most of this is about the semantics. "more oil today" is a general reference to the current times, as compared to the early 70's and the days of oil embargoes. It is lower today than 2005, but still substantially higher than when Carter first started trying to get us to address our energy needs domestically.

We can argue who is responsible or not in their home purchases. Barack was presumably making reference to the fact that home owners who had no chance to purchase their home at any reasonable mortgage value, wouldn't be included in the program.

I'll give 'em the heath care comment, although I remember when Buckley was arguing some number with an opponent. After a couple of rounds of disagreement he finished with the comment of "tell me when our difference is a distinction". i.e. there is nothing about Obama's point that changes, or is enhanced by either 30 seconds or 1 minute.

I caught the automobile one as soon as he said it, only because it is a common assertion in this country. As others point out, he basically is referring to the fact that the auto industry we know today, got its start in Detroit with Ford. There are VERY few auto companies today with real ties to the early 1900's auto manufacturing.

I'd have to review but I didn't think he said we FINISHED the railroad during the civil war but merely expanded the rails during that time.

As far as "preventing" layoffs, there will always be other contributing factors. Is the claim that he should have said "helped prevent"?

[high density]

4. I'll take that compared to yellow cake and fairytale bullshit about Mars.

[AtomicKitten]

5. "I really do not consider any of these major errors ..."

:rofl:

[biopowertoday]

10. I am glad to see you agree with me.

[AtomicKitten]

11. Nah, you're on your own with this poorly veiled BS. n/t

[berni_mccoy]

7. WTF Is Wrong With FactCheck? Obama never said "COMPLETED" the railroad... he said

"we laid tracks". FactCheck Checks Wrong AGAIN.

[JitterbugPerfume]

8. who cares

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Well, if they want to pick nits...

"* He said "we import more oil today than ever before." That's untrue. Imports peaked in 2005 and are substantially lower today."

That depends on which data source you use. If you want to be thorough and honest, the imports of oil are statistically unchanged from 2005. So Obama was correct.

"* He claimed his mortgage aid plan would help "responsible" buyers but not those who borrowed beyond their means. But even prominent defenders of the program including Fed Chairman Bernanke and FDIC chief Bair concede foolish borrowers will be aided, too."

His finanical plan aids all Americans.

"* He said the high cost of health care "causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds." That's at least double the true figure."

Again, depends on where you get your data from.

"* He flubbed two facts about American history. The U.S. did not invent the automobile, and the transcontinental railroad was not completed until years after the Civil War, not during it."

As long as we're picking nits. Obama never actually claimed the U.S. invented the automobile. They infer it.

Furthermore, Obama never said the transcontinental railroad was completed during the Civil War. Lincoln did sign the act into law in 1862. 1862 was during the Civil War, in case the guys over at factcheck didn't know.

"* He claimed that his stimulus plan "prevented the layoffs" of 57 police officers in Minneapolis. In fact, it's far more complicated than that, and other factors are also helping to save police jobs."

It's far more complicated, but factcheck can't explain why it's wrong? Yeah, right.

[TTUBatfan2008]

12. Regarding the cop thing...

They go into further detail on each of their bullet points. Here's the cop section of the article that talks about it in more depth (it's titled "57 Cops"):

"...More important, the mayor himself cites four other factors besides the stimulus money that allow him to avert these hypothetical layoffs. Elsewhere in the same budget speech, he puts stimulus funds last, behind four other factors: lowering debt service payments, focusing cuts on "more expensive management positions," eliminating services and "developing new revenue options." Specifically, Rybak said: "We are proposing elimination of $1.5 million in non-personnel costs, including overtime." So the truth is the stimulus money will help and may avert some future layoffs, but not all 57 cited by the mayor."