As I noted in a previous post the AP did a fact check on some of the claims the President made in his speech last night. Some “facts” however didn’t get “checked”.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “By the time I took office, we had a one year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door.”
Noel Sheppherd of NewsBusters begs to differ.
President Obama: Last Week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests-including foreign companies-to spend without limit in our elections.”
The Reality: The ruling had nothing to do with federal election laws concerning foreign entities a fact recognized by David Kirkpatrick on the New York Times blog THE CAUCUS. Linda Greenhouse a Pulitzer Prize winning author who was on the New York Times Supreme Court beat for 20 years also notes the error. Of course, both these authors mitigate the President’s action. Greenhouse called his words “imprecise” and Kirkpatrick wrote: “The president appeared to have mischaracterized the Supreme Court’s decision…”
And while I’m on the subject (more or less) of the NYT, be sure to check out Paul Krugman’s take on Obama’s “spending freeze” proposal.
The Divine Lamp 