Well, that didn't take long.
As we all know, the Associated Press (AP) has long had a bias against Pres. Obama. Shoddy reporting and clear bias has caused the AP to lose ground in the integrity battle with some newspapers canceling their AP feeds in search of greener (and more honest) pastures.
So, it should not come as a surprise to see that just hours after the President's news conference, AP would call out the troops to "fact check" his words and statements.
Unfortunately, the AP doesn't understand what a "fact" is.
Follow me to the gruesome details after the fold...
The story by the AP is posted on MSNBC as "Obama having to both ways on economy?" and then begins a long "fact checking" detail. But they clearly cannot distinguish between fact and theory.
Take this bizarre example:
The claim: "We will recover from this recession. But it will take time, it will take patience, and it will take an understanding that when we all work together, when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other, that's when we succeed."
The facts: No one really knows when the recession will end. But Obama's own budget forecasts the recession will continue through this year but with a relatively shallow 1.2 percent decline in the gross domestic product.
Then, the budget predicts solid 3.2 percent growth for 2010, followed by three years of more than 4 percent growth each year.
...
Congressional Republicans and some Democratic budget hawks have suggested the Obama budget projections are unduly optimistic to make the math to pay for the president's programs work. The higher the GDP growth, the more tax revenues come in.
Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last week predicted that the Obama budget would produce deficits averaging nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.
Okay, where are the facts to check? Obama believes that the economy will start to pick up in 2010. Meanwhile, the GOP and some Conservadems think Obama is too optimistic. That isn't fact checking by anyone's standard except the AP's.
There is no qualitative difference between what the AP is touting as erroneous facts and this:
Bob: I like thunderstorms.
John: Thunderstorms suck.
AP: Bob's facts are clearly in question.
The other "facts" that are supposedly in doubt is Obama's plan to reduce the deficit by half. Again, the AP simply trots out people who disagree that the deficit can be halved by X date.
The one fact checking that clearly is a total hedge is when the AP quotes Obama regarding the housing bailout bill. Tonight, Obama said his housing bill will help bring stability to the real estate market and "help responsible owners stay in their homes." (My emphasis.)
Here is what the AP says:
Even officials in his administration, many supporters of the plan in Congress and the Federal Reserve chairman have said some of the bailout money is bound to go to those who acted irresponsibly.
Did you catch that? Obama's statement that the bill will help responsible homeowners stay in their homes can't possible be true because some of the money might just end up in the hands of irresponsible homeowners.
Amazing.
The entire article is such poor journalism and isn't fact checking at all. It is an article of he said/they said that is presented as fact checking.
But, let's give credit where credit is due:
The AP continues to be one of the worst news organizations in the U.S.