How bankrupt is the GOP idea machine? So bankrupt that even though they are challenging the governing party during worst economy since the Great Depression, the only way they think they can win is by telling a bunch of lies. FactCheck.org:
FactChecking ‘The Pledge’: Republicans' "Pledge to America" falls short on some of its facts.
As FactCheck.org reports:
- Even though in 2010 private sector employment has grown by 763,000 jobs and public sector employment has shrunk, Republicans falsely claim the exact opposite, saying private sector payrolls have shrunk while public sector employment has grown.
- Even though jobless claims are down eight percent from the trough of the recession and continue to drop, Republicans falsely say they continue to soar.
- Even though their claim is completely without factual basis, Republicans falsely claim that the IRS is hiring an army of 16,500 IRS agents to investigate Americans.
- Republicans claim the stimulus bill cost 25% more than it really did, rounding the real number of roughly $800 billion to "$1 trillion" presumably because it sounds better.
- Even though much of tax benefits under the GOP's proposal to extend Bush tax cuts for the wealthy would go to businesses making $50 million per year, Republicans claim that President Obama's tax plan (which would allow those tax cuts to expire) would raise taxes on small mom-n-pop businesses.
It occurs to me that it's a bit amusing that for all the criticism that some conservatives have leveled at the GOP's pledge, none of them seem to have a problem with the fact that it is not reality-based. So to those right-wingers who are attacking the pledge for all the wrong reasons, might I suggest that old saying: "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't cast stones."
You can read FactCheck.org's full report here.