The Fact Checker Strikes Again!

The Fact Checker Strikes Again! by The Elephant's Child

October 7, 2012, 4:43 pm
Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Economy, Election 2012, Taxes, The United States | Tags: Didn't Cause The Financial Crisis, President Barack Obama, The Bush Tax Cuts

There he goes again. He’s going to hire more teachers. (this means more members of the teachers’ union, more donations for Obama). Statistically, we have too many teachers.

Obama claims that the Bush tax cuts led to the economic crisis, which is fantasy. And that Romney wants to “double down” on “the same trickle-down policies” that led to the economic crisis in the first place. None other than the Washington Post quickly disposes of that talking point.

Indeed, the official government inquiry, the 631-page final report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States, makes no mention of the Bush tax cuts. The report, endorsed by every Democrat on the panel, does cite deregulation, but 30 years of deregulation across multiple administrations — not just deregulation in the Bush years.

Obama campaign deputy press secretary Kara Carscaden defended the president’s remarks and issued this response:

“While Reagan made ‘trickle down’ famous for tax cuts, the theory is that economic growth is driven by the top. Those like Romney who favor repealing Wall Street reform share the same theory — roll back the rules because when a few people at the top do very well, they will somehow pull the rest of us along.

“The tax cuts contributed to the crisis in multiple ways, including by driving up the deficit, crowding out potential investments that could have promoted sustainable, shared economic growth and leaving the economy vulnerable to speculation-fueled bubbles and high middle-class indebtedness. And they made it more difficult for the federal government to respond to a crisis because it was already facing very high deficits.

“The president’s argument — that our country is stronger when we invest in the middle class rather than cut taxes to the top — is the broad, philosophic question facing our country right now.”

The Washington Post awarded Obama Three Pinocchios for this one, and says it’s time for the Obama campaign to retire this talking point, no matter how much it seems to resonate with voters. Read the whole thing.

Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI