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Lies
of the Teabaggers
by Joe
Conason
The disaffection and demoralization
of Democrats have created a dangerous political vacuum
that is being filled with misleading data, urban legends and outright
lies.
Red-faced traders and furious
housewives joined forces against what they wrongly called “socialism,”
warning that our freedom was endangered, and that the nation might soon
perish under burgeoning inflation
and draconian regulation. They grew even more frantic when the Obama
administration directed hundreds
of billions of dollars in TARP funds toward the auto industry in loans
and shares — more socialism!
In the meantime, the Republicans
and their allies in the media managed to mischaracterize Obama’s
health-care reform bill as both a “government takeover” and a gift to
the health insurance industry,
although in reality it was neither. Most Americans who say they dislike
the bill have very little
knowledge of its actual provisions — which are quite popular when
polled individually.
Nonpartisan experts both within and
outside government have said for months that TARP not only
saved the country from untold economic disaster, but that its
repayments and warrants will end up
as highly profitable investments. The auto industry isn’t quite as sure
to prosper as the banks, of course,
but there is a reasonable likelihood that the government will make
money on those investments, too
— while preserving a vital industry and millions of jobs.
As for the stimulus, economists across the ideological spectrum have
contradicted the popular
perception — promoted by Tea Party publicists — that the program didn’t
work and may even
have done harm. The Republicans insist that government can’t create
jobs and that public
expenditure only “crowds out” private-sector investment.
who once warned that Clinton’s program would lead to ruin — just before the greatest
peacetime expansion in history. Believe them at your peril.
Joe is saying Obama has done good things - but Democrats have failed to list the facts.
Why is it bad that Obama saved the banks - and
made a profit doing it?
Why is it bad that Obama saved Detroit - and made a profit doing it?
TARP was put in place by Bush and the GOP, but it's
really The Kenyan's fault?
If our idiot Democrats would state the facts, they might get to keep their jobs.
But that would require an effort on their part and
they'll have none of that!
If victory knocks on their door, the Democrats might answer it,
but there's no way in hell they're going to list their accomplishments.
"We'd rather lose
our jobs than list the facts!"