We spend a hell of a lot of time at The Daily Banter debunking various myths, slogans and lies, and the undisputed champion of easily debunkable myths continues to be the Republican Party. To be sure, this isn’t to suggest that all Republicans are easily-misled simpletons. They’re not. Yet their party consistently panders to its easily-misled simpleton base with the most egregiously dishonest ideas in American politics.
And, until now, I don’t think we’ve ever fully summarized the most glaring examples of GOP myths and lies. I hasten to note that this list obviously doesn’t cover everything and I’m sure you’ll have some additional examples for the comments below. But the following are definitely the ten most mendacious things the GOP has attempted to foist upon the American public.
10) Obama Doubled The Deficit.
This was a favorite of the Mitt Romney campaign. Throughout 2012, Romney repeatedly said, “The president promised to cut the deficit in half. He’s doubled it!” No. No he hasn’t. First of all, this line depends entirely on voters not understanding the difference between the deficit and the debt. See previous “simpleton” remarks. Indeed, the president has absolutely cut the deficit by way more than half in his first five years. When he took office, the deficit for 2009 was projected to be $1.4 trillion. The deficit at the end of 2014 will be $514 billion, just three percent of GDP. That’s a nearly one trillion dollar reduction in five years. Not only that, but he boasts the lowest year-over-year increase in government spending since Truman, and he’ll be one of just three presidents who left office will a lower deficit than when he arrived. The last Republican do leave the White House with the same record was Eisenhower more than 50 years ago.
9) Man-made Climate Change Is A Hoax.
According to a clearly liberal agency called “NASA,” a full 97 percent of scientists with specific expertise in climate science agree that climate change is real and humans are causing it. We shouldn’t really have to say anything else. Of course if you’re Lloyd Christmas from Dumb & Dumber, and “one-in-a-million” means “there’s a chance,” then the three percent of scientists who aren’t sure about climate change obviously indicates that it’s a hoax.
8) Cold Weather Disproves Climate Change
Second in our trifecta of climate change myths is an annual favorite. Every time it snows, you know the drill. Whenever there’s a snow storm everyone from Matt Drudge to Rush Limbaugh suddenly achieve nipple erections hard enough to cut glass. And out comes the myth that climate change can’t possibly be real because it’s snowing somewhere. However, what they fail to explain to their disciples is that New York City or Minnesota or Washington D.C. isn’t, you know, the globe. Climate scientists base their global warming observations on global temperature averages. So while it might be snowing in Vermont, the overall temperatures for the year have been progressively higher.
7) Tax Cuts Do More To Stimulate The Economy Than Food Stamps And Unemployment Benefits.
According to Moody’s Analytics:
–Every dollar spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.61 in economic growth.
–Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.74 in economic growth.
–But every dollar spent on rolling taxes back to Bush-era levels only creates $.32 in economic growth — that’s a 68 cent loss on investment.
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