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State of the Union fact checker
Mathew Staver, Chairman Liberty Counsel Action
Feb. 14, 2013
2/14/2013
In reviewing Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address, I was struck by the President’s hubris in touting all that he has allegedly accomplished while in office – while blaming virtually everything that went wrong on Congress. At least the President has finally stopped blaming George W. Bush for whatever goes wrong in Washington, DC!
But make no mistake; the President has been caught in some real “whoppers” through this year’s post-speech fact checking process. We can learn a lot about how he intends to govern during his second term from reviewing a few of his most outrageous distortions of truth. Please read my important message below – Mat.
Political spin in praising one’s own accomplishments is commonplace in politics, especially when one has little positive news to report.
President Obama has mastered the art of self promotion. In fact, he has all but perfected it – and the closely related skill of playing blame game.
Capitalizing on the truism that even gross falsehoods can seem believable if they are presented with enough enthusiasm, Barack Obama went over the top on several of his key themes in 2013’s State of the Union Address.
Let’s get started…
Barack Obama blamed Congress for passing the “sequestration” bill which, if not changed, will automatically slash spending budgets across the board – including deep cuts into defense spending – at the end of this month. He even called it “a really bad idea.”
Yet the original “sequestration” plan was hatched by President Obama and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jack Lew to force Republicans to cave on raising the debt ceiling!
Congress passed the proposed “sequestration” bill in the deal to raise the debt ceiling – and now the President’s chicken has come home to roost.
What outrageous hypocrisy! This attempt to transfer blame tells us a lot about what Barack Obama thinks of the American People to whom he was reporting!
The President also told the nation – with a straight face, no less – that his programs created 6 million jobs in his first term.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that 6 million jobs have been “gained” – but just 1.2 million jobs have been created, a number far below expectations. Counter that statistic with the fact that the number of jobs available in the market is about 3.2 million less than before Obama took office.
The President claims that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)… “is helping to slow the growth of health care costs.”
The IRS, just days ago, released a study that says that the cost of a minimal family healthcare policy could be $20,000 annually by 2016 under ObamaCare. That, Mr. President, is a dramatic increase in costs to every American family!
The President proclaimed… “Over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion — mostly through spending cuts, but also by raising tax rates on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.”
This incredible number is reached through overt accounting “smoke and mirrors” and is disputed by a number of credible accounting firms and agencies.
The fact is, the United States debt now stands at over $16.5 trillion – up from $10.6 trillion when Mr. Obama took office. We continue to see trillion dollar deficits annually. Remember in 2009 when the President promised… “Today I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office”?
In the address Tuesday night, President Obama promised 29 new programs and outrageously claimed, “Nothing I’m proposing should increase the deficit by a single dime.”
Good luck on that one, Mr. President.
++Here’s the worst part: The tyranny will increase.
President Obama proudly announced that he is considering issuing extensive Executive Orders on gun control, Internet control (cybersecurity), housing, homosexual rights, and climate change if Congress doesn’t conform to his agenda – in essence bypassing the Legislative Branch and further subverting the Constitution’s separation of powers.
Reviewing the speech in its entirety, the overall theme was: “I’ve been let down by Congress and the American People, so now I’m going to get it all done by taking unilateral action.” Sadly, we are entering a chilling new phase of the Obama dictatorship.
++Liberty Counsel has initiated our powerful “I Second the First” campaign to defend the Constitution from leftist attacks!
Liberty Counsel’s “I Second the First” campaign communicates to our elected representatives that…
“We the People” demand that our federal government return to the rule of law as established by the United States Constitution!
The First and Second Amendments enshrine liberties that are worth fighting for!
Please take a minute right now and add your name to this petition. We will be delivering the petitions to Capitol Hill on February 25th following the upcoming Presidents’ Day recess. I want to greet Congress’ return with a strong reminder that their constituents’ rights are not negotiable!
Stand together with me and tens of thousands of like-minded fellow patriots and protect our Constitution and its First and Second Amendments – the very heart of every American's Bill of Rights – against these radical attacks.
Please click here now to add your name to Liberty Counsel’s powerful “I Second the First” petition:
++Liberty Counsel will not bow to tyranny!
Now that the President has laid out HIS plans, let me lay out ours:
Liberty Counsel will continually confront assaults on our constitutionally protected liberties!
Since the inception of our ministry over 24 years ago, we have fought to defend and promote life, liberty, and family. Those liberties that we vow to protect are the same liberties guaranteed to the People in our Constitution.
That’s why, as we have witnessed the systematic dismantling of the Constitution by the Obama administration and their cronies in Congress, Liberty Counsel has mounted repeated campaigns to stop this subversion of our fundamental liberties.
That’s also why we have opposed Barack Obama’s judicial nominees – men and women who see the Constitution as an ever “evolving” document that can be made to support whatever is politically expedient at the time.
It has become clear that our leftist officials, under the hegemony of Barack Obama, have but little regard for the Constitution – or for the moral, spiritual, and founding principles upon which our nation and its culture were established.
Our records show that you have not yet signed our “Second the First” declaration. We must stand together for what is constitutional…and what is clearly established in God’s Word, the Bible!
I hope you‘ll take a minute to add your name to the petition to be included in this important delivery, which will take place upon Congress coming back into session on February 25th.
We already have a little over 50,000 signers to this important petition, but we need to double that number to have the impact this issue deserves. We need your signature, Patrick!
In appreciation for the stand you are taking, or the stand your friends will take when you forward this message to them, we will send you (and them) complimentary “I Second the First” stickers for display on a car, home, or anywhere it will have an impact.
This is a citizen action that every freedom-loving American should take. If you would, please make your circle of friends aware of this campaign and the availability of the complimentary “I Second the First” campaign stickers.
God bless you for standing with us,
Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
P.S. We will be delivering the petitions to Capitol Hill on February 25th following their upcoming recess. I want Congress greeted with a reminder that their constituents’ rights are not negotiable.
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Liberty Counsel, with offices in Florida, Virginia and Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and family. Liberty Counsel . PO Box 540774 . Orlando, FL 32854 .800-671-1776