A complete and total lack of self-awareness

Matthew Hoy
By Matthew Hoy on April 27, 2011

I cannot make this stuff up.

President Obama at his birth certificate unveiling this morning:

"We've got enormous challenges ahead of us," he said. "We have to make a series of very difficult decisions about how we invest in our future but also get ahold of the deficit and debt," he said. "But we're not going to be able to do it if we are distracted. We're not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other. We're not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers."

All Obama’s done since Rep. Paul Ryan unveiled his budget plan if vilify him…and appear on Oprah.

As for making stuff up, well, he’s been doing that too.

President Barack Obama misrepresented the House Republicans’ budget plan at times and exaggerated its impact on U.S. residents during an April 13 speech on deficit reduction.

  • Obama claimed the Republicans’ "Path to Prosperity" plan would cause "up to 50 million Americans … to lose their health insurance.” But that worst-case figure is based in part on speculation and assumptions.
  • He said the GOP plan would replace Medicare with "a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry." That’s an exaggeration. Nothing would change for those 55 and older. Those younger would get federal subsidies to buy private insurance from a Medicare exchange set up by the government.
  • He said "poor children," "children with autism" and "kids with disabilities" would be left "to fend for themselves." That, too, is an exaggeration. The GOP says states would have "freedom and flexibility to tailor a Medicaid program that fits the needs of their unique populations." It doesn’t bar states from covering those children.
  • He repeated a deceptive talking point that the new health care law will reduce the deficit by $1 trillion. That’s the Democrats’ own estimate over a 20-year period. The Congressional Budget Office pegged the deficit savings at $210 billion over 10 years and warned that estimates beyond a decade are "more and more uncertain."
  • He falsely claimed that making the Bush tax cuts permanent would give away "$1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire." That figure — which is actually $807 billion over 10 years — refers to tax cuts for individuals earning more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000, not just millionaires and billionaires.
  • He said the tax burden on the wealthy is the lowest it has been in 50 years. But the most recent nonpartisan congressional analysis showed that the average federal tax rate for high-income taxpayers was lower in 1986.

Physician, heal thyself.

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