FactCheck.org: GOP “Pledge To America” Wrong On Facts

Discussion in 'Politics' started by hermit, Sep 27, 2010.

  1. FactCheck.org looked at the Republican Pledge to America and discovered it doesn’t have its facts straight (h/t Mediaite).

    It declares that “the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.” Not true. So far this year government employment has declined slightly, while private sector employment has increased by 763,000 jobs.

    It says that “jobless claims continue to soar,” when in fact they are down eight percent from their worst levels.

    It repeats a bogus assertion that the Internal Revenue Service may need to expand by 16,500 positions, an inflated estimate based on false assumptions and guesswork.

    It claims the stimulus bill is costing $1 trillion, considerably more than the $814 billion, 10-year price tag currently estimated by nonpartisan congressional budget experts.

    It says Obama’s tax proposals would raise taxes on “roughly half the small business income in America,” an exaggeration. Much of the income the GOP is counting actually comes from big businesses making over $50 million a year.


    http://www.mediaite.com/online/fact...o-america-doesnt-have-all-its-facts-straight/
     
  2. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    this is including the fictional "birth-death" model which the BLS has made up. factcheck.org states the figures come right from the bls numbers.

    according to what statistic? the bls u3, which everyone knows is a farce. it does not include those who have become discouraged or have left the workforce or are working temp hours somewhere else because they cannot find work in their jobs. its a joke stat.

    which assumptions are false? what guesses are incorrect? or do we merely accept that someone can say "that's false" without pointing out what is actually false in the number?

    so you're fighting an estimate with another estimate?

    how much comes from big businesses vs. small businesses? where are the numbers behind the "much of the income" statement?

    i also noticed that your linked-to article conveniently left out all the things that were correct that made obama look bad. very bi-partisan of them.
     
  3. Check the link, sources are mentioned.


    Sources

    Republican Members of Congress, "A Pledge to America" 23 Sep 2010.

    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Total Nonfarm Employment, seasonally adjusted" data from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National). Downloaded 23 Sep 2010.

    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Total Government Employment, seasonally adjusted" data from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National). Downloaded 23 Sep 2010.

    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Total Private Employment, seasonally adjusted" data from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National). Downloaded 23 Sep 2010.

    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Unemployment Rate" data from the Current Population Survey. Downloaded 23 Sep 2010.

    Bartash, Jeffry. "Weekly jobless claims rise 12,000 to 465,000; Continuing claims drop 48,000 to 4.49 million." Marketwatch. 23 Sep 2010.

    Robertson, Lori. "Obama’s Glowing Assessment." FactCheck.org. 4 Mar 2010.

    Jackson, Brooks. "President Uses Dubious Statistics on Costs of Malpractice Lawsuits." FactCheck.org. 29 Jan 2004.

    Jackson, Brooks. "Malpractice: Savings Reconsidered." FactCheck.org. 13 Oct 2009.

    Jackson, Brooks. "IRS Expansion." FactCheck.org. 30 Mar 2010.

    Congressional Budget Office. "Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output From April 2010 Through June 2010." 24 Aug 2010.

    Robertson, Lori. "More Unemployment Blues." FactCheck.org. 2 Jul 2009.

    Jackson, Brooks, Justin Bank and Andrew Karter. "Making Sense of Stimulus Spending." FactCheck.org. 16 Jun 2009.

    Joint Committee on Taxation. "Present Law And The President’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Proposals Related To Selected Individual Income Tax Provisions Scheduled To Expire Under The Sunset Provisions Of The Economic Growth And Tax Relief Reconciliation Act Of 2001." 12 Jul 2010.

    Jackson, Brooks. "2011 Tax Increases." FactCheck.org. 3 Sep 2010.
     
  4. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    i checked the link and confirmed my suspicion. it uses the BLS hilariously incorrect numbers.

    it should be noted that the birth-death model alone was responsible at one point for overstating a million jobs in a given year.

    here's an article i found on it in 2009 where the bls incorrectly mis-stated that over 800,000 jobs were created.

    what a crock of shit.

    http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/jobs-overstated-bls-comes-clean/28747
     
  5. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    man, that shut you up, didn't it

    cut-and-paste only takes you so far.
     
  6. You can count on hermit for that! :p
     
  7. First of all, the dispute isn't about numbers, its about the claim that govt jobs are increasing while private jobs aren't.

    Secondly, where are the GOP numbers coming from, any sources?

    And what about rest of the 'crock of shit' in the GOP pledge like the 200 billion they overstate regarding the stimulus.
     
  8. Right, using trivia to dismiss critcism of the bullshit pledge, why dont you explain why the GOP lied about 200 billion in the stimulus bill. Go on, make stuff up.
     
  9. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    you can't say that they (private jobs) aren't, because you don't have a reliable indicator. that's the point, chubby.

    i dont know. i'm not the one refuting them. you are. my guess is that they looked at the u6 unemployment statistic together with the EUC stats from week to week and came to the conclusion every other american with an iq over 100 did.

    again, you cannot say one estimate is wrong based on the estimate of another. it's simply two opinions. neither is a crock of shit until proven. get a brain, man!
     
  10. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    done. see above post. nothing was made up in my posts. how about you?
     
    #10     Sep 27, 2010