Jim Spence |
In my home town of Baltimore earlier this week President Obama said, “I inherited a trillion dollar deficit.” The video is here. This statement is an outright lie. The federal budget deficit for the last year of the Bush presidency was $458 billion. For the first year of the Obama administration the deficit more than tripled to $1.4 trillion. Obama did not "inherit" the increase in the deficit. He signed the massive stimulus spending bill, refused to veto other spending bills, and presided over a gigantic increase in borrowing. Borrowing has continued non-stop for four years.
During the same speech Obama also said, “We signed two trillion dollars in spending cuts into law.” Once again, knowing what he said would be replayed on the evening newscasts, this president intentionally lied to who he believed were prospective voters. Federal spending has risen more than 27% since the final year of the Bush presidency. Obama knows that the federal government will spend just under $3.8 trillion in the fourth year of his presidency up from $2.98 trillion in the final year under George W. Bush. Why does the president lie about making spending cuts? And why don’t more members of the media go to the White House’s own website (here) and check the spending numbers? It only takes thirty seconds.
First, the President tells these bald-faced lies because he believes there is no such thing as a fact. Second, he knows that besides on Fox News, he is not going be challenged when he makes things up.
New Mexico is constantly listed in the blue state column by the prognisticators. Supposedly we New Mexico voters are suckers and will continue to stay in the bag for a man who deliberately tells people he cut spending when in fact spending has risen markedly since he took office. The pundits might be right, maybe we kind of like being lied to around here.