Fight The Lies!
Dem Facts & Talking Points
to counter Myths, Lies & Propaganda!
Let's not let the wingnuts get away with it! Talk show callers and emailers usually spew a mixture of outright lies and misleading statements seasoned with just enough facts thrown in to sound valid, and then rely on most of us not knowing quite enough about an issue to be able to factually disprove their ridiculous claims.
To help, below are facts and talking points for Democrats to use to help fight back against some of the false, misleading, and nasty myths and lies commonly encountered on talk shows and the internet.
This info has been compiled from a variety of sources, including some of our best PBC political experts and bloggers, as well as information from the DNC, White House, and other official sources.
Special Note for Fact Checking Anti-DEM Emails
When you get anti-Dem emails, use these two good sources to check them out. Chances are, you'll often find the exact same email you've received, along with the real facts that completely disprove the claims!
www.factcheck.org
(from the Annenburg Center at the Univ. of Pennsylvania)
We will add to our "Fight the Lies" info regularly.
Please use the Contact Us Form on the front page if you have "Fight the Lies" entry to be considered, or if you'd like good information about a certain issue or email to give you some ammunition.
Ready, Set... Go fight back!
A Final Weekend of Whoppers?
Tea Partiers are right
Myth:
Tea Partiers are right: Obama & Democrats stand for bigger government and high taxes, so we need to elect conservative candidates who will cut taxes.
Fact:
The surprising reality is that Big Government isn't all that big by historical standards. Even with an economic stimulus, a bank bailout and two wars, non-medical spending by the Obama administration is a smaller percentage of the economy than it was during most of Ronald Reagan's administration.
In just a few years, as the stimulus shrinks and the economy expands, government spending outside of health care will drop to about 16% of the economy, roughly where it has been since the mid-1990s. By contrast, even though Reagan began paring back government, non-medical spending hovered around 20% of the economy during his administration.
The reason for this is no mystery, even if it's not part of the daily political narrative. As the government's medical tab surged from $72 billion in 1980 to an estimated $912 billion in 2010, traditional government functions — things like roads, criminal justice and education — had to be more tightly controlled simply to avoid the kind of outlandish deficits we've seen in recent years.
In that sense, Tea Partiers are barking up the wrong trees. If their goal is to control spending, they should be demanding curbs in Medicare and answering President Obama's call for health care reform with counterproposals heavier on cost control.
Tea Partiers also say taxes are too high, but here, too, perception differs from reality, at least by history's measure. In 2009 and 2010, tax receipts collected by Washington will total 14.8% of the economy. That is the lowest since 1950.
If the activists truly want to reduce the deficit, they should be demanding that the two parties work together. With the minority party always poised to attack when the majority sticks its neck out, nothing gets done.
But the Tea Partiers seem to be promoting more partisanship, not less. Many are rejecting candidates deemed to be too likely to cross over and reach accommodations with Democrats. That's a recipe for more debt.
Source:
USA Today, Feb 5. 2010: Tea Party activists take aim but many miss target.
Myths & Lies About Health Care Reform
From AARP: Health Action Now!
From American College of Physicians: Refuting the Lies.
From Community Health Action Information Network:
Five Incorrect Claims Heard at Town Halls.
From The White House: Health Insurance Reform Reality Check.
My Democrat Friends Were Right!
Republican Email:
My Democrat Friends Were Right: If I voted For McCain
Here's a suggested DEM response to false Republican email:
(From Tim Morrell: Suggested Dem responses in BOLD)
False Email:
As much as it pains me to say this, I have to admit it - my Democrat friends were right:
They told me if I voted for McCain, the nation's hope would deteriorate, and sure enough there has been a 20 point drop in the Consumer Confidence Index since the election, reaching a lower point than any time during the Bush administration.
Because we're just now realizing how screwed we are as a result of 8 years of Republican/Bush incompetence. even the best and the brightest can't make this all better overnight.it's painful. Meanwhile, even as the firetrucks come to the rescue of a house set on fire by an arsonist, the arsonist can watch with glee as the house continues to burn... but how dare he cry that the firetrucks didn't come soon enough!
They told me if I voted for McCain, the US would become more deeply embroiled in the Middle East, and now, tens of thousands of additional troops are scheduled to be deployed into Afghanistan.
Because both McCain and Obama saw that we never should have left Afghanistan to go over to Iraq in the first place. W abandoned our fight to get Osama and left our troops, allies and friends in the region at the mercy of warlords and the Taliban that he said he removed...
My Democratic Party friends told me if I voted for McCain, that the economy would get worse and sure enough unemployment is at 9.4% and the new stimulus packages implemented recently have sent the stock market lower than at any time since the Islamic Terrorists attacks of 9-11.
We'll never know what would have happened if nothing had been done, except to say that even the Republican advisors to W said we'd be in the worst depression ever if we did not engage the full faith and credit of the United States Government to combat the crises. W and the Republicans with their foolish wars and corporate welfare brought us to financial ruin. But the stock market has rallied nearly 2000 points since the bailouts began and July 09's rally was the biggest in over 50 years.
They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "crooks" in high ranking positions in Federal government and sure enough, several recent Democratic cabinet nominees and Senate appointments revealed resumes of scandal, bribery and tax fraud.
Nobody committed crimes or fraud. If they had.they'd be on Faux News by now along side Karl Rove and Gordon Liddy.
They told me if I voted for McCain, we would see more "Pork at the trough" in Federal government and sure enough, 17,500 "Pork Bills" showed up in Congress since January 2009.
Name 'em and tell us why they're pork. Then look at how many porkers are in the Red States! Year after year for the last 2 decades, blue states produce more revenue, pay more taxes than they ever get back in government benefits. The so called self-reliant, individually accountable red states on the other hand. always have their hand out. Meanwhile, don't just listen to Rush Limbaugh -- do your homework and find out the facts: R's more than match D's at the trough. Every year, the biggest individual "piggies" routinely wear an elephant pin. In 2009 (the time you're quoting) Republicans accounted for 6 of the top 10 (including 4 of the top 5!) pork dispensers in the Senate and 5 of the top 10 in the House. OINK-OINK!
I was also told by my Democrat friends that if I voted for McCain, we would see more deficit spending in Washington D.C., and sure enough, Obama has spent more in just a few days than all other Presidents together - in the entire history of the good ole USA!
Picking up exactly where W left off, unfortunately. At least now we know what we're spending, instead of having been lied to about the true cost of the war and other defense contractors which W and the Republicans kept off the books all those years. Democrats brought us our first surplus in years. W and the Republicans blew it all in 1. Then they plunged us into ill-advised and improperly managed wars that cost us over a billion dollars a day! We're only now finding out just how badly they blew it. those are the debts we carry now.
Well, I voted for McCain in November and my Democrat friends were right ... all of their predictions have come true!
If only we Dems were wrong about how badly W and the Republicans screwed up!
Keep the Government out of Health Care...
It can't do anything right!
This morning I was awakened by my alarm clock, powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly, regulated by the US Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC -regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watch this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress, and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door, I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After work, I drive my NHTSA car back home on DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post of FreeRepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALIZED medicine is BAD because the Government can't do anything right!?
Response to Anti-Obama Letter
from Procter & Gamble former CEO
Palm Beach County Democratic Party - 6266 S Congress Ave, Suite L11 | Lantana, FL - 33462 | P: 561.433.1112 | F: 561.433.1922 | Email | MAP
