Conservatives Still Peddling Misleading CBO ‘Analysis’ Of Economic Recovery Bill
Conservatives Still Peddling Misleading CBO ‘Analysis’ Of Economic Recovery Bill
Last month, conservatives jumped on a Congressional Budget Report (CBO) “analysis” concluding that “it will take years before an infrastructure spending program proposed” by President Obama “will boost the economy.” Yet it turned out that the “analysis” was not a comprehensive report of Obama’s plan. A full CBO report recently concluded that two-thirds of the House plan’s recovery investments will come within the first 18 months after it is enacted.
Despite the CBO’s newer, more comprehensive report, conservatives are still trying to peddle the initial misleading analysis in a transparent attempt at blocking the economic recovery bill. Yesterday, Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC) issued press releases advancing the misleading preliminary analysis. Citing the CBO, McHenry complains that “over half of the money will be spent between 2011 and 2019″ and Smith says “only 20% of the funds will be spent in the first year.”
And last night on Fox News, right wing spinmeisters Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich joined in:
GINGRICH: In fact, the Congressional Budget Office said less than 25 percent of the bill related to stimulating the economy in the first year.
ROVE: We now know that more money in both the House and Senate versions is going to be spent in the years 2011 and beyond than in 2009. Think about that. We’re going to be spending more of this so-called stimulus money in 2011 and to 2019 than we’re spending in 2009.
Watch it:
Not only is Rove misleading about the House bill, but the CBO has now released a report on the Senate version undermining his claim. TPM noted yesterday that “[t]he budget office found that $694 billion of the bill’s total $884 billion cost would be spent during the first 18 months after enactment, or a spend-out rate of 78%.”
Moreover, the full CBO report stated that about 65 percent of the funding would be spent by September 2010. (The report said it “would not be appropriate” to calculate spending in 2009 because “because the bill would be enacted almost halfway into the fiscal year.”)
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities also notes that both bills allot the vast share of benefits during the economic downturn:
The official cost estimates of the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation show that more than five-sixths (85 percent) of the effects of the House bill, and 94 percent of the effects of the Senate bill, would occur during the 2009 – 2011 period — when the CBO says the nation’s economic output will be far below its potential and fiscal stimulus thus would be beneficial.
The simple fact is that conservatives appear more interested in manipulating the facts than siding with the American people and helping pass a recovery bill.
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All of this makes perfect sense from a strategic standpoint. Consider the stakes: Republican leadership and/or ideology got us all into this mess. If Obama’s ideas and policies–and his first major initiative as president, no less–somehow manage to right the ship, Republicans will be shuttled to the political wilderness, and for how long? A generation, perhaps?
No wonder drug-addled gasbags like Limbaugh hope for Obama’s failure; the future prospects of the GOP ride on it.
For my part, I hope Obama succeeds, and grandly.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:13 pmGOP – emasculated whiners.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:15 pmYou’re preaching to the choir here, Ben — we all know that the repukes have been peddling their lies on the spend-out rate. But then again, we all know that they lie about most things as a result of genetic predisposition…
The message, however, needs to get out to the sheeple in this country — so long as Faux Snooze continues to allow the Rovian deception to continue, without any correction or response (i.e., “truth”) from the MSM, the sheeple will continue to be skeptical of the President’s stimulus plan…
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:15 pmWe really do need to do something about the media consolidation in this country. When you have 3 conservative corporations controlling 90% of our media (other than the Internet, thank god), they will continue to control the message, even if it is bogus.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 pmThe Dogfather Says:
The message, however, needs to get out to the sheeple in this country — so long as Faux Snooze continues to allow the Rovian deception to continue, without any correction or response (i.e., “truth”) from the MSM, the sheeple will continue to be skeptical of the President’s stimulus plan…
That’s not necessarily true. Depending on which poll you read anywhere from 53% to 66% of the people in this country support the Economic Recovery Plan. Somehow the message is getting through to them.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 pmBilbo: I hear you — however, the polls I’ve read say that the sheeple support an economic recovery plan, not necessarily the one that the House already passed. I think your point at #4 is spot on — the consolidation of the media into conservative hands helps the repukes control the message. That, coupled with the lack of intellectual curiosity that seems to be present in the American public these days (hence the monikor “sheeple”) means that whatever Rove/Gingrich/O’Falafel says will often control and drive the debate amongst the public.
It’s up to us to make sure the real message makes its way through the roadblocks…
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:21 pmThis reminds me of the other lies that the GOP has peddled recently:
http://tv1.com/playlists/211
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 pmConservatives are content to peddle lies? Does this come as a shock to any of you? They are highly incompetent, and it’s telling that they must present lies and distortions to the American people instead of being truly fiscally responsible. But, hey, let them send Joe the Plumber to the upcoming economic summit: he’s their main representative now.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:23 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
Somehow the message is getting through to them.
I think that there are a lot of people out there who are not internet focused, but who have realized that the regular media is not acting to inform them in an unbiased manner. The repetition of the propoganda will still have an effect, but not what it once had.
When people are starving and freezing they are not interested in political ideologies that serve no purpose but to maintain a partizan atmosphere. Hungry people want food. Cold people want shelter. Jobless people want jobs. You will find few of the newly homeless who cling to their political ideologies against their interests: they want the things that they need (income, shelter, food, clothes, an opportunity for their children…), not a lot of high-handed rhetoric and posturing for partizan power plays by the politicians who are supposed to be looking out for their welfare and the welfare of the country.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:24 pmConservatives Still Peddling Misleading CBO ‘Analysis’ Of Economic Recovery Bill
Of course they are.
What else have they got?
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 pmSo, who put out the bogus early report? Since FoxNews & their cronies are ignoring the formal report, it was clearly intentional, wasn’t it?
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:29 pmWhat?? Republicans…*gasp* LYING???
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 pmLie and obfuscate, the GOP way. Look, the GOP platform over the past 60 years has in effect been to dismantle any and all things New Deal. That’s it, nothing else. So why would now be any different?
They screwed up the banking and finance industries, leading to the crash of ‘29 and eventually the depression starting in ‘32, ‘33. It took the New Deal and WWII to bring us out, and after, we saw almost 40 years of democratic policy turn our country into the greatest nation on earth, with a robust and growing middle class, prosperity for the majority, not the few. Things changed with Nixon, and of course Reagan, leading us to 35 years (with the exception of Clinton’s repub lite) of conservative ideoligical dominance.
Look where we are now. And the most INFURIATING thing to me is that these GOP clowns act as if they are still the experts, the voices of reason.
Unfortunately, the major media outlets are giving airtime to these failed politicians at a rate of 2 to 1 over newly elected democrats. This isn’t surprising however, as the companies that own them have an incentive to put the GOP back in power. And I’m afraid it may well work; USA today has a front page article today on how the public is unsure of the stimulus package, the spending, blah blah blah.
So we are at a precipice; allow the republicans to stall or water down the stimulus to where it is ineffectual, therefore allowing them to place the blame for failure on Obama, or use our mandate and move forward with the package. Also, let’s not forget that FDR bowed to republican demands of reduced spending and tax cuts, and that started another recession, in effect delaying the recovery from the depression until mid way through WWII.
I remember Obama saying he was going to do a nationwide public campaign about this stimulus… where is it?
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 pmAll that’s in their possession now is an outdated ideology, Ralph. They are beholden to the religious rightists that seek to impose their morality on a nation that is not Christian in origin, and they are alienating reasonable moderates and middle-leaning Republicans by doing so.
They have allowed divisive thinkers such as Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich to dictate their policies. They have embraced social conservatism, consequently hurting any fiscal responsibility that they once had.
Ah, they seem more content to obstruct than to compromise. President Obama had the grace to talk with House Republicans before his Democratic colleagues, and he proceeded to make several compromises on the bill to reflect their concerns with what they perceive as wasteful spending (despite economic evidence to the contrary). The deceptive Eric Cantor still told his own colleagues to give the impression of bipartisanship and walk away behind closed doors.
Shameful. Utterly shameful.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 pmWhen they own the information, they can bend it all they want.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:34 pmWindsor spews:
Misdirection. Way to support the above story. Let’s keep on task here.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:34 pmthe GOP is laying it on thick, no doubt. However, there is A LOT of B/S spending in this package. There could easily be several billion peeled off this thing, and stick strictly to the things that will benefit everyone.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 pmwindsor blathers:
——————————————————————————–
How about we just get the elite of the democrat party to pay their fair share. Wouldn’t that solve a lot of problems?
Hows about the richest of the richest pay their fair share?
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 pmOh, there goes Eyesore again, with its traditional drive-by posting of nonsequiturs…
Is that too big a word for you, Eyesore? I mean, it’s not like that’s a word used in My Pet Goat or anything. BTW, have you finished reading that yet, so you and your hero Dumbya can have a book chat?
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 pmNad also, there should be a “transparent” plan in place so that we, the taxpayer, can see where every single dollar goes. Accountability is a must!
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 pmwindsor Says:
How about we just get the elite of the democrat party to pay their fair share. Wouldn’t that solve a lot of problems?
___________
Siiiiiigh… how do you stay in business? Wouldn’t even come CLOSE to fixin’ the damage BotchCo has done to the country.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 pmHow about we just get the elite of the democrat party to pay their fair share. Wouldn’t that solve a lot of problems?
How about we acknowledge that there are elites in both parties, both Democratic and Republican? Besides, if you truly believe that your proposal is a plausible solution to a wide-reaching crisis, then I must tell you this, my friend: you are sadly misinformed. Look at the report. See the polling. Make your own conclusions from factual evidence, not conservatoid spin.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 pmStrange that Gingrich and Limbaugh never had ideas when America was going down the tube early last year. Where were all these psuedo economists then ? Didn’t hear their voices about handing billions over with no restrictions or accountability.
Don’t hear them demanding the corporations and banks pony up with details on the use of our money. But, lots of noise slamming any plans to dig America out of this hole.
I would like to know why the plan needs to be so big, why not put the immediate help for the unemployed to use and wait on the long range ideas. Doesn’t have to be all at once.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pmHey Windsor, how about getting Halliburton, KBR, and Blackwater to give back those hundreds of billions in tax payer dollars that have disappeared? Huh?
Freakin’ republican conservative moron.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pmThe tactic is to get people off topic. Windsor PROVES the story of conservative tactic by trying to disprove it with misdirection.
Good job! Way to help out! THANK you, Windsore!
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pmLOL, hey Windsor, where are you getting your talking points, from Joe the Plumber? BWAAHAAWHAAHWAAHWAAHWAHHAAHWAA
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pmWindy’s got a point there – If the D’s had merely LIED LIKE RUGS the way R’s always do, they wouldn’t have these embarrassing confirmation moments.
More, better lying, right Windy?
That’s how it’s done – just ask Joe the _________.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pmWindsor Says: Nothing Again
Not suprised.
Oh well
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 pmHows about the richest of the richest pay their fair share?
That would encompass the Republicans bowing away from big business and working in a progressive/bipartisan way on a sound (yet presently incomplete) package. Yes, there may be questionable spending, but there are certainly times when the government must step in and ensure that the middle-class is receiving a fair shake.
We must invest in jobs. Improving infrastructure, which the majority of this “questionable spending” will ultimately do, encourages employers and, as a consequence, generates jobs in the field that’s receiving an update. It employs men and women that must work on said infrastructure amendment. However, the government must ensure that this money is being spent properly and wisely.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:41 pmRegarding the “elite” how about all the corporations behind in their payroll taxes for the last 8 years, lets get them to pay up. Used to be payroll taxes had to be in days after the payroll was paid. Lets close the loopholes allowing American companies to locate offshore to avoid taxes. Lets start making the playing field a fair one for American companies against the imports. No more, just because the last bolt was attached in the U.S. becomes made in the U.S.A.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pmTom Daschle withdraws name as HHS Secretary.
¶ AIO
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm*
Daschle WITHDRAWS
*
HOWARD DEAN! GO HOWARD DEAN!
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:52 pmPhuck these Reich Wing hypocrites, tax cuts don`t realize the gains that you will get from a boost in unemployment bene`s and Welfare because people need this $$$ they will spend it as opposed to tax cuts that the wealthy will not invest in because of the shape of Wall Street,if they do invest it will be in the same derivatives and commodities markets that got us here in the first place.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 pmSaddening news: Tom Daschle has withdrawn.
It’s a testament to his character and integrity.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:57 pmDo wingnuts know that using “Democrat” when they mean “Democratic” just makes them sound illiterate? I suppose not.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:58 pmGot a question, saving money versus tax cuts, the banks invest the savings so that is investing in the economy as much as huge tax cuts for the rich. What is the problem.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:02 pmSo, why is it people with tax problems aren’t up front with the Obama vetting people ? Lets not give the rush idiots any more ammunition. Until these 3 jumped up, even conservatives were happy with his appointees. Didn’t matter with bush if you were qualified just had to be a loyalist.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pmRepublicans have never allowed facts to interfere with a good story, and is especially so when their best story is a transparent lie.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 pmWell the first part of this is right. GOP still peddling misinformation. This say’s it all. The real new will be if they ever stop.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 pmIf you truly cared and were against this bill, you would be able to support your position without lies. The fact is that the Republican Party sold its soul 30 years ago and now walks in lockstep to whatever the current talking point is. They don’t care if the country suffers, as long as it looks like it is Democrats fault.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:29 pmIt’s all part of the GOP’s philosophy. “Never tell the truth when a lie will suffice.”
The GOP has also claimed that the stimulus package will create a $1 trillion deficit in 2009. But if the money is to be spent over a 10-year period, that’s impossible.
Why has no one called them on their conflicting claims?
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:59 pmThe Dogfather Says:
The message, however, needs to get out to the sheeple in this country — so long as Faux Snooze continues to allow the Rovian deception to continue, without any correction or response (i.e., “truth”) from the MSM, the sheeple will continue to be skeptical of the President’s stimulus plan…
I think its time to unleash Obama’s huge campaign support network on Fox News, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh and others that are allowed to disguise as news and discourage the necessary progress we need at this time.
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:39 pmOur numbers are huge, large enough to persuade sponsorships and advertisers, any reason we shouldn’t pull together and take action?
Lie. Obstruct. Lie. Repeat.
So what’s being done to counteract the GOP formula?
Yeah, media consolidation is a b*tch. But what really ticks me off is how since this fake CBO stuff came out, the Dems fail again and again to launch a proper counterattack.
Our country is at what is only the beginning of an economic catastrophe. Job #1 for the Obama administration is to get their stimulus plan up and rocking. Otherwise when we reach the middle of this mess, we’ll keep sliding towards the bottom.
We have an extremely popular history-making president. He ran the most technology and media savvy campaign ever. We have majority in both houses. We have some of the best minds working on the problem.
And somehow we can’t get anyone on TV to tell the truth about the CBO analysis or the stimulus package as a whole?
It’s weak. Very Weak.
-AF
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:45 pmAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
Are conservatives capable of telling the truth on ANYTHING?
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 pmwindsor Says:
How about we just get the elite of the democrat party to pay their fair share. Wouldn’t that solve a lot of problems?
How about we get our deadbeat corporations and the elite of the ‘Publican Party to pay their fair share? Wouldn’t that solve a lot of problems?
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:13 pmWhy isn’t F UCKING CARL ROVE in jail???
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:35 pmAre there any Democrats prominently countering this? Pointing out the results of Bush’s tax cuts for the rich? It shouldn’t be hard to make mincemeat of this argument. The Republicans get baby tricks to work for them because the Democrats don’t slap them down with the ridicule they deserve. Granted, MSM is still dominated by Republican ideology. But this argument against the stimulus is based on the government doesn’t create jobs. Most people want a paycheck and aren’t sweating over the stock market.
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:03 pmWhat is new, to be a right winger is to be a liar!
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 pmAdd Georgia’s 10th District US Congressman Paul Broun To The GOP Liar’s List On The Stimulus Bill
Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA) continues lying about the House economic recovery bill, specifically claiming that the bill would give more money to “grass” on the National Mall than to small businesses. More recently, Broun is circulating a proposal for an Economic Recovery Amendment that continues to peddle the same falsehood, even though House Democrats have now agreed to strip the “grass” funding completely.
More importantly, Broun is lying about the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) assessment of the recovery bill by continuing to cite a preliminary, incomplete, and misleading CBO chart — despite the fact that the full report was released Monday, giving him plenty of time to arm himself with the truth. Instead, he is circulating the letter below.
If Congressman Broun is proposing amendments into important legislation, shouldn’t his proposed legislation be based on the findings in the actual report.? According to the CBO, numbers were given to a small number of congressional Democrats and Republicans, but were not posted online because they’re not an official CBO product – the numbers were a result of a small portion of an earlier version of the stimulus plan through a computer program. It turns out that the CBO was analyzing only certain parts of the bill, like new spending on highways, education and energy. It ignored the tax cuts, jobless benefits and Medicaid payments — the very money that will be spent the fastest. Republicans went public and leaked the partial unofficial analysis to the Associated Press in order to undercut the spending portion of the stimulus.
Congressman Broun: Less partisan obfuscation and more reliance on actual facts. And realistically, do you think the Republicans will pass legislation allowing the US Treasury to write a check to every taxpayer for $9K? LOL
————————————-
Here is Broun’s Press Release…
Dr Broun: “‘Bout Time the American People Got Their Own Earmark”
Introduces an Economic Recovery Amendment that Actually Stimulates
(Washington, D.C.) – Representative Paul Broun, M.D. (GA-10) introduced an amendment to President Barack Obama’s Bureaucrat Stimulus Plan that will allow hardworking taxpayers to keep their trillion dollars and actually stimulate the economy. Dr. Broun’s amendment gives every American who files a tax return approximately $9K — their share of President Obama and Speaker Pelosi’s bureaucrat wish list.
“My amendment gives every tax filer their fair share of President Obama’s bureaucrat stimulus plan. It’s my belief that putting this money back in the pockets of hardworking taxpayers will do more to turn this economy around than spending it on 150 different federal programs, sod for the National Mall, or new cars for feds.
“Middle-class Americans are our nation’s economic engine, and they know how to spend their money much more wisely than out-of-touch Washington bureaucrats. This point is most recently illustrated by President Obama’s decision to spend $1 trillion on a plan that according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office will not impact America’s economy for many years, if ever.
“I urge President Obama and Speaker Pelosi to skip the pork wish list and work with my colleagues on a true economic recovery program that provides tax relief to small businesses and families and offers incentive-based relief for job creators,” said Dr. Paul Broun.
· The amendment would provide a stimulus check of equal monetary value to every legal resident of the United States that filed a taxable return for 2008.
· The amount to be divided among each legal taxpayer is equal to the monetary size of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as introduced.
· For example, each legal tax payer would receive an $8,895.75 check assuming the legislation’s cost is $825 billion divided by 92,740,927 taxable returns (number of taxable returns for 2006).
Reuters reports today:
“New CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf noted that direct payments to individuals and cutting federal taxes would have the fastest impact while spending could take longer for a number of reasons, including time required for contracting procedures and other planning needs. In the past for federal programs, there has been a ‘noticeable lag’ between big funding increases and spending, he said on the agency’s blog.”
###
Pepper Pennington
Communications Director
Dr. Paul Broun (GA-10)
202-225-4101
Yea, call Pepper and tell her boss he’s a GD liar.
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:10 pm