If you haven’t dropped by FactCheck.org lately, you should. They’ve now had time to fact-check the GOP’s Pledge to America announced by the GOP on September 23rd. Their analysis revealed that the GOP is using some very dubious information (I’ll not call it factual) in drawing their conclusions and thusly, proposing their vague solutions.
The Republican “Pledge to America,” released Sept. 23, contains some dubious factual claims:
- 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.
Read their full analysis here.