Monday 8 June 2009

Why we need a fact checker during President Obama's speeches


Politicians make so many speeches that it is hard not to make a verbal slip or two, like substituting the word privacy for piracy.
However Barack Obama goes beyond the usual tongue-twist and now it's wise to double-check his supposed facts.
It seems that the US President really needs his aides to be a little more vigilant whenever that unknown someone pens the first draft of his speeches.
Sometimes these silly mistakes ruin what could almost be inspirational moments.

FactCheck highlights these bloopers:

1.

* He said "we import more oil today than ever before." That's untrue. Imports peaked in 2005 and are substantially lower today.
* He claimed his mortgage aid plan would help "responsible" buyers but not those who borrowed beyond their means. But even prominent defenders of the program including Fed Chairman Bernanke and FDIC chief Bair concede foolish borrowers will be aided, too.
* He said the high cost of health care "causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds." That's at least double the true figure.
* He flubbed two facts about American history. The U.S. did not invent the automobile, and the transcontinental railroad was not completed until years after the Civil War, not during it.
* He claimed that his stimulus plan "prevented the layoffs" of 57 police officers in Minneapolis. In fact, it's far more complicated than that, and other factors are also helping to save police jobs.

2.
* President Barack Obama claimed that the U.S. is "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world" in terms of population. That strains the facts mightily. The U.S. Muslim population probably doesn't even rank in the top 50.

3.
* President Obama said, that "[m]ore than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States?" Government statistics don't actually support that claim.

4.
* President Barack Obama made one factual error in his first speech in office when he said, immediately after being sworn in: Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. It is true that Obama is counted as the 44th president, but he's only the 43rd person to take the oath. Grover Cleveland is counted

While Voter Fact Check cites:

1.
* Did Obama incorrectly say his uncle helped liberate Auschwitz?
Yes. Obama's great-uncle helped liberate Ohrdruf, which was a subcamp of Buchenwald, not Auschwitz....

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