Topic: Newsmax
A Jan. 19 Newsmax article by Jim Meyers purports to be a "Newsmax look back" at Obama's first year in office, which to nobody's surprise "finds far fewer highlights than lowlights." Did anybody think Newsmax would declare Obama's presidency a rousing success?
Meyers ticks off a whopping 42 "failures, gaffes, broken promises and other missteps," a number of which are false or misleading.
The first bullet point states: "Within days of taking office, Obama broke his pledge not to raise any taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year by imposing a tax hike of 61 cents on a pack of cigarettes." But that's not a tax on lower-income people -- it's a tax on smokers. Anyone can easily avoid the tax by not smoking.
But that's not all:
- Meyers writes that Obama "gave a gift to Queen Elizabeth: An iPod full of his own speeches." He doesn't mention that the queen reportedly requested the iPod, or that it also contains numerous other things as well, including video and photos of her 2007 visit to Washington and Virginia.
- Meyers states that " the bust of Churchill that Prime Minister Tony Blair had presented to the U.S. as a gift from the British people had been returned to the British Embassy." It's unclear why Meyers considers this worth mentioning, since it reminds us that Newsmax columnist James Humes fabricated an Obama quote on the subject that Newsmax was forced to quietly delete.
- Meyers writes: "The stock market hit a seven-year low, with the Dow dipping below 7,000, after Obama likened the market to political 'tracking polls,' suggesting they’re unimportant." Meyers considered it unimportant to note that the stock market is currently above 10,000.
- Meyers writes, "Obama betrayed allies Poland and the Czech Republic by canceling plans to build a missile defense shield in those nations to guard against an attack from Iran." Meyers didn't mention that the ship-based missile shield being built in its place can be deployed sooner and will be more cost-effective than the land-based system put forward by the Bush administration -- or why Iran is planning to attack Poland and the Czech Republic.
- Meyers writes: "In his inaugural address, Obama called on Americans to adopt a spirit of sacrifice. But the $49 million cost of his swearing-in ceremony was triple the cost of Bush’s first inaugural." In fact, Bush's 2001 inauguration cost $40 million, not the $16 million Meyers claims.
Posted by Terry K.
at 11:18 AM EST
