CNN's Truth Squad fact-checked some of the claims made by President Barack Obama in the State of the Union address and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels in the Republican rebuttal. We'll take a look at some of the claims and share if they were accurate.
Did public dollars unearth new energy resources?
President Barack Obama made a pitch for continued federal support of energy research.
The statement: "The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don't have to choose between our environment and our economy. And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock - reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground."
The verdict: True, but incomplete
Obama touts job creation record
President Barack Obama discussed job numbers before and after he took office during Tuesday night's State of the Union address.
The statement: "In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly 4 million jobs. And we lost another 4 million before our policies were in full effect. Those are the facts. But so are these. In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005."
The verdict: True
GOP shines light on unemployment
Republicans focused on the Obama administration's job record during their rebuttal to Tuesday night's State of the Union address.
The statement: "The percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades," said Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, in the Republican rebuttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
The verdict: True
Steve Jobs' jobs vs. Obama's jobs
In a rebuttal to the State of the Union address, Republicans gave the late Steve Jobs credit for creating more jobs than the stimulus bill Tuesday.
The statement: "Contrary to the president's constant disparagement of people in business, it's one of the noblest of human pursuits. The late Steve Jobs - what a fitting name he had - created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the president borrowed and blew." –Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, in the Republican rebuttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
The verdict: False
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Of course all of Obamas' statements were true and the GOP response was false! Wow! Nice job at keeping your bais liberal yellow journalism going CNN.
Go read other sources, even right biased, you will see that none claim Obama lied.
With a name like Juan I would be more worried about gettting deported by the GOP cause according to them all you Juans are illegal
the GOP has a nasty habit of lying. The truth hurts?
That was funny Marie!!
@Marie LOL
They'll all be deported, Juan by Juan
There was a joke a while back about facts having a liberal bias. However, that is not really the case here. Obama seems to make a point about being pretty truthful. As a matter of fact when people on the right call him a liar it is usually for something where their facts are wrong (birthers, secret Muslim, etc...) or they are calling him out on promises he was not able to keep. That is a little different than what we keep seeing on the GOP side where they just spin a story that is not necessarily rooted in any honesty. As far as Steve Jobs jobs record, he had more than 3 years to work with, products to build and sell, and did not have a bunch of lawmakers who felt it was more important to make him a one term CEO than to actually build and sell products.
Want true facts on the Obama administration policies? Well, here is a right wing spin on the issues...Question:What's your take on the stimulus plan? moron! What's your interpretation of Obamacare? liberals! How do you feel about us killing OBL? Obama is taking too much credit. How do you rate Obama's handling of the Libyan crisis? He's responsible for Sheria law in Libya and Egypt. The CBO just reported that the unemployment rate has been reduced to 8.5% what's your take on this administration's handling of the economy? Obama had nothing to do with it. The UN has reported that the Iranian government is starting to feel the pinch from new sanctions imposed by the international community. What's your take? Obama is soft on terrorism. A drone strilke just killed American born terrorist awalaki. What's your opinion? Obama just murdered an American citizen. The Big Three is starting to boom once more as manufacturing and sales are up for the first time in a decade. As an American, how do you feel to see our auto industry thriving again? You lie!
Why is it when we can't get a job, it's the President's fault, but when we start to get jobs, everyone says "Thank the private sector"?
Whats even more contradicting is how Republicans keep saying its the president's fault for low unemployment. But when unemployed people speak up, the republicans tell them "get a job you lazy ass."
RS says: What about Obama bowing to his liberal environment wing and turning down a pipeline that would create jobs?
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Since when did you care about illegal immigrants getting jobs? Those jobs were construction jobs.. who gets construction jobs nowadays?
That isn't Bob Smith and Steve Jones who build things now... that's Juan Perez and Jose Martinez, or at least that's what their Social Security cards that they bought say..
Juan and Jose work for 25% less and that's 25% more profit into their pocket. . and even better, they know Juan and Jose are illegal, so they will withhold payroll taxes but pay them off books so they can keep their withholdings instead of paying the government... and they dont have to pay workers comp for Juan and Jose if they get hurt, because they are illegal.. they will just go find Pablo and Pedro to replace them..
BTW I'm racist against illegals.. I hire them to cut my grass and clean my house... I'm just being real..
I mean to say I'm not racist against illegals..
BTW – as I understand it, Obama didn't turn down the pipeline, he only delayed the vote on it.
Even people who protested the pipeline in Nebraska said they would have less problem with it if it did not go through/over the main source of drinking water for the state. Yes, added expense to reroute, but much less cost than if the "unthinkable" (Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez, etc...) happened and polluted the main aquifer of those states.
Such a biased article. All questions just lean towards liberal highlights of no value.
Yes and there's no bias AT ALL in labeling certain parts of the speech "liberal highlights of no value". You're obviously the bastion of impartiality here.
The Keystone pipeline wasn't turned down but rather posponed to further study other ways in which we could possibly get this resource without damaging the environment. Florida Governor Rick Scott rejected the high speed rail project and in the process killed 23,000 jobs. Furthermore, he along with a host of other Republican Governors have turned down billions of dollars in stimulus aid for their local economy to create jobs and improve infrastructure just to score political points. Talking about job killing! And by the way, the Repugteabag House is yet to create one single American job. So who's realling killing jobs?
Obama's going to win re-election big time. Thank goodness.
and what happens when the pipeline is completed? How about some solutions for Upermanent- jobs!
The raw job numbers are meaningless. The *real* data is not only the raw numbers, but *what wage those jobs pay* as well. 1 million minimum-wage jobs are not better than 100K jobs that pay $100K each. The issue of the wage is important as the wage also dictates whether the people can make it on the job financially.
But nobody ever reports the wage side. Hence the arguments about job creation are incomplete and really meaningless rhetorical posturing.
@Jay
Agree! When things go bad its Obama's fault but when things go good, someone else gets the credit but our President. But it doesn't matter because President Obama has the endorsement of God and he will win big in the general election.
Hypocrisy: You wrote: "Obama has the endorsement of God". What an astonishing statement. Did God tell you who he was endorsing? Is he endorsing only Mr. Obama, or does God plan to support candidates for the House, the Senate, and various Governorships, too?
CNN always goes full on lib-tard leading up to the presidential election. If they would simply embrace and own their liberal values rather than hiding behind an "air of impartiality," they wouldn't get consistently trounced by Fox.
A Message to Congresswoman Gabriella Giffords...
Oh oh oh oh oh
It must have been cold there in my shadow
to never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that's your way.
You always walked a step behind.
So I was the one with all the glory,
while you were the one with all the strength.
A beautiful face without a name for so long.
A beautiful smile to hide the pain
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
cause you are the wind beneath my wings.
It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I've got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.
Did you ever know that you're my hero?
You're everything I wish I could be.
I could fly higher than an eagle,
cause you are the wind beneath my wings
Did I ever tell you you're my hero?
You're everything, everything I wish I could be.
Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle,
cause you are the wind beneath my wings,
cause you are the wind beneath my wings.
Oh, the wind beneath my wings.
You, you, you, you are the wind beneath my wings
Fly, fly, fly away. You let me fly so high.
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings
Fly, fly, fly high against the sky,
So high I almost touch the sky
Thank you, thank you
Thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings
(Bette Midler)
Thank you Congresswoman Gabriella Giffords! God bless you and America loves you!
This is a beautiful sentiment, but Bette Middler only sang the song...Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley wrote it.
So bascially - As usual Obama spoke the truth and the GOP Representative put out some Rhetoric he hoped would be believed...
so as usual cnn supports Obama and disagrees with republicans, what else is new
Well Frank, That is because Republicans are inherently wrong.
Notice how, when the truth is pointed out, a certain segment claims "media bias". I am so tired of hearing the same lame phrases (media bias, job creators, class warfare). Sorry for those of you who believe them.
Obama got one complete truth in, even with his official cheerleading squad doing the fact checking and cherry picking the statments.
It will allways be that way. the republicans have allways lied about what a democrat said. they will spin a speech until their zombie followers will believe anything they say. if Obama was to say that the world was shaped like a tennis ball they would say that it was shaped like a foot ball. the republicans are living their own little rich man world. with them it is all about the party, power and money. i fail to understand how poor people can vote republican. unless they are totaly stupid.
Republicans whine that taxing the 1% at the top of the food chain is going to stifle economic recovery. Romney and others have squirrelled away billions of dollars and paying little or no taxes. Why haven't they invested money in the recovery. Where are the jobs, where is the innovation?
And why doesn't Romney deposit his money in US banks, rather than in Swiss banks and the Cayman Islands? Money in US banks is loans for small businesses and mortgages for US homeowners. Money in the Cayman Islands – why?
I agree. I'd like to see some of those outsourced jobs in the Phillipines and Egypt brought back to the good old USA.
What I wonder – and this should be obvious to all.. is this:
My paycheck? They take a chunk out for medicare and social security. Most of yours, too.
What about someone that doesn't get a 'paycheck'? That lives off interest income, money from investments, etc?
They pay no medicare or social security. I know I've recently read stories about rich men who had social security coming in, too. Do people living off interest and investment returns get social security when they reach a certain age?
I think we all know the answer to that.
Should they, if they haven't given into it since college? Could this be part of the reason social security and medicaid are floundering? Because the middle class are throwing in their pittance to pay for non-contributors to retire rich?
Take john McCain, he is worth over 200 million dollars. yet he draws his senate check every month, i think that is $178.000 a year. he draws full disability from the navy which is over a hundred thousand a year. also he is drawing full social sercuity. which is probably about 23 thousand a year. plus all his medical for him and his family are paid for by the working tax payers.