Biden repeats misleading claims he has created more jobs than any other president, has made the biggest deficit reduction in history and is behind the drop in inflation in State of Union Republicans slam as full of ‘lies’
Eric Schmitt, senator for Missouri, said: ‘I think it was a state of delusion, not a State of the Union speech.’
Here’s a look at some of Biden’s questionable claims.
Claims credit for 12M new jobs (but ignores COVID rebound)
President Biden said: ‘As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs, more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years.’
Biden has indeed created 12 million new jobs – but jobs created are not normally measured in two years.
The tally is per presidency: Bill Clinton created 18.6 million over his two terms, and Ronald Reagan had 16.5 million.
And over a four-year period, from 1996 to 2000 – Clinton’s first and second terms – more than 12.4 million jobs were added, Fox News researchers found.
Biden has created slightly more than 500,000 jobs per month on average, or more than twice the rate of his closest competitor, Clinton.
But he benefited from the post-pandemic bounce, and he still has time to go down.
The longer presidents serve in office, the likelier it is they will encounter an economic downturn. And the job losses during economic downturns are what hamper the job-creation averages for presidents.
Brags about cutting deficit by $1.7trillion (but doesn’t mention no multi-trillion dollar stimulus bill in 2022)
Biden said: ‘ In the last two years, my administration cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion – the largest deficit reduction in American history.’
The President gets his $1.7 trillion figure by comparing the deficit in fiscal year 2020 ($3.132 trillion) with the deficit in fiscal year 2022 ($1.375 trillion).
The drop in the deficit is significant. But that too is missing context.
Congress did not pass another multi-trillion dollar stimulus bill in 2022, as it did in the previous two years under both Biden and Trump.
Suggests GOP wants to tear down Medicare and Social Security (when McConnell and McCarthy have already shot down idea)
Biden said: ‘Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years. That means if Congress doesn’t vote to keep them, those programs will go away.’
Biden is referencing a proposal made last year by Rick Scott, a Florida senator and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Scott suggested ‘sunsetting’ – reassessing – all federal programs every five years.
‘If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again,’ he wrote on page 38 of his 60-page ’11-point plan to rescue America,’ which offered 128 proposals.
The Republican leaders of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, and House, Kevin McCarthy, have both said they have no intention of getting rid of Medicare and Social Security.
Scott himself denied that was his intention. But that has not stopped it becoming a Democrat talking point.
Targets top firms over taxes (but uses questionable data)
Biden said: ‘The idea that in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion in profits and paid zero in federal income taxes? That’s simply not fair.’
Biden frequently uses this statistic. It’s not necessarily wrong, but is not entirely accurate either.
The number is not based on actual tax returns but instead is an estimate of taxes paid, based on corporate reports.
source: dailymail