Counterspin

POAC counter-spin

The facts behind the current talking points

The talking point	The facts
Questions surround the authenticity of President Obama's birth certificate (example)	Representatives from the State of Hawaii have repeatedly authenticated Obama's COLB.

High gas prices are the result of a lack of domestic drilling in places such as ANWR	Drilling the largest continuous oil formation ever discovered in the U.S. would represent only a five to seven month supply of oil for the United States at 2007 rates of consumption.
	More: House Natural Resources Committee Report: The Truth About America’s Energy

Lawsuits filed by environmental groups have prevented any new construction of refineries since the 70's	The oil industry closed down 50% of its existing refineries starting in the 80's to boost profits.

China is drilling for oil off of the coast of Florida (Examples: 1 2 3 4 5)	While it's true that as many as 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas may lie off Cuba's coast, no country, including China, is drilling for a drop of it. Florida Sen. Mel Martinez – a Republican who served in Bush’s cabinet, even took time on the Senate Floor to debunk the lie.

Obama was endorsed by Hamas	A Hamas spokesperson made a general observation that Sen. Obama promises to bring a foreign policy leadership marked by respect not "arrogance." Also... Hamas slammed Obama, saying he confirmed US "hostility" to Arabs and Muslims.

Ethanol is responsible for the recent spike in food prices.	Critics say biofuel responsible for 8.1% hike in grain costs, diverting attention from oil's much larger impact

Bush's "abstinence only" programs have been a success.	Abstinence-only programs have not cut teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases or delayed the age at which sex begins.

The planet has been cooling since 1998	This claim has been thoroughly debunked every time it’s popped up. The oil-backed global warming denier Dennis Avery first made the claim — which hinges on the fact that 1998 was an exceptionally warm year (but not the warmest ever) — in 2006. source: Think Progress

Obama Attended "anti- America" Sermon.	The truth is that Obama did not attend church on July 22. He was on his way to campaign in Miami.

Barack Obama is a Muslim who was schooled in a madrasa who won't put his hand over his heart for the national anthem/pledge of allegiance who belongs to a radical black church, has his presidential campaign funded by Hugo Chavez and is endorsed by the KKK.	Barack Obama is a Christian who went to a secular school, has led the pledge of allegiance in the Senate, belongs to a normal Christian Church in Chicago and has never been funded by the KKK or Hugo Chavez

Waterboarding is not torture and has no long term effects	Waterboarding is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts, politicians, war veterans, intelligence officials, military judges,and human rights organizations. Some victims are still traumatized years later'. One victim couldn't take showers, and panicked when it rained. Water-boarding or mock drowning can result in immediate and long-term health consequences. There is a real risk of death from actually drowning or suffering a heart attack or damage to the lungs from inhalation of water. Long term effects include panic attacks, depression and PTSD. Source: Wikipedia

Bill Clinton was quoted saying we must 'slow down US economy' to stop global warming.	It’s a moment taken out of context in such a way as to change the meaning of the sentence. Consider what Clinton actually said: “And maybe America, and Europe, and Japan, and Canada — the rich counties — would say, ‘OK, we just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions ’cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren.’ We could do that. But if we did that, you know as well as I do, China and India and Indonesia and Vietnam and Mexico and Brazil and the Ukraine, and all the other countries will never agree to stay poor to save the planet for our grandchildren. The only way we can do this is if we get back in the world’s fight against global warming and prove it is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy that saves the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is the only way it will work.”

Iran is a major source for insurgents and foreign fighters in Iraq.	Around 60% of all foreign militants who entered Iraq to fight over the past year came from Saudi Arabia and Libya, according to files seized by American forces. The files also gave details of 68 Yemeni nationals, the third-biggest source. There were 64 fighters from Algeria, 50 from Morocco, 38 from Tunisia, 14 from Jordan, six from Turkey and two each from Egypt and France.
	More than 40% of the foreign fighters who entered Iraq to join the insurgency in the past year were citizens of Saudi Arabia

Nancy Pelosi included a provision in a water redevelopment bill that would benefit property her husband owns in San Francisco.	The waterfront improvements were requested by the Port of San Francisco and the four rental properties in question are at least a mile away.Republicans, who raised the issue more than two weeks after the bill passed the House, offered no evidence of benefit to Paul Pelosi's real estate holdings. "I don't have any facts to say anything untoward has been done here," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

Joe Wilson had said his wife was not a clandestine officer when Bob Novak blew her identity.	Wilson's comment was meant to reflect that his wife lost her ability to be a covert agent because of the leak, not that she had stopped working for the CIA beforehand. His wife's "ability to do the job she's been doing for close to 20 years ceased from the minute Novak's article appeared; she ceased being a clandestine officer," he later said.

The Bush administration scandal involving the firing of U.S. prosecuting attorneys for political reasons is a non-story because Bill Clinton also replaced US attorneys upon assuming office.	Clinton did fire all 93 US attorneys upon assuming office. So did Bush 41 and Ronald Reagan. Previous U.S. attorney selections were subject to Senate confirmation. Bush's are not thanks to a loophole secretly inserted into the PATRIOT Act. Also, previous presidents bumped all their old attorneys when they first took office, not in the middle of their second term when the opposition party was preparing investigations and serving subpoenas into evidence of corruption as Bush had.

Iran has repeatedly rejected U.S. offers for discussion on stabilizing the region and halting it's uranium enrichment program	2003: Cheney Rejected Iranian Offers To Help Stabilize Iraq. Iranian concession package was close to what US is asking for now
	Rove Received and Ignored Iranian Peace Offer

The ACLU has proven to have an anti-Christian stance, particularly in matters concerning schools	ACLU's position on religion in school

Al Gore is hypocritical in his stance on reducing carbon emissions due to his energy use and travel.	In addition to purchasing carbon offsets, Gore’s family has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100 percent green power through Green Power Switch, installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology.

Nancy Pelosi had demanded access to the military equivalent of a 757 to fly her back and forth between Washington, D.C., and her San Francisco home.	Pelosi offered to fly domestic and pay for any guests accompanying her, the military plane was requested by the House Sergeant at arms, and the plane size was dictated by the pentagon.

Thomas Jefferson owned and/or utilized his Koran in order to understand his "enemy", i.e., the Barbary Pirates that were threatening American commerce between the 1780's and early 1800's.	Jefferson bought his Koran on October 5, 1765 -- when he was a 22-year old law student at William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. Barbary Pirates were hardly an issue for Americans in 1765

Nancy Pelosi exempted a mega corporation based in her home district and operating in Samoa from the new minimum wage laws	American Samoa has ALREADY been exempt from those laws for some time, including for 12 years under a Republican majority. Currently wage floors in American Samoa are set by the US Department of Labor. Nancy Pelosi has nothing to do with that.
	Pelosi moves to close Samoa wage loophole.

George W. Bush called the Constitution "Just a god damned piece of paper".	The source of this story is unable to verify the statement claiming "...I heard from two White House sources who claim they heard from others present in the meeting...". This isn't acceptable by any journalistc standards

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly threatened to destroy Israel	The most infamous quote, "Israel must be wiped off the map", is the most glaringly wrong. In his October 2005 speech, Mr. Ahmadinejad never used the word "map" or the term "wiped off". According to Farsi-language experts like Juan Cole and even right-wing services like MEMRI, what he actually said was "this regime that is occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time." His message was, in essence, "This too shall pass."



The New York Times disclosed vital secrets in the War on Terror™ by publishing an article on the gov't secretly monitoring financial transactions without a warrant.	Not only has the administration been bragging about their funds transfer tracking system, they've been publicly giving our far more details than the NYT

Tax cuts generate revenue and pay for themselves	A host of studies, some of them written by economists who served in the Bush administration, have concluded that tax reductions lose more revenue than they generate.

	Virtually every economics Ph.D. who has worked in the Bush Administration acknowledges that the tax cuts of the past six years haven't paid for themselves.

The Bush administration had no idea that a 9-11 type attack would occur.	US aviation received 52 al-Qaeda warnings before 9/11
	Censorship of Aviation Warnings Leading up to 9/11
	A point-by-point analysis of Condoleeza Rice's statements versus the truth

Electronic voting machines are secure and there is no evidence to suspect rigged elections	Programmer Clint Curtis claims that four years ago Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Florida) asked his then-employer to write software to alter votes on electronic voting machines in Florida.
	Evidence of rigged elections in the United States

Peak oil is just a myth	Saudis admit peak oil

No one expected the levees to fail.	2001 Houston Chronicle: FEMA ranked the potential damage to New Orleans as among the three likeliest, most castastrophic disasters facing this country.
No one expected the levees to fail.	Mediamatters.org's full list of examples of the well known potential for levee failure

LA Governor didn't take the steps necessary to request emergency and major disaster declarations:	Blanco pushed all the paper she was supposed to push, prior to the storm hitting, to rouse FEMA into action. (.PDF)
	Governor Blanco asks President to Declare an Emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina

Social Security is going to collapse and republicans will save it by privatizing it.	A memo written by an aide to Karl Rove, about how to sell Social Security privatization. The public, says Mr. Wehner, must be convinced that "the current system is heading for an iceberg."..."For the first time in six decades, the Social Security battle is one we can win."

	President Eisenhower called Texas oil millionaires "stupid" for wanting to abolish social security

Cheney has severed his ties to Halliburton	Cheney's Halliburton Ties Remain

Valerie Plame was not deep undercover	CIA SAYS WILSON WAS UNDERCOVER: “But within the C.I.A., the exposure of Ms. Plame is now considered an even greater instance of treachery. Ms. Plame, a specialist in nonconventional weapons who worked overseas, had ‘nonofficial cover,’ and was what in C.I.A. parlance is called a Noc, the most difficult kind of false identity for the agency to create.” [New York Times, 10/5/03]
	MSNBC confirms that Plame was working on Iran nuke counter-proliferation when she was outed.

It was the Democrats who stopped the vote count in 2000	The man Bush tapped to fill Karl Rove’s spot as his policy advisor is none other than Joel Kaplan, who took part in the infamous “Brooks Brothers riot” of 2000. That’s when a bunch of Washington GOP operatives, posing as outraged Floridians, waved fists, chanted “Stop the fraud!” and pounded windows in an effort to intimidate officials engaged in the Florida recount effort.

	John Bolton: "I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count."
	Bush gave plum jobs to supporters who worked recount

Al Gore claimed to invent the internet	"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."


Republicans are the party of smaller government and fiscal responsibility	ha ha ha ha ha Do I really need to provide a link?