President Obama made a number of questionable statements in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Heritage experts took on some of the policy issues he raised, but we at Scribe thought we would address the simple factual accuracy of 10 of the more outlandish statements from the president. Quotes are drawn from the president’s prepared remarks. Claim:  “On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse.  Some even said we should let it die.  With a million jobs at stake, I … More

President Barack Obama loves to talk about “teaching moments” (so much so that a member of his own party in Congress has criticized him for it.) The latest lesson the Obama Administration is trying to teach? That its overregulation isn’t costly or unusual, despite all evidence to the contrary. Today’s Wall Street Journal takes that assertion head on. Here are three key takeaways: 1) The White House is picking and choosing numbers in order to understate its regulatory record. The WSJ reports that, according to an analysis of the Federal Register … More

In a recent speech in Kansas, President Obama launched a diatribe against “trickle-down” economic policies. Not only did President Obama mischaracterize conservative tax policy, but facts rebut his claim that these policies have been a failure. The President began by invoking his understanding of conservative economic philosophy: “If the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else.” “Trickle down” is of course a disingenuous misnomer invented by the left to stigmatize conservative supply-side economic policies. It implies favoring the rich—that doing so will … More

Protests that began on Wall Street and spread to cities across America have now reached the pristine halls of Harvard. That’s right, the country’s oldest university is experiencing walkouts by students sympathizing with the “Occupy” movement. The source of their frustration: Students don’t like the content presented in an introductory course in economics. The professor, Greg Mankiw, is one of the world’s best-known economists and served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bush. Never mind those credentials, however. According to some students, Mankiw is indoctrinating America’s … More

Lawmakers have recently paid lip service to cutting the corporate tax rate to help boost economic growth. Doing so would be good policy, but it’s important to know why. Information disseminated by both political parties, think tanks, government organizations, media outlets, and political pundits has confused the issue, leading many to believe that reducing the corporate tax rate would have little effect on the economy. This is because most discussion surrounding the utility of tax cuts is filtered primarily through the “demand-side” lens—that is, it views tax cuts as effective … More

Instead of the intellectual vandalism that typifies too much of Paul Krugman’s writing, it would be more useful if he returned to writing about economics…with facts. In a recent column he says: So if you really believed in the logic of free markets, you’d be all in favor of pollution taxes, right? Hahahahaha. Today’s American right doesn’t believe in externalities, or correcting market failures; it believes that there are no market failures, that capitalism unregulated is always right. What evidence does he use to support this cynicism? Krugman points to … More

When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D–CA) staff released a chart in May that attempted to illustrate how much past Presidents increased the national debt, it collided with a meticulous critique from Politifact that in turn led to a revised chart. The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler weighed in as the original chart resurfaced recently, reporting on its methodological faults and misleading presentation. Even the revised version makes President Obama’s debt accrual appear minor compared to that of past Presidents. The facts show, however, that the Obama Administration is well on … More

By the time Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took to the floor Monday to berate Republicans for supposedly blocking emergency disaster aid, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had already announced it did not need the money Reid claimed was being blocked. FEMA’s disaster relief fund became a key issue in the continuing resolution the Senate passed Monday night, funding the federal government through Nov. 18. A record number of emergency declarations this year by President Obama stretched FEMA’s fund to the brink. Republicans offered an additional $1 billion in disaster aid, but coupled … More

A challenge to republicans: give up the socialism, or stop pretending to oppose it.

Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City made headlines when he expressly excluded clergy-led prayer from the planned 10th anniversary 9/11 Memorial Service at Ground Zero. It troubled many Americans that a prominent public official would ignore the profound role the faith community played in the aftermath of 9/11. Yet, thanks to the intervention of two American Presidents who were invited, the memorial service ultimately did reflect our nation’s religious heritage. Following remarks by Mayor Bloomberg, President Obama stood to offer solace to the families of 9/11 victims … More