Morning Joe News

Rush Limbaugh joins the likes of Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks as recipient of highest civilian honor

Of all the lies and posturing that took place during last night's State of the Union address, this was the most upsetting to me... Donald Trump gave Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom less than 5 minutes after introducing a 100 year old USAF Veteran who was one of the Tuskeegee Airmen and went on to serve in two more wars.

And yet, republicans have the audacity to point the finger at democrats for partisan behavior and lack of decorum. The party of projection strikes again.

 

Nonetheless, if you missed last night's State of the Union, here are a few of the lies spewed by our president via factcheck.org:

• Trump claimed the economy is “the best it has ever been.” But GDP growth fell to 2.3% last year and economists predict further slowing this year.

• He said he brought about low unemployment by reversing “years of economic decay” and “failed economic policies,” when in fact over 1 million more jobs were added in the 35 months before he took office than in the first 35 months since

• Trump claimed that people’s 401(k)s and pensions have increased “60, 70, 80, 90, and 100% and even more.” Some may have, but that’s far higher than the average.

• Trump claimed the new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico “will create nearly 100,000 … auto jobs.” But an independent federal commission puts the job gains at 28,000 over five years.

• The president boasted that “a long, tall, and very powerful wall is being built” along the southern border, and more than 100 miles have been completed. But only one mile is located where no barriers previously existed.

• Trump said “illegal crossings” at the southwest border “are down 75% since May.” But total apprehensions in 2019 were 81% higher than in 2016, the year before Trump took office.

• He said that “after losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations, America has now gained 12,000 new factories under my administration.” He’s referring to what the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls manufacturing “establishments,” and most of the growth under Trump has been in facilities with fewer than five employees.

• The president said he made an “iron-clad” promise to “always protect patients with preexisting conditions,” but that ignores the fact he has supported Republican health plans that would reduce the current protections under the Affordable Care Act.

• He suggested, misleadingly, that his administration was responsible for the U.S. becoming the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas. But the U.S. has been No. 1 in the world for natural gas for more than a decade, and tops in petroleum since 2013.

• Trump said “300,000 working age people” left the workforce during Obama’s eight years. Actually, the workforce grew by 5.4 million.

More importantly, he promised to sign any legislation that lowered prescription drug prices into law if it reached his desk without mentioning that his party is actively fighting to ensure that this does not happen. HR-3 is dead in the senate (despite unanimous democratic support), and there are 3 other reforms awaiting a vote that republicans will also likely dismiss.

1. The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, which would peg the price of prescription drugs in the United States to the median price in five major countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan;
2. The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, which would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D;
3. The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, which would allow patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to import safe, affordable medicine from Canada and other major countries.

And yet, none of this matters, because the red voters in this country would rather let the US fall behind and rot in our own cowardice and laziness than take on the task of holding our elected officials responsible for the information they feed us and the actions they take at their elected posts.

 

Hey OBJ, as an independent, I'd hate for you to miss this one