Are GOPers Deliberately Lying about the Stimulus?

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That seems to be the case. I outline the reasons for claiming so in a DailyPolitics.com column. Mainly, Republicans, such as House minority whip Eric Cantor, have been declaring—literally—that the stimulus has created no new jobs. Not one. This is ridiculous. One can argue that the money was not used in the most effective manner. But to insist that not one new job has been created is absurdly false. Still, that’s what GOPers are doing. Worse, this week, the main narrative within the Washington press corps was that President Barack Obama has lost the message war regarding the stimulus. But is that really the big story? As I noted,

Obama has indeed lost the message war, and he and his crew can be slammed for that. But a more serious matter is how Republican officials are poisoning the national discourse with demonstrably false information — which undermines policymaking and, thus, the potential for economic recovery. The real narrative is not how Obama has bumbled the politics, but how the Republicans are killing the truth.

And they do appear to be getting away with it.

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Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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