Even Fox News called Paul Ryan "Liar, liar, pants on fire" after his speech to the Republican National Convention. Fact.check.org said that every major talking point in that speech was a lie. Take the lie that Obama waived workfare in a number of states. That was a lie. Obama waived the federal workfare requirements in a number of Republican states, at the specific request of the Republican governors of those states who said that they needed to use their own states' programs and asked for waivers. Obama gave the waivers requested, but did so only on the condition that states programs must move 20% of people off welfare rolls.
Ever since the Obama administration granted these waiver to the Republican governors who requested them, the Republican Party, Republican commentators, and Fox News have excoriated Obama for gutting welfare.
Initally, even moderate Republicans said that the waivers were a good thing - they increased the authority of the states to manage their own programs, reduced the role of the federal government in states' programs, and did so while requiring states continue to reduce general welfare rolls. From a right/left point of view, the whole workfare program is a far right-wing program and Obama actually made the requirements for states receiving waivers tougher than it was for states who didn't ask for them. That's about as right wing as you can get. To me, as a card-carrying Liberal, I was very disappointed that he would insist on this 20% cut in the rolls in this economy, with unemployment benefits apt to end any minute.
Once Newt, Rush and the boys finished with the story, it was just another give-away to the poor by that communist Obama, when in fact it most certainly was not. Of course the Tea Party and the social conservatives parrot Newt, Rush and Fox's take on the story and in the eyes of conservatives who can't be bothered to fact check Republican claims, Obama is a communist who just wants to give the wealth of hard working Americans to lazy shiftless ne'er do wells. He even says they don't have to work for it any more.
And the conservatives call Democrats "sheeple". At least some of us liberals have the good sense to fact-check every single thing both sides say so we know who's lying and who isn't.
Ever since the Obama administration granted these waiver to the Republican governors who requested them, the Republican Party, Republican commentators, and Fox News have excoriated Obama for gutting welfare.
Initally, even moderate Republicans said that the waivers were a good thing - they increased the authority of the states to manage their own programs, reduced the role of the federal government in states' programs, and did so while requiring states continue to reduce general welfare rolls. From a right/left point of view, the whole workfare program is a far right-wing program and Obama actually made the requirements for states receiving waivers tougher than it was for states who didn't ask for them. That's about as right wing as you can get. To me, as a card-carrying Liberal, I was very disappointed that he would insist on this 20% cut in the rolls in this economy, with unemployment benefits apt to end any minute.
Once Newt, Rush and the boys finished with the story, it was just another give-away to the poor by that communist Obama, when in fact it most certainly was not. Of course the Tea Party and the social conservatives parrot Newt, Rush and Fox's take on the story and in the eyes of conservatives who can't be bothered to fact check Republican claims, Obama is a communist who just wants to give the wealth of hard working Americans to lazy shiftless ne'er do wells. He even says they don't have to work for it any more.
And the conservatives call Democrats "sheeple". At least some of us liberals have the good sense to fact-check every single thing both sides say so we know who's lying and who isn't.
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