Observations

Obama and Clinton Rely on Untruths

and Exaggeration in Campaign

Maybe we ought to expect political candidates to stretch the truth and even break it in an attempt to win their party's nomination. And maybe the closeness of the Democrat race exacerbates this tendency. You have to wonder if it is possible to be an honest, straightforward campaigner and still have a chance at being elected any more. Recent rhetoric by both Democrat presidential candidates does nothing to provide hope that honesty is a policy that will succeed.

Barack Obama said the other day the we are "at a time when we're on the brink of recession, when neighborhoods have 'For Sale' signs outside every home,” in Charleston, W.Va. There may be a recession coming, but that’s not certain. What is certain is that Obama can’t show any neighborhood where every house has a “For Sale” sign in the front yard.

At another appearance in the state, in Beckley, Obama declared that gasoline prices are four times higher than before the Iraq war, a statement by the Illinois Democrat that is easily verifiable, and false: Gasoline prices are approximately twice what they were before the Iraq war, around $3.26 now as opposed to $1.62 right before the war. Crude oil prices are 3.2 times higher than before the war, or about $102/bbl against $31.62 in 2003.

Hillary Clinton is no better, declaring a while back: "But I think we have to recognize that the weakening housing market actually impacts everybody, it's not just those who got in over their head, it's the neighbors and the community who are going to have vacant homes in their midst and it's the communities that won't have the property tax base," Clinton said, calling for a moratorium on foreclosures for 90 days. That’s a curious statement to make, given that throughout the entire housing market 94 percent of people with mortgages are current with their payments.

As to whether we are or are not sliding into recession, Sen. Clinton said, "Some [economists] say, yes, it's going there. Some say, not yet. Some say, oh, no. But the statistics are one thing, the stories are something altogether different," she asserted "It doesn't matter what you're told," Clinton said later. "It's what you feel, what you feel deep down." It isn’t important what’s really happening in the economy, all that matters is how people “feel” about the economy.

Sheesh! Is this the best the Democrat's can produce? I'm afraid so.