By Ryan Denson
In case you missed it, a study not released by MSNBC (so save
your breath conservatives), by the nonpartisan Center for Media and Public Affairs at George
Mason University have found that Republicans are significantly more likely
to lie than Democrats.
And here is the kicker that the liberals have been
saying all along: the lying gap between Republicans and Democrats is
widening as President Barack Obama spends more time in office.
In their study, 100 statements involving factual claims by
Democrats (46 claims) and Republicans (54 claims) were examined, which were
fact-checked by PolitiFact.com during the four month period from the start of
President Obama’s second term on January 20 through May 22, 2013. In just four
months worth of fact checking the GOP was found to be lying the most. Here is
what they found:
PolitiFact rated 32% of Republican claims as “false” or “pants on fire,” compared to 11% of Democratic claims – a 3 to 1 margin.
Conversely, Politifact rated 22% of Democratic claims as “entirely true” compared to 11% of Republican claims – a 2 to 1 margin.
A majority of Democratic statements (54%) were rated as mostly or entirely true, compared to only 18% of Republican statements. Conversely, a majority of Republican statements (52%) were rated as mostly or entirely false, compared to only 24% of Democratic statements.
And here is where the
liberals have been right all along regarding the GOP’s witch-hunts against
President Obama:
Regarding Benghazi, the IRS and the Associated Press, Republicans have continued to fare worse than Democrats, with 60% of their claims rated as false so far this month (May 1 – May 22), compared to 29% of Democratic statements – a 2 to 1 margin.
Republicans lied about
IRS, Benghazi, and the AP 60% of the time? I’m shocked. Of course Republicans
are going to denounce this as being a liberal-sponsored entity. However, it
should be known that Politifact has won the Pulitzer Prize for its non-partisan
journalism. And they gave President Obama the lie of the year with his “You can
keep your health insurance” claim.
Conservative (not
necessarily Republican) thought is wrought with fear and anxiety. Their
policy is to attempt to mitigate that without concern for actual accomplishments.
They don’t seem to realize that the root fear they harbor
is counterproductive. However, we can thank organizations like Politifact
and FactCheck.org for keeping them on their feet, and grilling them when it’s
necessary.
If you look back on
the 271 ‘Pants on Fire’ claims that Politifact has measured since 2007 (the first one
was from Joe Biden when he called Bush “brain dead”), 217 of them have been
perpetrated by conservatives whether they be from chain emails, Facebook posts,
pundits or politicians. They range from chain emails claiming the ACA will
question your sex life, to President Obama being a Marxist Muslim.
Now we’ll all know
every politician lies. But why do Republicans do it more often? And do they
really still think they can get away with it?