At this afternoon’s press briefing, the White House again repeated their claim that they had somehow met Republicans “more than halfway” in spending negotiations.
White House Press Secretary Repeated The Claim That The White House Had “Come More Than Halfway Toward The Republicans.” CARNEY: “I’ve gone through various parameters the President has set and the fact that we’ve come more than halfway toward the Republicans. And negotiations are ongoing at many levels.” (White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, Remarks At The White House Press Briefing, Washington, D.C., 3/25/11)
Of course, that claim is no more accurate today than all of the previous times that the White House and Senate Democrats have falsely made it.
The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler Repeatedly Criticized The White House For Making The “Halfway” Claim And Awarded Them “Three Pinocchios.” “But the persistent claims of going ‘halfway’ when in fact Democrats have done little to engage Republicans on the issue will only hurt their credibility in the long run. Three Pinocchios” (Glenn Kessler, “Obama And The White House’s ‘Halfway’ Fixation With The Budget,” The Washington Post’s “The Fact Checker” Blog, 3/8/11)
FactCheck.org On “Halfway” Claim: “Democrats claim their $10.5 billion in proposed cuts are ‘halfway’ to the GOP’s $61 billion. We give that arithmetic an ‘F.’” (D’Angelo Gore, “Dems’ ‘Halfway’ Hustle,” www.factcheck.org, 5/7/11)
The Associated Press: “[W]hen they’re translated into real numbers, the White House is arguably meeting the GOP just one-sixth of the way — not halfway at all.” (Erica Werner, “Spin Meter: Competing, Misleading Claims On Budget,” The Associated Press, 3/4/11)
Instead of continuing to make factually inaccurate statements, the White House and Democrats should join House Republicans in pursuing policies that will both cut spending and grow our economy.