DJ COMMUNITY
Fact Check: Trump’s First Address to Congress
"The murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest single-year increase in nearly half a century."
True, but somewhat misleading.
F.B.I. crime statistics estimate that there were 15,696 murders in 2015, up 10 percent from 2014. (Last year's figures are not available yet.) The increase was largely driven by street crime in a handful of large cities, like Chicago and Baltimore.
But one reason for such a large uptick was that crime had been falling for a generation. In 1991, the F.B.I. estimated that there were 24,703 murders.
"Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits."
True, but cherry-picked.
Double-digit increases in premiums are common. President Trump cited Arizona's 116 percent increase; it is the only state that experienced a triple-digit hike. Premiums for a popular group of health plans sold on HealthCare.gov rose this year by an average of 25 percent, according to the Obama administration.
While subsidies are available to people with low and moderate incomes, people who do not qualify for financial assistance must bear the full cost.
Families of people killed by undocumented immigrants have been "ignored by our media."
They have received coverage.
The individuals killed by undocumented immigrants mentioned by President Trump in his speech received widespread coverage in local newspapers and on television. For example, the death of Jamiel Shaw Jr., who was shot and killed in 2008 in Los Angeles, was widely covered by The Los Angeles Times and local television stations.
"Obamacare is collapsing."
This is an exaggeration.
Premiums for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act increased substantially this year. Deductibles are often high. The number of insurance companies offering coverage has shrunk in many states. Big insurers, losing money in the public marketplaces, have curtailed their participation.
But millions of people with modest incomes have obtained coverage, with federal subsidies that reduce their premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Republican efforts to repeal the health care law have created greater uncertainty, which threatens to destabilize the markets even more.
A National Academy of Sciences report found that immigrants cost the country billions.
This needs context
The 2016 National Academy of Sciences report found that the net cost of immigrants varies drastically by region, but that their average cost to the United States economy between 2011 and 2013 was $57.4 billion. However, the same report found that the children of immigrants make up much of that cost, adding a net benefit of $30.5 billion. Third-generation immigrants far exceeded the cost of their grandparents, adding a $223.8 billion benefit.
"Over 43 million Americans are on food stamps."
The number is correct.
According to the Agriculture Department, 43.3 million Americans use food stamps. As with the poverty rate, though, the number has been trending downward over the past several years.
"We've lost more than one-fourth of our manufacturing jobs since Nafta was approved."
Not because of Nafta.
The United States has lost a lot of factory jobs since 2000, but the biggest reason is technological progress, not foreign competition. America's manufacturing output is at the highest level in history — it just doesn't take as many workers to make stuff anymore. Some jobs have been lost to foreign competition, but studies assign a modest role to Nafta.
"Over 43 million people are now living in poverty."
True — but the number has also fallen.
According to the Census Bureau, 43.1 million Americans were living below the federal poverty line in 2015. But that number is lower than it was in the depths of the recession, in 2009 and 2010.
The Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines will create "tens of thousands of jobs."
This needs context.
President Trump has signed executive orders intended to clear the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines. This will create jobs, although most of the jobs will be temporary. A 2014 State Department environmental review estimated that Keystone would support 42,000 temporary jobs over its two-year construction period — about 3,900 of them in construction, the rest in indirect support jobs, such as food service. It estimated that Keystone would create about 35 permanent jobs.
"Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force."
This is misleading.
That is roughly the number of Americans older than 15 who do not have jobs. But it includes high school and college students, people with disabilities, stay-at-home parents and millions of retirees. The number of Americans who would like to work but can't find jobs is much smaller. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that about 7.6 million people were unemployed in January.
"We've defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to cross."
Open in parts, but heavily patrolled as well.
Individuals cannot just walk across the borders without fear of interception. Some do sneak across, but the borders are guarded by 21,000 Border Patrol agents along with a similar number of Customs and Border Protection officers at the 325 official ports of entry, which include airports, seaports and land border crossings.
"We are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals."
Not a big change.
President Barack Obama already ordered the Department of Homeland Security to make serious criminals a primary focus of his deportation efforts. President Trump has called for all undocumented immigrants to be deported. With limited manpower and resources, that could mean a higher share of nonviolent offenders among those who are deported. Multiple studies have concluded that immigrants commit fewer crimes per capita than people born in the United States.
President Trump said he ended a regulation that threatened "the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners."
This is partly true but misleading.
Mr. Trump did indeed sign a bill rolling back a regulation that would have prevented coal mining companies from polluting streams. But there is no evidence that the rule threatened a significant number of coal mining jobs, or that rolling it back will create new ones.
There are only about 70,000 direct coal mining jobs in the United States. But most economists have concluded that the decline is due to increased mechanization in the mining industry and a market shift by electric utilities away from coal and toward natural gas, which is cheaper. No credible studies have shown that rolling back major regulations on coal pollution will contribute to a major increase in coal mining jobs.
Enforcing immigration laws will raise wages.
Maybe a little.
Economists are deeply divided about the effect of immigration on the wages of native-born workers. Some see evidence that increased competition has modestly reduced the wages for some kinds of work, particularly low-skilled labor. But the effects are relatively small — perhaps a few percentage points — and the overall effect on the economy is most likely positive.
"I have directed several federal agencies to fight crime and dismantle the criminal cartels that have spread across our nation."
True, but they don't do much.
President Trump signed two crime-related executive orders on Feb. 9 that did little of substance. The order on reducing crime essentially just directed the Justice Department to develop a strategy to do so by coordinating with other agencies. The order on combating criminal cartels largely consisted of stating opposition to such groups. It directed the government’s interagency Threat Mitigation Working Group, which has existed since 2011, to review various efforts to battle them and “work to improve” those efforts.
Views: 23
Comment
About
NASTYMIXX RADIO
JOIN NASTYMIXX.COM!!!
NASTYMIXXSTORE
Badge
© 2024 Created by Janelle.
Powered by
You need to be a member of NASTYMIXX to add comments!
Join NASTYMIXX