The Associated Press released a fact check of President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address, and their analysis is not kind to Obama’s claims. (RELATED: Washington Post Fact Checker: Obama Flip-Flopped On Executive Amnesty)
Among the claims the AP finds less than truthful in the piece, entitled “FACT CHECK: Obama claims credit for an incomplete recovery“:
- “At this moment – with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry and booming energy production – we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.”
Actually, the AP notes, “By many measures, the economy is still recovering from the deep scars left by the Great Recession.” Unemployment has been steadily decreasing, but that’s driven primarily by a growth in low paying jobs and people leaving the labor market. There are still 1.7 million fewer workers with full-time jobs than in December 2007 when the recession began.
- “I am sending this Congress a bold new plan to lower the cost of community college — to zero.”
The cost of community college isn’t being lowered to zero, the costs will simply be shifted elsewhere. The AP estimates it would cost “an estimated $60 billion over 10 years to the treasury.” Furthermore, the plan would require states to contribute a quarter of tuition, and not all students would qualify.
- “Wages are finally starting to rise again. We know that more small-business owners plan to raise their employees’ pay than at any time since 2007.”
While business owners are indeed reporting that they “plan” to increase wages, “there is scant evidence that it is happening yet.” (RELATED: Reminder: Income Inequality Got WORSE Under Obama)
By contrast, the AP only highlighted one claim from Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s Republican response to the State of the Union: her claim that Obamacare was a “failed policy.” In the AP’s eyes, “the jury is still out” on the Affordable Care Act, which has led to 10 million getting insurance, but higher costs for many.