The Associated Press is not known as being normally critical of Barack Obama therefore it was quite surprising that their fact check found the President's speech last Thursday taking unilateral action to halt deportations of illegals to be chock full of Gruber. Here is a list of the Gruberisms the AP found in Obama's speech:
OBAMA: "It does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive - only Congress can do that. All we're saying is we're not going to deport you."
THE FACTS: He's saying, and doing, more than that. The changes also will make those covered eligible for work permits, allowing them to be employed in the country legally and compete with citizens and legal residents for better-paying jobs.
Perhaps Obama was counting on the "stupidity of the American voters" not to notice. Okay, next Gruberism:
OBAMA: "Although this summer, there was a brief spike in unaccompanied children being apprehended at our border, the number of such children is now actually lower than it's been in nearly two years."
THE FACTS: The numbers certainly surged this year, but it was more than a "brief spike." The number of unaccompanied children apprehended at the border has been on the rise since the 2011 budget year. That year about 16,000 children were found crossing the border alone. In 2012, the Border Patrol reported more than 24,000 children, followed by more than 38,800 in 2013. In the last budget year, more than 68,361 children were apprehended.
And now some more border bull:
OBAMA: "Overall, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is at its lowest level since the 1970s. Those are the facts."
THE FACTS: Indeed, in the 2014 budget year the Border Patrol made 486,651 arrests of border crossers, among the fewest since the early 1970s. But border arrests have been on the rise since 2011.
We finish with a massive Grubersism since the Democrats controlled both House and Senate in the first two years of the Obama administration:
OBAMA: "When I took office, I committed to fixing this broken immigration system. And I began by doing what I could to secure our borders."
THE FACTS: He overlooked the fact that he promised as a candidate for president in 2008 to have an immigration bill during his first year in office and move forward on it quickly. He never kept that promise to the Latino community.
Exit question: Will Obama's many declarations that he could not halt deportations by himself without approval of Congress earn him the Lie of the Year two years in a row?
