MSNBC's Ed Schultz began his show Monday talking about all the jobs President Obama has created since he took office.
Unfortunately, as he made the case about how terrible the Bush years were by comparison, the "Ed Show" host wrongly informed his viewers that Democrats took over in January 2009 (video follows with transcript and commentary):
ED SCHULTZ: Folks, let me tell you something. I was watching Rachel’s show the other night, and the, she sent her, one of her guys out on the street to start asking some questions to people about who’s in Congress and what their names are. And it was amazing to me how little people on the street knew. Let me just tell you one thing: this is the only chart you need to know come next election. This is the only chart you need to watch. This is the only chart that matters to American families. Are we headed in the right direction?
And sometimes we get lost in the 24-hour news cycle, and we don’t see the progress the country’s making. Here’s the progress right here. Here’s where the Democrats took over. Here’s the plan right there. We never saw that during the Bush years. So get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight’s question: Who do you trust to create private-sector jobs?
It is indeed funny how Schultz mocked "how little people on the street knew" about "who’s in Congress and what their names are." After all, the date he pointed to on his chart when he claimed "Here’s where the Democrats took over" was January 2009.
Hate to break it to you, Ed, but the Democrats took over both chambers of Congress in January 2007.
Of course, it's understandable that Schultz doesn't want his viewers to know that the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent when the Democrats took over, or that the last budget done by a Republican Congress produced a deficit of only $160 billion.
He also doesn't want folks to know that over seven million more people were employed in December 2006 as compared to today, or that there are still 2.8 million fewer workers in America than on the day Obama was inaugurated.
Putting even a finer point on this, our friend Moe Lane produced an interesting chart Monday comparing some economic numbers today to four years ago that I'm sure Schultz would also like his viewers to not be aware of (h/t Weasel Zippers):
Not a pretty picture, is it?
As for Schultz's claim we never saw job growth during the Bush years, I guess he was sleeping from September 2003 till June 2007 when the nation experienced 46 consecutive months of employment gains:
As for Schultz's question, "Are we headed in the right direction," the Real Clear Politics "Right Track-Wrong Track/Direction of the Country" poll average currently shows 31.4 percent saying "Right" and and 61.4 percent saying "Wrong."
But "the only chart you need to know come next election...the only chart you need to watch...the only chart that matters to American families" is the one Schultz misrepresented to his viewers Monday night.
And this shill is amazed by how little people on the street know.
Well, Ed, it's because five days a week, on both television and radio, you're badly misinforming them.
