In this week's "Is He Really This Stupid or Just a Bald-Faced Liar" segment, HBO's Bill Maher Friday night once again proved that he is either one of the dumbest people on television or is way too dishonest to have his own show.
On the most recent installment of Real Time, the host emphatically claimed, "We've lost 500,000 public sector jobs since Obama took office and added 3.7 million private sector jobs" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BILL MAHER: We have a little section on our program we’ve call "Dispatches From the Bubble." Show the picture. This is me a few months ago yelling at the bubble. We believe Republicans are in a bubble. And let me show you it, because it’s germane to our conversation, a little bit of Mitch Daniels a couple of weeks ago after the State of the Union address. And this is what I mean about people living in a bubble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INDIANA GOVERNOR MITCH DANIELS: He seems to sincerely believe we can build a middle class out of government jobs paid for with borrowed dollars.
(END VIDEO CLIP):
MAHER: Okay, that’s Mitch Daniels saying Obama believes we can build a middle class on government jobs paid for on borrowed dollars. Again, the numbers that came out today, government lost 14,000 jobs. We've added private sector jobs, 270,000. We've lost 500,000 public sector jobs since Obama took office and added 3.7 million private sector jobs. Do you see why I want to scream at that bubble? What is this man talking about? What is that bubble made of? That that does, these are facts. What information doesn't get in there that he has cut many thousands of private sector jobs and added public sector jobs?
"These are facts. What information doesn't get in there that he has cut many thousands of private sector jobs and added public sector jobs?"
Well, as reported by NewsBusters Friday in response to MSNBCer Martin Bashir's idiotic claim that Obama's increased 3 million private sector jobs since taking office, the actual figure from the Bureau of Labor statitics is a decline of 549,000 since January 2009.
As for Obama cutting 500,000 public sector jobs, the federal government - the only one the president has any control over - has increased workers by 39,000 since January 2009. If you exclude the Post Office - which is shedding jobs due to its own problems - public employment at the federal level is up 149,000.
Where Maher got any of these totally erroneous figures once again shows that he's either intellectually challenged or dishonest.
Or maybe it's both.
Either way, that HBO continues to give him his own show says a lot about their quest for accuracy in reporting.
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