President Obama has a Dan Quayle moment during his fundraising speech in Las Vegas:
But last week, we had a separate vote on a part of the jobs bill that would put 400,000 teachers, firefighters and police officers back on the job, paid for by asking people who make more than $1 million to pay one-half of 1 percent in additional taxes. For somebody making $1.1 million a year, that's an extra $500. Five hundred bucks. And with that, we could have saved 400,000 jobs.
Do the math for him.
But that's not his only problem:
But even if the president meant to say $5,500, his math continues to pose some challenges. According to the IRS, a total of 235,413 taxpayers earned more than $1 million last year. If each “was willing to pay $[5,]500 extra to help the country,” that would generate only $1.3 billion in revenue — approximately what the federal government spends every three hours. Wouldn't it be just as patriotic for President Obama to turn off the federal spigot for three hours and dedicate the savings to funding those 400,000 jobs?
Comments
Leo:
His math has been a bit "fuzzy", ever since he first picked up a PEN when he entered the White House...
And we ALL know the result, right?
Bob G. - His math has been "really" fuzzy ever since he was a community organizer - long before he became "The One".
Bob: No, we don't know the result. Virtually everything Obama has proposed, even ideas that originated with Republics (two can play that game), has been blocked by conservatives - mainly Republics - in Congress.
John: No one calls him "The One" except Republics.
Obama won the election (including the popular vote (unlike, say, Dubya).
He'll win re-election despite a poor economy because their is no Republic candidate who appeals to both sides of the Republic Party. Live with it.
Journalists, of course, never make math errors. Do you really think Quayle's misspelling is the only reason he's regarded as a lightweight? At least Dan must feel a little better when he watches Sarah Palin in action.
The thing is, you can't shut down EVERYTHING for 3 hours. How do you cut 3 hours cost out of fixing the post office's roofs? How do you cut 3 hours cost out of operating GPS satellites? How do you cut 3 hours cost out of rat control at the ASCS office in Whitley County?
What you need to cut, in order to save $1.3 billion, is something specific, for an extended period.
I nominate the US Coast Guard. It runs $1.329 billion. We just tell everyone that they aren't allowed to use boats for the next year. That way, there's nobody drowning to rescue, and any ships approaching the coast will be torpedoed by the navy since they are obviously smuggling.
Captain Steubing, you've got a year's vacation coming....
His math error is as humorous as the rest of his statements, name calling and rhetoric. It's indicative of his massive ego and bravado, and how emboldened he's become because he knows no one will ever call him on anything.
I really think he does it on purpose cuz he knows he can.