Obamateurism of the Day

Barack Obama wants you to know that the stimulus plan is working, or at least two-thirds of the first half … or the first half of the second third … or something.  In his prepared remarks, Obama seems to lose track of the fractions he wants to use to describe the stimulus, and winds up with something around seven-eighths of a point (emphases mine, h/t Bruce G):

The plan was divided into three parts. One-third of the money has gone to tax relief for families and small businesses. One-third of the money is cutting people’s taxes. For Americans struggling to pay rising bills with shrinking wages, we kept a campaign promise to put a middle-class tax cut in the pockets of 95 percent of working families — (applause) — a tax cut that began showing up in paychecks of 4.8 million Indiana households about three months ago.

We also cut taxes for small businesses on the investments that they make. And more than 425 small businesses in Indiana have received SBA loans through the recovery package. So that’s — one-third of the money was tax cuts.

Another third of the money in the Recovery Act has been for emergency relief that is helping folks who’ve borne the brunt of this recession. For Americans who were laid off, we expanded unemployment benefits –- and that’s already made a difference for 12 million Americans, including 220,000 folks right here in Indiana. We’re making health insurance 65 percent cheaper for families relying on COBRA while looking for work. Some of you know people who lost their jobs, were worried about losing their health care, couldn’t afford COBRA — we were able to reduce their costs by 65 percent so they could keep their health care while they looking for jobs.

And for states facing historic budget shortfalls, we provided assistance that has saved the jobs of tens of thousands of teachers and public — and police officers and other public servants so that you wouldn’t see the recession get even worse.

So that’s the second half. First half, tax relief. Second half, support for individuals, small businesses, and states that had fallen on hard times.

The last third of the Recovery Act — and that’s what we’re going to talk about here today — is for investments that are not only putting people back to work in the short term, but laying a new foundation for growth and prosperity in the long run.

Well, actually, that’s four thirds and two halves.  Obama lumped state aid into the third where he extended unemployment benefits, but that didn’t have to do with unemployment benefits at all.  He’s talking about the state grants that originally were supposed to be used for “shovel-ready projects,” but instead went to cover state deficits.  In other words, it became a state bailout, which was not how Obama or Nancy Pelosi sold Porkulus.

With the kind of math Obama employs here, it’s no wonder he thinks ObamaCare will not create deficits.  That’s the fifth third of the third half of his platform, after all.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Addendum: Normally I’d put a link to Chris Muir’s Day by Day site here, but today I want to do more than that. Chris has a fundraising drive to keep his excellent cartoon alive.  Be sure to drop a few dollars in his collection to keep one of the Rightosphere’s most talented warriors in the fight!

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