The Associated Press gives its usual fact-check follow-up to a Barack Obama speech, but in this case, it almost seems as if they’re puzzled about where to start.  In almost each bullet point, the AP response doesn’t just imply that Obama got his facts wrong but also hasn’t been paying much attention to the political debate around him.  For instance, Obama attempted to push back on calls to reverse the regulatory avalanche his administration has dumped on American business:

OBAMA: “The answer we’re getting right now is: Well, we’re going to roll back all these Obama regulations… Does anybody really think that that is going to create jobs right now and meet the challenges of a global economy?”

THE FACTS: Well, yes, some think it will.

Well, yes, a lot of people think it will — especially the small- to medium-sized businesses getting strangled in red tape.  Even Obama’s own “shovel-ready jobs” ended up with long delays thanks to regulations at federal and state levels.  ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank have added a blizzard of ill-defined, ambiguous new regulations and costs to businesses that slow or prevent expansion, innovation, and economic growth.  In fact, the people who say that now include many who warned that these initiatives would result in precisely the stagnation we see now.

The AP wasn’t impressed with Obama’s grasp of bipartisanship, either — or even his own party’s positions:

OBAMA: “Every idea that we’ve put forward are ones that traditionally have been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.”

THE FACTS: Obama proposes to pay for his jobs bill by raising taxes, something traditionally opposed by Republicans and, in the form Obama proposed it, even some Democrats. Senate Democrats were so allergic to Obama’s approach, which relied largely on limiting deductions that can be taken by individuals making over $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000, that they’re eliminating it and replacing it with a new tax on millionaires.

Or, for that matter, his own policies:

OBAMA: “China has been very aggressive in gaming the trading system to its advantage and to the disadvantage of other countries, particularly the United States. …. And currency manipulation is one example of it, or at least intervening in the currency markets in ways that have led their currency to be valued lower than the market would normally dictate. And that makes their exports cheaper and that makes our exports to them more expensive.”

THE FACTS: While Obama complained about China’s efforts to keeps its currency undervalued to gain trade advantages, his administration has repeatedly refused to brand China as a currency manipulator in a report that the Treasury Department is required to send to Congress twice a year.

Instapundit quipped, “Upside for the White House: At least someone was listening.”  That someone sure isn’t the President.