“Just FYI…Debt increases by recent US Presidents: Reagan 186%, Bush I 54%, Clinton 41%, Bush II 72%, Obama 23% . . . Source: Congressional Budget Office”
Ann “A.C.” Crispin (Facebook, August 28, 2011)
While politics are far off our normal subject matter for discussion, we were immediately skeptical by this Ann “A.C.” Crispin Facebook posting. We cannot ignore this statement of fact and apparent use of primary source material by Ann “A.C.” Crispin. If you didn’t know any better you would think that this is authoritative, it is from Ann “A.C.” Crispin . . . right? However, when you look into this a little further things are not quite what they seem. Firstly, if you Google Ann “A.C.” Crispin’s entire quote (above) you will pull up the identical quote from many other sites. This quote has been posted, re-posted, tweeted and re-tweeted by many apparent like-kind liberal sources as authoritative. Secondly, the Google search does not take you to the primary source material (i.e. the Congressional Budget Office) nor does Ann “A.C.” Crispin post a link to the primary source material from the Congressional Budget Office. Credible? Thirdly, we’re willing to bet that Ann “A.C.” Crispin did not personally conduct this research and fact-finding herself; she’s merely posted a quote from one of these other unvetted sources (this should concern you . . . more below). Fourthly, regardless of where these percentages emanate from, one needs to look at “debt increases” in terms of dollars. Ann “A.C.” Crispin’s quote intentionally does not present a true statement of facts. FACT: Congress determines spending amounts not Presidents. Historically, Democrats have outspent Republicans 2 – 1 (click here). Also, keep in mind that Obama has only been in office since January 2009 and his term is not complete. During this period under Obama’s watch the national debt has increased to $4 trillion dollars. To wit: “Using nominal measures, CNN‘s Jack Cafferty and CBS‘s Mark Knoller have noted that the US national debt has increased more rapidly under President Obama than under any other U.S. president, and that it had increased by $4 trillion since the beginning of his term of office.”
This is not the first time that Ann “A.C.” Crispin has been less than genuine. A recent example of her lack of attention to facts was presented in our posting, Come on Ann “A.C.” Crispin . . . Get it Right . . . Will You Please? (Click Here). However, the most blatant example of posting an unsubstantiated claim remains: “American Book Publishing has been the subject of at least one police investigation.” The Write Agenda researched this claim extensively and proved that this is a fabricated story. Please see our posting:American Book Publishing “Investigation” Research Released: No Proof of Victoria Strauss’ Claims (Click here).
We are not trying to make a political statement here. However, Ann “A.C.” Crispin presented an opportunity, albeit a political one, to really to question what she claims as fact. We are grateful for this opportunity as it once again demonstrates the need to evaluate statements like this through the C.R.A.P. Test.
With all sources of information available to us today, it’s sometimes difficult to know which are based on facts, to discern whether false information was provided or whether the whole story was communicated. While some Web sites, and their commentators, began as providers of information based on facts and or unbiased opinions, many over time have been corrupted either in whole or in part to a point of view or ideology. On this page (click here) you will find a list of sources that have been shown to promote progressive ideologies, open ended commentary and unsupported statements. Some are presented as non-biased or based on facts; others do not. Through an examination of the information these organizations and individuals offer, including their sources of funding, parent organizations, leadership, agendas, goals and content of the information presented and based on comparison with the facts as determined by the primary source material as it becomes available, many warrant further review. The objective is to encourage you to evaluate these sources of information with a discerning eye, become a skeptic and utilize the C.R.A.P test to evaluate postings, articles and information. C.R.A.P. is an acronym for Currency, Reliability, Authority and Purpose and Point of View.
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