Fact Check on Obama

FACT CHECK: Obama disowns deficit he helped shape
04/29/09 - Associated Press by Calvin Woodward at KnoxNews.com

Calvin Woodward examines and criticizes Obama's statements. [edited]

Obama met citizens Wednesday at a high school in Arnold, MO in advance of his prime-time news conference. Both forums were a platform to review his progress at the 100-day mark and look ahead.

Here are Obama's claims. The analysis is in the linked article.

• I am not responsible for the huge budget deficit waiting for me on Day One.
• The Recovery Act has already saved or created over 150,000 jobs.
• This budget will strengthen our economy.

  - Investments in education will equip our workers with the right skills and training;

  - Investments in renewable energy will create millions of jobs and new industries;

  - Investments in health care will cut costs for families and businesses;

  - Savings will bring down our deficit.

• I inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit. That wasn't me. There is almost uniform consensus among economists that we are in the middle of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. We had to do a stimulus package, and we had to do something about the banks. Those are one-time charges
• We know that the more we do to prevent disease, the more we can obtain serious savings down the road. If we make those investments, we will save huge amounts of money in the long term.
• We can support Social Security benefits by raising the cap on the payroll tax.
• I hope that by working in a bipartisan fashion, we are going to get a health care reform bill by the end of the year, and we'll make the kinds of investments that will make everybody healthier.