OPINION: Obama Bends The Truth On Regulatory Policy

From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

Exaggeration is an everyday event with politicians. But their whoppers need to be corrected.

In this week’s press conference, President Obama made a long-winded claim that his Presidency is the first ever to make a formal review to reduce the huge number of federal regulations. One media watchdog rated his comments as “pants on fire,” a reference to the age-old taunt of “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

In truth, other presidents ordered similar efforts to cut red tape, including both Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. Today, as businesses claim that regulations are suffocating our economy and killing jobs, Obama wants to claim he’s fixing the problem. But it’s dishonest to claim nobody ever tried this before.

In fairness, Obama is not the only politician who stretches the truth. But his misstatements get repeated more widely, and so deserve more correction.

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