13 examples of the left telling the same lie

The lie:  Mitt Romney pays a far lower income tax rate than the average person.

 

Why it’s a lie:  Where do I begin?  Depending on which data you look at:

---the IRS shows that about 97% of Americans pay less than Romney’s rate.

--even when you include payroll taxes, the CBO estimates the rate to be under 15%.

--households making over $1 million will pay an average of 29.1%. That is higher than 15%.

 

Examples of the lie:  This list is far from exhaustive, if you see any others, feel free to leave them in the comments and maybe I’ll update.

Jon Stewart, Comedy Central   

"How in the world do you, Mitt Romney, justify making more in one day than the median American  family makes in a year -- while paying the same tax rate as the guy who scans shoes at the airport?"

 

This is a pretty good question.  How in the world would he justify something he is not doing?  I don’t know how that works.  What I do know, is that he is most certainly not paying the same tax rate as someone scanning shoes, leaving this question pretty much unanswerable.  Between 87-97% of Americans pay below 15% (depending on which income measure you use).   You could say this is another blatant lie from Jon Stewart, but don’t worry!  He’s just doing comedy and therefore should be universally praised because he is so incredibly adorable.

 

Al Sharpton, MSNBC  

"The average middle class American — Warren Buffett’s secretary pays 30 percent about. Is that fair?”

 

The average middle class American pays nothing close to 30%.  Neither does Warren Buffett’s secretary, if she earns $60,000 as he claims.  In fact, half of the country pays no income tax at all, which would make it hard for the “average middle class American” to pay 30%.  That would mean the top half would have to pay an average of 60%, which isn’t happening…yet.

 

Terri Sewell, D-AL 

“I think that something is fundamentally wrong if a person of his great wealth is only paying 13.9 percent effective tax rate and most of Americans are paying 28- 30 percent and they make far less.”

 

No, “most of Americans” are not paying 28-30 percent in taxes.  Even if you use income numbers to get the most beneficial results possible, only about one half of one percent pay those rates.

 

Soledad O'Brien, CNN  

“What do you think they're going to say when they say, God, I pay 28 percent effective tax rate and here's a guy who is worth $250 million and he's paying significantly less percentage-wise.”

 

Well, considering “they” don’t pay a 28 percent effective tax rate, it’s hard to know what “they” would say.

 

Joe Trippi, Democratic Strategist

“Romney makes more than 99.9% of us and pays less tax than 99% of us.”

 

This might be the worst of the entire bunch.  Does Romney make more than 99.9% of us?  Approximately, yes.  Does he pay less tax than 99% of us?  Sorry, you’re only off by 96%.

 

Robert Reich, Economist, Sec of Labor, Clinton Admin   

“Romney says he pays a tax rate of “about 15 percent.” That’s lower than the tax rate most of America’s middle class face and far lower than the 35 percent top rate after the Bush tax cut.”

 

Nope.  Most of America’s middle class pays less than that.  Aren’t you an economist?

 

Chris Matthews, MSNBC    

Romney pays “14 to 15 percent in taxes compared to what most people who work hard, do well in this country pay about 35, and above if you count state and local almost 50.”

 

Chris is a little careful and includes “do well” in his statement.  Nice slight of hand, Tingles.  What is “do well” mean in this sentence?  Certainly well into the seven figures.  Strange that MSNBC is finally starting to believe that millionaires work hard.  When did that start?

 

WTSP, Tampa 

“Romney told reporters in South Carolina he pays tax at a rate of around 15 percent. Compared to the 2012 IRS Tax Brackets, that's 20 percentage points lower than what most wealthy Americans pay. In fact, an individual making as little as $8,700 per year could pay the same tax rate as Romney.”

 

Eeesh.  This is a little sad.  Whoever wrote this just doesn’t understand how to read tax tables.  No, you can’t pay 15% on $8700.  It’s impossible.  Even without deductions.  That’s just where the 15% BRACKET starts.  You pay 10% on the first $8700.  You’d have to earn around $40,000 to get to a 15% effective rate without any deductions, a position that literally no one is in.

 

Huma Khan, ABC News

“The tax rate that Romney paid both in 2010 and 2011 is less than what most middle-income Americans were required to pay, mainly because a majority of Romney's earnings were derived from investments rather than wages.”

 

No, Huma.  No. Most middle-income Americans pay less than that.  Why didn’t you fact check this stat like I spell checked your name?

 

Adam Serwer, Mother Jones 

“That means Romney—estimated to be worth between 190 million to 250 million dollars according to the New York Times—pays a lower effective tax rate than millions of Americans who aren't close to being millionaires.”

 

Unlike a lot of these people who just don’t know the facts, Mother Jones does a solid job with good old- fashioned spin.  Look at the wording: “millions of Americans who aren’t close to being millionaires.”  That’s true if you don’t think people who make between $200k and $500k aren’t close to being millionaires.  Since that’s subjective, I guess he’s safe.

 

Cenk Uygur, Current TV

"He (Romney) doesn't go and put on a hard hat and go to work anywhere, presses a couple buttons I'll invest in this, I'll invest in that and for that he pays less taxes than the average guy does."

 

You’re probably going to be stunned by this, but some guy on Current TV isn’t telling you the truth about the rate that the “average guy” pays.  Shocker.

 

Diane Sawyer, ABC News  

"The multi-millionaire Romney confirmed today that a lot of middle class Americans have to pay a lot more of their income in taxes than he pays of his."

 

I actually like Diane Sawyer.  COME ON Diane.  Unless you are using bizarre definitions of both “middle class” AND “a lot” –this just isn’t true.

 

Jessica Phelan, AM 950 The Progressive Voice of Minnesota 

“They reveal he (Romney) paid about 15 percent of his multimillion-dollar fortune in federal income tax, well below the national average.”

 

Nope.  The average tax rate is about 11%.  15% is not “well below” 11%.

 

Lewis Diuguid, Editor, The Kansas City Star 

“His (Romney's) tax rate is close to 15 percent. That compares well to most Americans paying up to 35 percent on income from wages and salaries.”

 

This is a great one.  Look at the wording: most Americans pay “up to 35%.”  They don’t pay 35%.  But they do pay “up to 35%.”  He manages to attack Romney by just pointing out that most Americans could, in theory, pay as high as 35%.  They don’t…but they COULD.

 

Daily Kos  

“It's not fair that Mitt Romney pays less taxes than actual humans.”

 

That’s true.  We should totally jack up the cyborg tax rates.

POLL: What DARK government secrets will Trump uncover?

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Will the dark secrets of the Deep State finally see the light of day? Or will they slip back into darkness, as they have many times before?

The Trump administration is gearing up to fulfill one of Trump's most anticipated campaign promises: to make the contents of the JFK files, along with other Deep State secrets, available to the public. Kash Patel, who has promised to publicize the highly anticipated files, is expected to be confirmed next week as Trump's director of the FBI. Moreover, the House Oversight Committee created a new task force headed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called "Task Force on Declassification of Federal Secrets," which is tasked with investigating and declassifying information on the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, UFOs, the Epstein list, COVID's origins, and 9/11. This all comes after the FBI found 2,400 "new" records relating to the assassination of President Kennedy following Trump's executive order to release the files.

Glenn discussed this topic with the cast of the Patrick Bet David podcast. Glenn expressed his confidence in Trump's radical transparency—on the condition that Kash Patel is confirmed. The cast was not as optimistic, expressing some doubt about whether Trump will actually unveil all that he has promised. But what do you think? What files are likely to see the light of day? And what files will continue to linger in the dark? Let us know in the poll below

Do you think the JFK, RFK, and MLK files will be unveiled?

Do you think the 9/11 files will be unveiled?

Do you think the COVID files will be unveiled?

Do you think the UFO files will be unveiled?

Do you think the Epstein list will be unveiled?

Transgender opera in Colombia? 10 SHOCKING ways USAID spent your tax dollars.

MANDEL NGAN / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has been doing what with our tax money!?

Under the determined eye of Elon Musk, DOGE has rooted out the corruption that permeates USAID, and it turns out that it's worse than we thought. Glenn recently read a list of atrocious causes that were funded by USAID, and the list was as long as it was shocking.

Since the January consumer index report was published today, one thing is clear: eggs are bearing the brunt of inflation. That's why we illustrated the extent of USAID's wasteful spending of YOUR taxpayer dollars by comparing it to the price of eggs. How many eggs could the American people have bought with their tax dollars that were given to a "transgender opera" in Colombia or indoctrinating Sri Lankans with woke gender ideology? The truth will shock you:

1. A “transgender opera” in Colombia

USAID spent $47,000 on a transgender opera in Colombia. That's over 135,000 eggs.

2. Sex changes and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala

$2 million was spent funding sex changes along with whatever "LGBT activism" means. That equates to over 5.7 million eggs!

3. Teaching Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid binary-gendered language

USAID forked over $7.9 million to combat the "gender binary" in Sri Lankan journalism. That could have bought nearly 23 million eggs.

4. Tourism in Egypt

$6 million (or just over 17 million eggs) was spent to fund tourism in Egypt. If only someone had thought to build some impressive landmarks...

5. A new "Sesame Street" show in Iraq

USAID spent $20 million to create a new Sesame Street show in Iraq. That's just short of 58 million eggs...

6. Helping the BBC value the diversity of Libyan society

$2.1 million was sent to the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) to help them value the diversity of Libyan society (whatever that means). That could have bought over 6 million eggs.

7. Meals for a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda

$10 million worth of USAID-funded meals went to an Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group. That comes up to be just shy of 29 million eggs.

8. Promoting inclusion in Vietnam 

A combined $19.3 million was sent to two separate inclusion groups in Vietnam inclusion groups in Vietnam (why where they separated? Not very inclusive of them). That's over 55 million eggs.

9. Promoting DEI in Serbia's workplaces

USAID sent $1.5 million (4.3 million eggs) to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”

10. Funding EcoHealth Alliance, tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology's "bat research"

EcoHealth Alliance, one of the key NGOs that funded the Wuhan lab's bat virus research, received $5 million from USAID, which is equivalent to 14.5 million eggs.

The bottom line...

So, how much damage was done?

In total, approximately $73.8 million was wasted on the items on this list. That comes out to be 213 million eggs. Keep in mind that these are just the items on this list, there are many, many more that DOGE has uncovered and will uncover in the coming days. Case in point: that's a lot of eggs.

POLL: Should Trump stop producing pennies?

SAUL LOEB / Contributor, Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

On Sunday, February 9th, President Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to halt the production of pennies. It costs the mint three cents to produce every penny, which Trump deemed wasteful. However, critics argue that axing the pennies will be compensated by ramping up nickel production, which costs 13 cents per coin.

In other news, President Trump promised on Truth Social that he would be reversing a Biden-era policy that mandated the use of paper straws throughout the federal government. From potentially slashing entire agencies to saying farewell to pennies and paper straws, Trump is hounding after wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.

But what do you think? Was Trump right to put an end to pennies? And should plastic straws make a comeback? Let us know in the poll below:

Should Trump stop the production of pennies? 

Do you agree with Trump's reversal of the plastic straw ban?

Was this the most PATRIOTIC Super Bowl yet?

CHANDAN KHANNA / Contributor | Getty Images

The 2025 Super Bowl demonstrated Trump’s vision of a new America.

On Sunday, February 9th, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the biggest sporting event of the year. But this wasn't just a victory for Eagles fans. For those watching, it became apparent that American culture has changed, the zeitgeist has shifted, and America has become cool again. While remnants of woke culture lingered, they felt out of step next to the parade of American Flags and patriotic messaging that dominated the national event. The message was clear: America is back.

Everybody knows that the commercials are the best part of any Super Bowl, and last night's game was no exception. As Glenn has pointed out, while some of the ads still carried woke messages (like Nike's), many more captured the newly kindled patriotism felt nationwide. Here are four of the best commercials from last Sunday that make this the most patriotic Super Bowl yet:

1. Rocket: "Own the Dream"

This touching commercial by the financial services company, Rocket, states "Everyone deserves a shot at the American dream," while showing images of people returning home and building families. The ad included a cover of John Denver's iconic song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and featured an in-stadium sing-along, live from the Super Bowl.

2. Secret Service: "A History of Protection"

Donald Trump made history by being the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, which required the efforts of hundreds of Secret Service agents to ensure his safety. The Secret Service boasted of this feat during their minute-long commercial, which lauded American values and achievements and featured iconic American imagery.

3. Brad Pitt: "Huddle Up"

The Super Bowl introduction celebrated snapshots of American achievement accompanied with a powerful commentary about unity narrated by Brad Pitt. The message is clear: Americans can achieve great things when we work together. The ad conjures up American ideals such as hard work, ingenuity, self-sacrifice, and teamwork.

4. Jeep: "Big Game"

Movie star Harrison Ford appeared in Jeep's Super Bowl commercial to promote freedom and to remind us that "freedom isn't free." Ford treks through the mountains while ruminating on what freedom means in America and the opportunities and responsibilities that come with it.