Top 5 FOX Myths To Debunk This Thanksgiving

When your conservative uncle corners you, be ready. Here are
the top five myths you can bust (gently - these are friends
and family). Share this widely so everyone is prepared!

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Angie
MoveOn.org

http://front.moveon.org/

MYTH #1: The congressional Super Committee failed because
both sides refuse to compromise.

REALITY: The Super Committee failed because Republicans'
number one, non-negotiable priority is to protect
millionaires and billionaires from paying even one more
penny in taxes.[1] Democrats repeatedly offered deep
spending cuts (far deeper than most progressives would like)
in exchange for raising taxes on the wealthy and closing
corporate loopholes, only to be refused again and again.[2]
So even though the vast majority of Americans say they want
to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits,
and raise taxes on the rich and corporations,[3] that won't
happen until Republicans put aside their extremist stance.

MYTH #2: Nobody knows what Occupy Wall Street is about.

REALITY: Occupy Wall Street may not have a formal list of
demands, but anyone who's been paying attention understands
the core problems that occupiers are protesting - that
corporations have far too much power in our political
system, that Wall Street banks crashed our economy but were
never held accountable, and that the richest 400 Americans
have more wealth than half of all Americans - 156 million
people - combined.[4]

MYTH #3: Occupiers should stop protesting and just get a
job.

REALITY: As anybody who's looked for a job in the last few
years knows, there just aren't jobs out there. That's a big
part of why occupiers are protesting. In September, there
were four times as many unemployed people as job
openings.[5] And for those who are lucky enough to find a
job, median wages today are lower than they were a decade
ago.[6]

	[Photo - Oh, get a job? Just get a job?
	http://cdn.front.moveon.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Charlie-Job-400.jpg

	Why don't I strap on my job helmet,
	and squeeze down into a job cannon
	and fire off into job land, where jobs
	grow on jobbies!

MYTH #4: Occupy Wall Street is intent on provoking violence,
especially against banks and the police.

REALITY: Occupations across the country have committed
themselves to nonviolent protest, in the greatest traditions
of protest movements. Some of their protests have been met
with acts of police violence - tear gas, pepper spray,
rubber bullets[7] - but in many cases, protesters have
reminded police that the police are part of the 99%, too.[8]
And in the few cases when people have shown up at
occupations and committed acts of vandalism, other
protesters have even repaired their acts of vandalism.[9]

MYTH #5: The biggest crisis facing our country is out of
control government spending.

REALITY: The two biggest drivers of our deficit - by far -
are the economic crash and the Bush tax cuts.[10] We have
millions of people out of work, corporations hoarding cash,
and factories sitting idle. If we put all those people back
to work - rebuilding infrastructure, educating our children,
and researching new technologies - it'll shrink the deficit
and make our economy stronger for the long haul. And we can
easily afford it if we make sure the rich - who are taking
home a larger percentage of income than any time since
1917[11] - pay their fair share.

Sources:

1. "No, `both sides' aren't equally to blame for
supercommittee failure," The Washington Post, November 21,
2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/no-both-sides-arent-equally-to-blame-for-supercommittee-failure/2011/11/21/gIQAj31ehN_blog.html

2. "Wonkbook: In supercommittee, Dems moved right and
Republicans moved righter," The Washington Post, November
22, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/wonkbook-which-party-gave-more-ground-in-the-supercommittee/2011/11/22/gIQAVugkkN_blog.html?wprss=ezra-klein

3. "CNN Poll: What The Super Committee Produced Is...Exactly
What We don't Want," Talking Points Memo, November 21, 2011
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/cnn-poll-what-the-super-committee-produced-isexactly-what-we-dont-want.php

"Medicare, Social Security & The Deficit," National
Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, September
2011
http://www.ncpssm.org/pdf/poll.pdf

4. "Michael Moore says 400 Americans have more wealth than
half of all Americans combined," Politifact Wisconsin, March
10, 2011
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/mar/10/michael-moore/michael-moore-says-400-americans-have-more-wealth-/

5. "Fact: 4 job seekers per opening in U.S.," CNN, September
12, 2011
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/12/fact-4-job-seekers-per-opening-in-u-s/

6. "Median household income," Wikipedia, Accessed November
22, 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income#Median_household_income_and_the_US_economy

7. "Occupy movement: police reaction in pictures," The
Guardian, November 21, 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/nov/22/occupy-movement-police-brutality-pictures

8. "Occupy Demonstrators Mark Two Months of Protests," NPR,
November 17, 2011
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/17/142462305/occupy-demonstrators-mark-two-months-of-protests

9. "Occupy Oakland protesters assist in cleanup efforts,"
News 10 ABC, November 3, 2011
http://www.news10.net/news/article/161383/2/Occupy-Oakland-protesters-assist-in-cleanup-efforts-

10. "Economic Downturn and Bush Policies Continue to Drive
Large Projected Deficits," Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities, May 10, 2011
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3490

11. "Income Inequality Is At An All-Time High: STUDY," The
Huffington Post, September 14, 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/14/income-inequality-is-at-a_n_259516.html

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