When Misleading Becomes Dishonest

We're in the height of campaign season, so a certain amount of embellishment and exaggerating is to be expected.  But there is one particular oft-repeated refrain I've heard from Romney and the right which I find to be misleading to the point of genuine dishonesty.

The way that it is said comes in many different ways, but this pretty much sums it up:

Republicans will point out that this is completely accurate and, yes, those were indeed the gas prices on the day Obama took office.  But what makes this completely misleading are the implications from this, namely 1) that it was a good thing that gas was this low; 2) that gas prices were that low for an extended period and 3) that gas prices will go down again if Obama is voted out of office.

The truth is a bit more complicated.  First of all, the highest gas prices have ever been was $4.12/gallon, in July 2008, 6 months before Obama took office.  In fact, gas was over $3.00/gallon pretty much continuously from May 2007 onward.




Hmm, you know what?  This looks suspiciously like another chart I know of, specifically the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same time period:

Gas prices rocketed downward because we were in the midst of an epic financial collapse.  So, yes, we can easily achieve those gas prices again if you want to root for another financial crisis.  The Dow lost nearly half it's value from October 1st, 20007 (13,930) to February 2nd, 2009 (7,062.93).  There's the tradeoff for you: give up half your 401(k) and other investments in exchange for gas that's $2/gallon cheaper.  Seem fair to you?  Even if you don't have investments and don't care, does that strike you as a good trade-off for the country?

By the way, the day after Obama took office (it was closed for MLK Day on the day of his inauguration) the Dow closed at 7,949.09.  Yesterday it closed at 13,345.89.  Funny how you won't see that on a Photoshopped sign spreading around the internet.

I am not espousing that Obama is responsible for both the gas prices and the stock market recovery, and I am certainly not suggesting that he is responsible for one but not the other.  The truth is that, by and large, he has very little to do with either.  Both were hit hard by the financial crisis, and both are now returning to the levels they should be at - those dictated by supply and demand.  Obama's main role in the crisis was to provide temporary assistance where it was needed (something I believe he did a very good job with) and help with legislation designed to make sure this type of collapse does not recur (something I think he did a rather middling job at).  But, right or wrong, the President gets all the praise and all the blame for everything that occurs under his watch and such is the case here, no matter how undeserved or wrong it is.

But that's ok; if my friends on the right want to play this game I can do it too.  Here's a picture from this year's GOP convention that captures my feelings on their role in the deficit nicely.  Only difference is, I can actually support this one with actual facts.




Sources: Gas prices from here.  DJIA chart was my own creation in Excel, from the Yahoo Finance data.