FACT CHECK: Obama's iffy job, deficit claims

Calvin Woodward of The Associated Press dissects Barack Obama's latest promises on jobs and the growing deficit and finds that Obama appears to be pulling numbers out of thin air.

From Woodward's recap of Obama's claims from his press conference Wednesday:

* His assertion that his proposed budget "will cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term" is an eyeball-roller for many economists, given the uncharted terrain of trillion-dollar deficits the government is negotiating.

* He promised vast savings from increased spending on preventive health care in the face of doubts that such an effort, however laudable it might be for public welfare, can pay for itself, let alone yield huge savings.

* He pitched a remedy for Social Security's long-term crisis that analysts say won't fix half the problem.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that more than 2 million Americans have lost their jobs since Obama took office and the unemployment rate is expected to continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

Obama's 2009-10 budget, rubber-stamped by Congressional Democrats, shows a minimum deficit of $1.2 trillion next year.

Fuzzy math, wouldn't you say?

Read the full "Fact Check" analysis at The Mercury's Web site.

Also check out this commentary at NewsBusters about the unusual honesty the AP is showing toward Obama.