The AP did a quick fact check of Obama’s presser last night focusing on the the pork and  jobs. Obama has been less than forthright with the public and the press conference demonstrated that very clearly.

One of the bigger canards the Dems and Obama have been using to cause a stampede among the herd is that this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Mmmmmmm…nope.

OBAMA: “We also inherited the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression.”

THE FACTS: This could turn out to be the case. But as bad as the economic numbers are, the unemployment figures have not reached the levels of the early 1980s, let alone the 1930s — yet. A total of 598,000 payroll jobs vanished in January — the most in nearly 35 years — and the unemployment rate jumped to 7.6 from 7.2 percent the month before. The most recent high was 7.8 percent in June 1992.

And the jobless rate was 10.8 percent in November and December 1982. Unemployment in the Great Depression ranged for several years from 25 percent to close to 30 percent.

Obama and the Dems are masters of the Politics of Fear when they are trying to push their agenda. Let’s not forget the disastrous Carter years. We had a prime rate of over 20 percent, double digit inflation and gas rationing.  Nothing says “economic crisis” like sitting in line for two hours just to get $5 worth of gas. We’re not there yet, but if Obama and the Dems aren’t stopped there’s nothing to prevent this administration from becoming Jimmy Carter’s second term.

The other slippery claim is that there are no “earmarks” in the stimulus bill. Again this is a clever little semantic game that the President is engaging in and only the most thirsty Koolaide drinkers will be taken in by it.

OBAMA: “Not a single pet project,” he told the news conference. “Not a single earmark.”

THE FACTS: There are no “earmarks,” as they are usually defined, inserted by lawmakers in the bill. Still, some of the projects bear the prime characteristics of pork — tailored to benefit specific interests or to have thinly disguised links to local projects.

For example, the latest version contains $2 billion for a clean-coal power plant with specifications matching one in Mattoon, Ill., $10 million for urban canals, $2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars, and $255 million for a polar icebreaker and other “priority procurements” by the Coast Guard.

Obama told his Elkhart audience that Indiana will benefit from work on “roads like U.S. 31 here in Indiana that Hoosiers count on.” He added, “And I know that a new overpass downtown would make a big difference for businesses and families right here in Elkhart.”

U.S. 31 is a north-south highway serving South Bend, 15 miles from Elkhart in the northern part of the state.

This is an insult to the intelligence of the average voter. As I have observed before, Mr. Obama thinks you’re stupid. “Spending bill? Stimulus bill? What’s the difference? Now go out and inflate your tires already and let me eat my waffles!!”

Let’s hope the GOP in the senate can stop this runaway train or at least slow it down a bit.