Media

Was Newsweek Author’s Criticism of Obama Inaccurate?

When Newsweek decided to let conservative author Niall Ferguson dominate its cover with a call for President Obama to be ousted from the White House, it arguably marked a dramatic ideological shift for a magazine that has consistently run lead stories that infuriate conservatives. Perhaps conscious of this tonal difference, Newsweek has even taken to Youtube to defend the article:

This time, it’s liberals who are tearing their hair out and screaming at the magazine. Ferguson went right for the jugular, attacking Obama’s record with an eye for budget and policy minutiae that one typically only sees in academic articles by Harvard professors, of which Ferguson himself is one, and it showed. Nor was Ferguson‘s attack limited to one particular policy of the president’s, or even the president’s policies alone. In describing Obama, Ferguson painted a picture of a President too amateurish to make his own decisions and too sensitive to take criticism. In describing Obama’s policies, Ferguson described a litany of shattered promises and unfocused ideas. Some highlights from the article follow:

Unemployment was supposed to be 6 percent by now. It has averaged 8.2 percent this year so far. Meanwhile real median annual household income has dropped more than 5 percent since June 2009. Nearly 110 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011, mostly Medicaid or food stamps.[...]

On paper it looked like an economics dream team: Larry Summers, Christina Romer, and Austan Goolsbee, not to mention Peter Orszag, Tim Geithner, and Paul Volcker. The inside story, however, is that the president was wholly unable to manage the mighty brains—and egos—he had assembled to advise him.

According to Ron Suskind’s book Confidence Men, Summers told Orszag over dinner in May 2009: “You know, Peter, we’re really home alone … I mean it. We’re home alone. There’s no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes [of indecisiveness on key economic issues].” On issue after issue, according to Suskind, Summers overruled the president. “You can’t just march in and make that argument and then have him make a decision,” Summers told Orszag, “because he doesn’t know what he’s deciding.” (I have heard similar things said off the record by key participants in the president’s interminable “seminar” on Afghanistan policy.)[...]

Pelosicare was not only a political disaster. Polls consistently showed that only a minority of the public liked the ACA, and it was the main reason why Republicans regained control of the House in 2010. It was also another fiscal snafu. The president pledged that health-care reform would not add a cent to the deficit. But the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation now estimate that the insurance-coverage provisions of the ACA will have a net cost of close to $1.2 trillion over the 2012–22 period.[...]

The voters now face a stark choice. They can let Barack Obama’s rambling, solipsistic narrative continue until they find themselves living in some American version of Europe, with low growth, high unemployment, even higher debt—and real geopolitical decline.

Or they can opt for real change: the kind of change that will end four years of economic underperformance, stop the terrifying accumulation of debt, and reestablish a secure fiscal foundation for American national security.

But was Ferguson’s article inaccurate? New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has already penned a rebuttal, and while Krugman‘s opinion usually doesn’t carry much currency with his ideological foes, his response made the sorts of accusations that can’t properly be ignored. Specifically, Krugman accused Ferguson of lying about the effects of Obamacare on the deficit, claiming that Ferguson had blatantly misinterpreted the CBO report he was quoting. From Krugman:

There are multiple errors and misrepresentations in Niall Ferguson’s cover story in Newsweek — I guess they don’t do fact-checking — but this is the one that jumped out at me. Ferguson says:

The president pledged that health-care reform would not add a cent to the deficit. But the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation now estimate that the insurance-coverage provisions of the ACA will have a net cost of close to $1.2 trillion over the 2012–22 period.

Readers are no doubt meant to interpret this as saying that CBO found that the Act will increase the deficit. But anyone who actually read, or even skimmed, the CBO report (pdf) knows that it found that the ACA would reduce, not increase, the deficit — because the insurance subsidies were fully paid for.

Ferguson fired back in short order, pouring snark into his response to Krugman:

Krugman suggests that I haven‘t read the CBO’s March 2010 report. Sorry, I have, and here is what it says:

“The provisions related to health insurance coverage—which affect both outlays and revenues—were projected to have a net cost of $1,042 billion over the 2012–2021 period; that amount represents a gross cost to the federal government of $1,390 billion, offset in part by $349 billion in receipts and savings (primarily revenues from penalties and other sources).”

But thanks for trying, Paul. You reminded me of a point I really should have made in my piece: that in pushing though ACA, Obama violated his most famous pledge of all—made on the campaign trail back in 2008—not to raise taxes on the middle class.

Tart stuff. Too bad not everyone is impressed. Business Insider has accused Ferguson of deliberately misleading people and trying to cover it up with a glib explanation. They also point out what they believe is another error in Ferguson’s piece:

In Ferguson’s new post he quotes the CBO as saying:

If you are wondering how on earth the CBO was able to conclude that the net effect of the ACA as a whole was to reduce the projected 10-year deficit, the answer has to do with a rather heroic assumption about the way the ACA may reduce the cost of Medicare. Here’s the CBO again:

“CBO’s cost estimate for the legislation noted that it will put into effect a number of policies that might be difficult to sustain over a long period of time. The combination of those policies, prior law regarding payment rates for physicians’ services in Medicare, and other information has led CBO to project that the growth rate of Medicare spending (per beneficiary, adjusted for overall inflation) will drop from about 4 percent per year, which it has averaged for the past two decades, to about 2 percent per year on average for the next two decades. It is unclear whether such a reduction can be achieved …”

Indeed, it is, which is why I wrote what I wrote.

Ferguson italicized the last line about it being unclear if such reductions can be achieved, as if this line undermines the whole thing.

But Ferguson is truncating the CBO’s quote.

According to Business Insider, the CBO quote Ferguson truncates actually doesn’t question whether the government can raise enough revenue to cover the costs of Obamacare. They simply aren’t sure which of several approaches the government will use to do it.

Ferguson has yet to respond to this new attack, though if he does, it will probably be to point out some argument or other for why this apparent misquotation on his part doesn’t actually draw blood. Until then, it should be noted that one mistake in an article does not invalidate the rest of its contents. The vast majority of Ferguson’s criticisms are unaffected by this apparent error, and still stand, in the absence of contrary evidence.

Comments (57)

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  • HTuttle
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:50pm

    Complaining about an opinion piece on the cover? WTF was WimpMitt?

    Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:43pm

      I have not bought a NewsWeek in year – I bought one today. Let this be a clear message – report the news accurately and the public will support you.

      Report Post » db321  
    • VoteBushIn12
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 9:14pm

      @DB321

      I can assure you no one has noticed or even cares about you “clear message”.

      Drama sells. NewsWeek likes to sell. So they put Drama on their cover. Everyone knows Obama is a two-term president and is head and shoulders above Wimp Romney. This piece was just to sucker in the Conservative junkies that like to hear like opinions because their own reassuring voice isn’t a strong enough fix for their narcissism. Compliments sound so much better when printed on national magazine covers. No worries, at the end of the day a compliment is really just a galvanized opinion and need not be factual. As is evidently the case here because of the ease with which its arguments have been rebuked.

      See you in November.

      Obama ‘12

      Report Post » VoteBushIn12  
    • mecanic
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:21pm

      @votebushin12………..idiot. romney/ryan 2012, end barrys isanity.

      Report Post » mecanic  
  • lb6751
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:49pm

    It’.s great that the truth be printed. Where has truth been ? since 2008 ?

    Report Post »  
  • HTuttle
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:45pm

    No WAY that’s real person and not a robot!

    Report Post »  
  • blackyb
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:29pm

    Let me say there is nothing anyone could call Obama that would not be the truth unless it was someone who would be an honest man, a man who loves America. Then that would be a lie of the first order.

    Report Post » blackyb  
  • blackyb
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:27pm

    There is nothing anyone could call Barak Obama that would not be the truth.

    Report Post » blackyb  
    • VoteBushIn12
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 9:15pm

      I agree. Let me toss out a few:

      Smart.
      Well spoken
      Kind.
      American.
      Friendly.
      Thoughtful.
      Sincere.
      Honest.
      Beneficial.
      Competent.
      President.

      Report Post » VoteBushIn12  
    • 68Patriot
      Posted on August 21, 2012 at 9:22am

      VOTEBUSHIN…you forgot the most important one:

      DECEITFUL

      68

      Report Post »  
    • brightmysteriousobject
      Posted on August 24, 2012 at 10:58am

      How about leadership? Ooops that one slipped thru the cracks…. not that is what you seek in a president…..

      Report Post »  
  • justangry
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:19pm

    Who cares? Seems like minor complaint. Even if it doesn’t immediately cost that much, it eventually will once the bureaucracy expands. Meanwhile, he has decided to kill Americans all by himself and thinks it’s ok. Of course the opposition doesn’t really object..

    Report Post » justangry  
  • WakingSheep
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:03pm

    Newsweek flip-flopping in favor of the flip-flopper.
    Classic.
    Too bad neither Romney (big gov progressive) or Obama (Marxist) are what this country really needs.
    Red vs. blue
    The players get the difference but the coaches and managers sure do use a lot of the same plays.

    Report Post »  
    • justangry
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:38pm

      Well there really isn’t too much of a difference between Commies and Fascists. I mean the Commies have the social justice thing, but they all end up the same.

      Report Post » justangry  
    • WakingSheep
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 8:37pm

      They dont have the individual in mind… That’s for damn sure

      Report Post »  
  • kwatch
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:59pm

    I still think that newsweek did this artilcle to sell their rag- until it proves it is going to print the TRUTH on a continuous basis I will not purchase it.

    Report Post »  
  • Independent4233
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:46pm

    Krugman wrote:”The president pledged that health-care reform would not add a cent to the deficit. But the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation now estimate that the insurance-coverage provisions of the ACA will have a net cost of close to $1.2 trillion over the 2012–22 period.”

    That is accurate.It is Krugman who is lying.

    And it isn’t the first time. The man has a history rife with prevarications, half-truths and exaggerations.

    He can’t be taken seriously because of this. He’ll use any means to justify the end….which of course is liberal nonsense.

    Celente and the other top notch expert economic independents NEVER agree with anything this man says.

    He only has support among the leftists in parts of academia and the press….and even that is not very strong.

    Report Post »  
    • SoNick
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:37pm

      “the man has a history rife with prevarications, half-truths and exaggerations”
      would you care to give us a few examples before casually slandering one of the world’s most renowed economists who also happens to be a Nobel Prize winner ?

      Report Post »  
    • Dougral Supports Israel
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 6:16pm

      @SONICK I can think of a man who was given the Nobel Peace Prize even though he had no accomplishements at all in regards to world peace. This man has gone on to encourage the most rabid regimes on the planet while hampering us and our allies ability to deal with the problem. This man is Barack Obama.

      If you assume that the Nobel prize committee used the same care in awarding a Nobel to Krugman that it exercised with Obama, it can easily be assumed that Krugman may well be an idiot. From what I have seen of his positions, my assumption is right on the money.

      Report Post »  
    • 68Patriot
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 6:32pm

      SONICK…You do know that the Nobel Prize doesn’t have and credence anymore, right?

      I mean seriously, even as a liberal you have to admit that, especially since Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace prize. The fact that we are still in Afganistan drives you guys nuts as well as all the drone activity, etc right? You know that award was a Sham.

      NOBEL IS A JOKE…and so is Paul Krugman. He may be very intelligent but he is also an “in the bag Liberal”.

      68

      Report Post »  
    • MsgtDavePA
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:22pm

      I gotta tell you…a liberal socialist getting an economics award from a group of liberal socialists doesn’t impress me. This is the same group that gave Pres Obama the Nobel Peace Prize a month before he was even inaugurated.

      Report Post » MsgtDavePA  
    • SoNick
      Posted on August 21, 2012 at 6:46am

      Hm. Apart from saying that the Nobel committee is a hotbed of socialism, has anyone managed to contradict the fact that Krugman is one of the world’s leading economists? Still waiting for a list of his supposed lies and exaggerations.

      Report Post »  
  • Eric_The_Red_State
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:39pm

    I for one am going to run out and buy a copy of Newsweek.
    I looked at that cover and I thought – Heh heh – Nice Photoshop job….
    but NO — it was real.

    I think that his “home alone” description is really accurate.

    Obama is an Ego that must be reeled back. His policies are designed to SQUASH AMERICA and bring it equal to all the other nations. (As in EUROPE)

    Winston Churchill said it best when he said -
    Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

    Report Post » Eric_The_Red_State  
    • kwatch
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:55pm

      I believe newsweek saw what this did for Chick-fil-a and is trying to make money out of desperation. I still will not buy their rag until they prove they mean it.

      Report Post »  
    • Amarilloan
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:49pm

      I never heard this Churchill quote before. Truer words have never been spoken.

      Report Post »  
  • RAZIELCCCXVI
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:37pm

    First of all, the writer of this particular story got 1 thing wrong about Niall Ferguson. He is not a Conservative, he’s been a liberal & has been writing for Newsweek for quite sometime. What’s more interesting is that, this man is saying exactly the same things Beck & the right have been saying along with Libertarians. MSNBC refuses to have Ferguson back on because of his criticisms of Obama regarding Egypt & the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Report Post »  
  • barber2
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:32pm

    Everyone knows that the international Left is united and nasty if anyone goes against one of their tribe! The New York Times writers are mostly rabidly Left . Krugman in particular . The NYT writers smear all conservatives and the Catholic Church routinely. And they carry water for the Obama Far Left Democrats.

    Report Post »  
  • Dougral Supports Israel
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:29pm

    I believe the truth will come out closer to Ferguson’s view. The costs of Obamacare will more than likely greatly exceed CBO projections while government revenues will fall short due to Obama’s overregulation of everything. In addition, Obamacare’s robbery of Medicare will probably not stick, adding to government costs.

    The one huge mistake I see that is consistently made by government is that they seem to believe that when some things are forced to change, everything else will remain the same. Obamacare is a game changer and due to the law of unintended consequences, nobody can predict where we will actually end up.

    Report Post »  
  • zoro51
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:27pm

    IMPEACH THE SOCIALIST now obama MUST BE THROWN OUT and his VACATIONING wife on americas DIME.. voting repplican as she stated will GIVE YU CANCER.. NO IT WONT the CANCER has a name BARAKK HUSEIN OBAMA PERIOD.. remove that n medicare will recover.. so will the economy n the usa.. more LIES n discord form the DEMS n the LEFT has taken america to where it is now.. see COMMUNISM in russia FAILED the attempt to do the same here HAS FAILED… tell the left to go to HELL in november

    Report Post » zoro51  
  • thibx
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:27pm

    it’s about damn time.

    Report Post »  
  • LindaTea
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:26pm

    is this the boy that saw the KING NAKED???

    Report Post » LindaTea  
  • maryanne3935
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:20pm

    Well anyone with an IQ over 75 NEVER listens to Krugman. How do you add millions of people and not incur an increase in costs???? We don’t have enough doctors, nurses or hospitals to sustain this insanity. Let’s just repeal and start all over, I know for a fact that Ryan will not only read the bill but help architect the bill. Enough arguing with liberals, you just can’t win, they don’t reason they feel.

    Report Post »  
    • FREEDOMoverFEAR
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:00pm

      The way Democrats say they are going to lower costs of health care is they believe that if people have free health care they will make healthier decisions and then they will end up being healthier and go to the doctor less, thus lowering the cost of health care. Let me tell you guys how Medical is currently being used. First I know hundreds, yes I said hundreds, of people who get pharmacutical drugs paid for by Medi-Cal, they then sell those pills someone who wants to get high and they use their profits to buy drugs or what ever they want. They also take their kids to the doctor for simple colds because it’s free if they had to pay for it they probably would have waited and there child would have recovered on their own. Obama even talks about ACA reducing the nations average BMI (Body Mass Index) he believes that if a doctor tells a person they need to loose wait they will LOL. Demorcrats and Republicans make the same observations and come to different conclusions. The basis for Democrat’s thought process is “look this person is poor they must have not had any opportunities let’s give them a hand out they will get back on their feet and stay there.“ Republicans look at a poor person and say ”this person squandered they opportunities hopefully being poor is uncomfortable and they get their act together and make better decisions.”

      As a kid who grew up dirt poor in Visalia, CA. I saw first hand how charities and hand outs corrupt a man’s motivation making him lazy an

      Report Post » FREEDOMoverFEAR  
    • SoNick
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:41pm

      yeah, I guess Krugman got his Nobel Prize in economics because he’s such a dunce.

      Report Post »  
    • 68Patriot
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 6:57pm

      SONICK…There you go again. I told you that NOBEL is a sham and 99% of the country (except for you) knows this.

      Krugman is a Propaganda arm of the Obama Administration.

      68

      Report Post »  
    • SoNick
      Posted on August 21, 2012 at 6:42am

      yes, of course, 99% of the country knows this. Impressive number. Where does it come from? Who do you follow on economic issues? Glenn “buy more gold” Beck?

      Report Post »  
    • 68Patriot
      Posted on August 21, 2012 at 9:18am

      SONICK…I don‘t rely on Economic pundits if that’s what you are asking. I rely on common sense and simply read the numbers. Would you like a list?

      You say Krugman is a leading Economist. Who exactly is he leading? I guess fools like you that believe what you want to hear from the party you worship. Why don’t you try applying Patriotism and independent thinking to your equation. This administration is using you…stop drinking the Kool Aid.

      68

      Report Post »  
  • FreedomWitness
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:20pm

    Is that woman a space alien, vampire or a poltergeist? Or is that how dames in NY look these days?

    Report Post » FreedomWitness  
    • NewSolomon
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:52pm

      The defense of the left is worse then there weak offence

      Report Post »  
    • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:25pm

      That’s the same reaction I had when I saw the video. Good GOD, I think maybe she is a vampire by how pale she is. Plus, she has that Mika look to her.

      Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
  • shimauma
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:17pm

    What I would like to see is the percentage of libturds getting angry to the percentage of conservatives who gave this guy a thumbs up. A smart business will notice who actually buys product….

    Report Post » shimauma  
  • woodyee
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:04pm

    Don’t let the truth smack you in the face like a 20lb salmon, Krugman. Say something and let the excrement come out.

    Report Post » woodyee  
  • BeckIgnoresConstitution
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:03pm

    Glenn, Sean, Rush, etc., with the exception of Dr. Savage, are ignoring Obama’s ineligibility.

    “Obama is ineligible for multiple reasons:
    1. Not a ‘natural born citizen’ as required by Article 2, Section 1.
    2. Born a British citizen pursuant to British Nationality Act of 1948.
    3. Law enforcement has concluded his birth certificate is fraudulent.”[1]

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, … that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, … Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Declaration of Independence

    Obama routinely omits ‘Creator’ when speaking of these rights. No ‘Creator’ = no ‘unalienable’ rights! He loathes liberty and our Constitution!

    Don’t omit Art 2, Sec 1, of the Constitution when speaking of Obama. Restore economic sanity, limited government and adherence to our Constitution!

    1. Register & VOTE.

    2. Demand Congress depose and prosecute Obama, along with his co-conspirators! Any politician or judge refusing this duty in violation of their oath of office, should also be regarded as a co-conspirator and similarly deposed or voted out of office.

    3. Boycott complicit mainstream media advertisers and inform them you detest their enabling the worst coverup in American history!

    We the People, expect every government employee to honor their sworn oath to support and defend the Constitution!

    1. http://www.ObamaBirthCertificate.net

    Report Post » BeckIgnoresConstitution  
  • Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:01pm

    Paul Krugman makes Baghdad Bob look like Honest Abe. The man is a liar. There are multiple instances of Krugman fudging data or excluding competing data or cherry picking timelines in his economic analysis in order to bend the math to make political points. Has he been admonished and discredited by academia? Sure, by some. But mostly they love him because he can weave a lie and it takes trained economists or statisticians to unwind it. By that time, the ADD populace has moved on. Throw in a Nobel prize to give him some faux credibility and viola you get a Keynsian Douchelord mouthpiece.

    Report Post » Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve  
    • fieldwork
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 6:48pm

      Great stuff. I wish I had your ability.

      Report Post »  
    • RightThinking1
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 9:29pm

      But, but…, Krugman won a Nobel prize! They don’t just give those away…,wait…, oh, they DO actually just give those away….

      Report Post »  
    • brightmysteriousobject
      Posted on August 24, 2012 at 11:01am

      Krugman Fudging? He doesnt know that word. He‘s more comfortable with dropping the Hershey’s Chocolate plant on your head

      Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:55pm

    Now we get to see the joys of the liberals going after their own; one dared to speak the truth and the MSM’s god-king was caught with his britches down and his tushie on fire. Now they need to try and spin more lies to cover the truth.

    Let the games begin…

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • jungle J
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:54pm

    it was done on purpose to generate oh poor obama etc…the sane understand the rest are bumbling …..

    Report Post »  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:52pm

    I will say it was more accurate than most of the MSM reporting in the last 3 years. Even if he was lying half of the article, he is more accurate than I, I, I, I, I, I, Obama.

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • forthepeople
      Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:11pm

      Now the left is worries about ‘ Truth ’ ????? Hypocrites !

      Report Post » forthepeople  
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