Psychologists define pathological lying as "falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view . . . and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime". The individual may be aware they are lying, or may believe they are telling the truth, being unaware that they are living in a fantasy, according to the Journal of American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
Here's our top 60 list of Obama's deceit, in no particular order. (All quotations are statements Obama made in recent years.)
In May 2012, the president's former literary
agent Acton & Dystel produced a previously unpublished leaflet
stating that Obama was "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and
Hawaii".
Photo credit:
Acton & Dystel
2. “I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.”
a. (Video) Apparently, the campaigner-in-chief doesn't understand that communism destroyed the Soviet Union. Pathalogical liars live in a fantasy world.
3. In a 2008 interview with interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, then-candidate Obama said “. . . you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith . . .”
a. Obama has always maintained that he is Christian. However, the above interview showed his Freudian slip. Also, his wedding ring allegedly bears the inscription “There is no God but Allah”.
4. In 2008, the Associated Press obtained Obama's Indonesian grade school registration which, when translated into English, identifies him as an Indonesian citizen.
a. Article 2 Section 1 of the constitution states that “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”
5. In 2011, a team of forensic experts organized by Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio looked into Obama's submitted birth certificate. Arpaio told Fox News his forensic team's conclusion that Obama's birth certification is “definitely fraudulent”. After six months of analyzing the document, Arpaio's team discovered code errors, computer-generated marks, and manipulated seals on the document.
a. The White House responded by releasing a different birth certificate.
6. “As president, I’m going to make it impossible for congressman and lobbyists to slip pork barrel projects or corporate welfare into law when no one’s looking . . . . No more secrecy.”
a. Pork barrel spending continues. In 2011 it was disclosed that the Obama administration has been conducting secret talks with lobbyists at coffee shops so that the meetings could not be recorded by the White House logbook. In 2012, earmarks are expected to exceed $40 billion.
Want some examples of pork barrel spending under Obama's watch? (Video)
- $255,000,000 to upgrade the M1 Abrams tank, which is opposed by the Pentagon.
- $120,000,000 for alternative energy research within the Air Force, Army, and Navy. According to Sen. John McCain, the Navy has spent in excess of $400 per gallon for approximately 20,000 gallons of algae-based biofuel.
- $3,000,000 for "aquatic plant control".
- $3,388,000 for "national fish hatchery system operations".
- $114,770,000 for the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), which supports global democratization efforts.
- $18,000,000 to rebuild the government's recovery.gov website. Indian IT firms could have done this project for less than $50,000.
- $10,000,000 to build a one-mile, 20-lane highway outside of Salt Lake City.
- $19,000,000 free-clam program to benefit people who have never eaten clams.
- $1,800,000 million to study why pigs smell.
- $1,900,000 million for a water taxi in Connecticut.
a. (Video) Not even one credible attempt at this initiative.
8. In 2009, Obama submitted his 2009 IRS tax return which shows him using a Connecticut social security number that fails the government’s E-verify background check. The SSN is tied to a Harrison J. Bounel. The Social Security Administration does not recycle social security numbers and duplicate use is a red flag for identity fraud. Bounel is reportedly a relative of Michelle Robinson, Obama’s wife.
9. In May 2012, the president's former literary agent Acton & Dystel produced an unpublished leaflet stating that Obama was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”. The promotional booklet was written in 1991. In the vast majority of cases, authors write their own bio which implies that Obama himself stated that he was “born in Kenya”.
10. Post meetings between federal agencies and lobbyists online.
a. Never happened. In 2013, it was disclosed that the Environmental Protection Agency caved in to lobbying pressure from the American Chemical Association and reversed itself on enhancing drinking water safety standards.
11. “When there’s a tax bill being debated in congress, you would know the names of the corporations that would benefit and how much money they would get.”
a. (Video) Never happened.
12. “We would put every corporate tax break and every pork barrel spending on the online for every American to see, and you will know who asked for them. And you can decide whether your representatives are actually representing you.”
a. Not this one either. But the sheeple applauded at the time.
13. “. . . broadcasting [health care] negotiations on C-SPAN so the American people can see what the choices are. Because what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process.”
a. (Video) On the contrary, Obama encouraged congressional leaders to skip conference committee negotiations on the healthcare reform act. C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb sent a letter to Obama and congressional leaders requesting television coverage of the negotiations. His request was denied. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to answer questions about the broken campaign pledge.
14. “I’m in this race to tell the lobbyists in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over.”
a. One word: Solyndra. One taxpayer-funded loan down the drain: $500 million. The Washington Post reported in 2012 that lobbyists are a constant presence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
15. Obama’s official Facebook page shows a doctored photo of Ann Dunham, his mother, having a right hand of an African American man.
16. In 2012, the New York Times reported that up to 70 percent of Obama’s Twitter followers are fake.
17. “They [lobbyists] will not work in my White House.”
a. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, at least 374 people in the Obama administration are known lobbyists. Several work in the White House due to a loophole in the executive order on lobbyists that Obama signed in 2009.
18. “Lobbyists won’t drown out your voice when I am president of the United States of America.”
a. According to the New York Times, at least 15 “bundlers” who raised money for Obama’s campaign efforts are current or former lobbyists.
b. As a U.S. senator from Illinois, Obama issued a public apology for reaping a $300,000 discount on his $1.65 million mansion in Illinois from convicted lobbyist Tony Rezko.
19. “. . . having inherited a trillion dollar deficit . . .”
a. (Video) Obama created trillion dollar deficits, and is projected to create the biggest budget deficits in U.S. history. In 2013, the deficit is projected to be $977 billion. When Bush left office in 2008, the deficit was $438 billion for the year. Obama never inherited “trillion dollar deficits”. That’s a lie.
20. “We need to focus on what we need to move the American economy forward, not on what’s nice to have.”
a. In his first term, Obama’s signature legislation was Obamacare, which is the single biggest tax increase in American history. Not jobs or the economy. He blocked construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline which would have immediately created tens of thousands of jobs.
21. “. . . as we develop a full budget . . . we’re gonna go through our books page by page . . .”
a. The U.S. senate has illegally refused to pass a budget since 2009 because Democrats, led by Harry Reid, won’t let the item go to the full floor for a vote. (Video) Obama can easily pressure senate Democrats to pass a budget, as federal law requires each year, but he won’t do it.
22. “ . . . we’re gonna go through our books page by page, line by line, to eliminate waste and inefficiency.”
a. Spending items and pork barrel projects still costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars each year on useless projects. According to the Citizens Against Government Waste, the Obama administration spent $20 million on a demonstration project to build wooden bridges, $1.2 million to study the sexual behavior of woodchucks, $2 million to construct ancient Hawaiian canoes, $1 million to preserve a sewer as a historical monument, and $19 million to study the gas emissions of cow farts. Yes, cow farts.
23. “We have already identified over $2 trillion dollars in deficit reductions that will help us cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term.
a. Instead of cutting the government’s annual budget deficit in half, Obama has more than doubled it.
24. “The process whereby Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now (2009) . . .”
a. (Video) Four years later, Guantanamo is still open and Obama has no intention of closing it down.
25. In 2004, then-U.S. senator Barack Obama said that there was no (policy) difference between him and George W. Bush on the war on terrorism.
a. When running for president, Obama repeatedly vilified George W. Bush and claimed that he was always against the war on Iraq.
26. “I’m proud of our campaign because it’s based on telling the truth.”
a. In 2012, analysis done by Forbes concluded that much of Obama’s negative television ads aimed at Mitt Romney contained false claims and misleading attacks. In other words, Obama has run a campaign full of lies in 2008 and 2012.
27. In 2009, Obama told NBC that his presidency would be a “one-term proposition” if the economy did not turn around in three years.
a. In running for a second term, Obama claimed to voters that the economy had improved since taking office. That was clearly not the case. The unemployment rate hovered at 8 percent and would have been much higher of the Labor Department counted the 9 million Americans who have left the workforce since 2011. Also, by 2012 a record 46 million Americans have become dependent on food stamps.
28. In 2008, Obama said that “adding $4 trillion to the national debt is unpatriotic” in a campaign event in North Dakota.
a. Since taking office, Obama added $5.8 trillion to the national debt, which represents the largest increase under one president. Not only that, he broke the record in just one term.
29. During the 2008 presidential debates, Obama blasted George W. Bush for doubling the nation’s debt to $10 trillion.
a. As of early 2013, America’s national debt equals 104 percent of GDP. The national debt increased by 60 percent during the first four years of Obama’s presidency. That’s a rate higher than George W. Bush’s eight years in office.
30. In 2006, Sen. Barack Obama said, “Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.”
a. (Video) In April 2011, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that Obama "regrets" voting against raising the debt ceiling in 2006 as U.S. senator. As president, he had flip flopped on the issue. In 2012, Obama proposed to congress that he be given the unilateral authority to increase the debt ceiling on the federal government. This is against the constitution which assigns the government’s spending and borrowing powers solely with the legislative branch.
31. As an Illinois state senator, Obama opposed gay marriage. During both inaugurations, he also swore – with his hand on the bible – to uphold the laws of the land.
a. (Video) After occupying higher political office, Obama began to support gay marriage. More troubling, he ordered the Justice Department to refuse to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act which was signed into law during the presidency of Bill Clinton.
32. “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.”
a. Obama’s infamous words on July 13, 2012 that almost cost him re-election. The White House would later claim that Obama’s words were taken out of context. Common sense dictates that Obama’s statement was a plain lie, so was the White House’s claim.
33. “Any middle class family will see their incomes go up by $3,000 because of the Recovery Act, helping them get back much of what they lost due to this recession.”
a. Despite the $831 billion stimulus bill passed in 2009, the median income has dropped by more than $3,000 to $50,100 in 2012. That’s a more than $6,000 yearly difference per U.S. household between what Obama promised in 2008 and what he delivered by the time of his re-election.
34. In a June 2012 with the White House press corps, Obama said that the “private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy is in the state and local government.”
a. Thus, Obama claimed, during the worst recovery in the nation’s history, that the economy is “doing fine” and that the government, at all levels, needed to grow despite America’s unsustainable debt and spending levels. When he made the statement, the number of Americans relying on food stamps had doubled since Obama first took office. Even the president’s former adviser, Steven Rattner, did not think that the private sector was “doing fine”.
35. In early July 2011, Obama said that he'd "be turning [50-years-old] in a week". However, his submitted birth certificate shows that he was born on August 4, or three full weeks after the date of the press conference.
36. Obama's INS documents at the national archives are missing for the entire week (around August 1961) in which Ann Dunham was supposed to have returned to the United States with young Barack in tow.
37. In 2007, then-Senator Obama said he wanted to make sure no American is without access to vital medical attention.
a. Even after passage of Obamacare, health experts estimate that in 2014 over 22 million Americans will still lack access to basic health services.
38. In 2007, Obama said, “If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I’m in the White House . . . I’ll walk on that picket line with you as President of the United States of America.”
a. There have been state-level efforts in Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, Maine, Florida and Indiana to curtail collective bargaining rights. Obama has never appeared in a single protest rally.
39. In 2008, candidate Obama pushed for reform of the Patriot Act. He also called for enhanced judicial oversight and a reduction of certain warrantless searches.
a. (Video) During his first term, Obama resisted any reforms to the sweeping spy law and sought to extend the Patriot Act. He also used extensive use of drone killings that have resulted in the deaths of American citizens overseas without granting those individuals due process, judicial or legislative oversight.
40. In 2008, candidate Obama promised that he would end the war in Afghanistan by July 2011. In a campaign speech, he said "you can take that one to the bank".
a. (Video) At the time of his campaign speeches, most military leaders did not believe Obama’s timeline was realistic. The president has since targeted 2014 as his deadline for withdrawing most, not necessarily all, U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
41. In September 2012, the Obama administration blamed the Benghazi attacks on a purported YouTube video that attacked Islam.
a. (Video) The eight-hour ordeal, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, was a planned attack by Al Qaeda fighters.
42. In the aftermath of the Benghazi attacks, Obama claimed that he was in constant communication with his staff and national security apparatus. He also claimed to have issued “three directives” to protect diplomats.
a. During congressional hearings in February 2013, defense secretary Leon Panetta and joint chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey admitted under oath that they only had one phone call with the president during the Libya attacks.
43. In April 2012, Obama claimed that if the Supreme Court overturned Obamacare, the high court’s actions would constitute “judicial overreach”.
a. The constitution grants the judicial branch the authority to limit the powers of the legislative and executive branches of government. Obama was a lecturer on constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Yet, he failed to grasp this elementary lesson on the U.S. constitution and the separation of powers between the three branches of government. Judge Andrew Napolitano, a constitutional scholar, remarked that when the president questions whether or not the Supreme Court has the authority to invalidate the statute, it “belies the history of the country and the president’s education of that history.”
44. “Let me be absolutely clear: if you are a family making less than $250,000 a year . . . you will not see your taxes go up.”
a. (Video) Obamacare is considered the largest tax increase in U.S. history. Additionally, Obama has proposed multiple tax increases throughout his first and second terms. Just sixteen days into his presidency back in 2009, he signed into law and increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco. All smokers making less than $250,000 a year saw their taxes go up.
45. In 2008, then-candidate Obama said “If you choose change, you will have a nominee who doesn't take a dime from Washington lobbyists and PACs.”
a. (Video) By the 2012 November elections, Obama’s Super Pacs had raised hundreds of millions of dollars and were run by former White House staffers. The campaign also received tens of millions of dollars from groups, such as Solyndra, who received government bailout money or guaranteed loans. Records show that Obama ranked second only to Chris Dodd in the entire congress in receiving donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were responsible for the housing collapse and financial crisis of 2008.
46. Throughout the 2012 campaign, Obama pushed for ending the Bush-era tax cuts.
a. (Video) In reality, he agreed to extend the tax cuts which contained certain tax advantages for the wealthy.
47. Cap-and-Trade. In 2007, then-senator Obama said “As President, I will set a hard cap on all carbon emissions at a level that scientists say is necessary to curb global warming — an 80 percent reduction by 2050.”
a. (Video) After Democrats in congress suffered heavy losses in 2012, Obama reversed himself on Cap-and-Trade. "[Cap-and-trade] was just one way of skinning the cat; it was not the only way. It was a means, not an end."
48. In 2008, Obama promised to send people to the moon by 2020, and then Mars. One campaign material said “He endorses the goal of sending human missions to the Moon by 2020, as a precursor in an orderly progression to missions to more distant destinations, including Mars.”
a. (Video) Obama ended NASA’s space shuttle program on August 31, 2011. America is now dependent on Russia for trips to the International Space Station.
49. In 2008, Obama supported a federal guarantee that all employers provide seven paid sick days per year.
a. Hardly tried to get this done. Never happened once he got elected.
50. In 2008, Obama promised to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill in congress by the end of his first year in office.
a. By spring of 2013, three years later, he still hasn’t introduced a bill in congress. In February 2013, a proposal was leaked by an administration official to USA Today. It discloses that Obama wants full amnesty for over 11 million illegals.
51. In a 2008 speech in Jordan, Obama said “Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change.”
a. (Video) Throughout his presidency, Obama has been lambasted for alienating Israel. His nominee for secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, has repeatedly made anti-Israel remarks in public, and considers Israel a bigger threat to stability in the Middle East than Iran. In 2012, Obama famously ignored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for an urgent meeting when Netanyahu was visiting America.
52. In 2008, without his teleprompter, Obama told a crowd in Oregon that he has campaigned at all “57 states”.
a. Even grade school kids know what’s wrong with this statement.
53. In 2008, then-candidate Obama gave a radio interview in which he spoke about his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. “She is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, you know, there's a reaction that's been bred in our experiences that don't go away . . . and that's just the nature of race in our society.”
a. (Video) In other words, Obama believes that a “typical white person” in American society automatically has an adverse reaction towards other ethnic groups.
54. In 2009, Obama said “ . . . there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died – an entire town destroyed.”
a. (Video) A president has a duty to understand the nature of a tragedy. The Kansas tornado he was referring to killed 12 people, not 10,000.
55. “I am not an ideologue. I’m not”
a. (Video) Hello, anyone home?
56. In 2009, Obama promised to end the income tax for seniors making less than $50,000. “Will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This will eliminate taxes for 7 million seniors -- saving them an average of $1,400 a year – and will also mean that 27 million seniors will not need to file an income tax return at all.”
a. After taking office, Obama never proposed legislation honoring such a promise and never covered the subject again.
57. In 2008, candidate Obama promised to end all no-bid contracts over $25,000. “Will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid.”
a. Since taking office, Obama never ordered the Office of Management and Budget to require competitive bids for government contracts over $25,000.
58. In an effort to secure votes from battleground states like Florida, in 2007 then-candidate Obama said that he will double federal spending on cancer research. “ . . .will double federal funding for cancer research within 5 years, focusing on NIH (National Institutes of Health) and NCI (National Cancer Institute).”
a. Obama increased the budget by just 8.3 percent in his most recent budget (2012).
59. During the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans, Obama claimed that he was in constant communication with his national security team. On November 4, David Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, appeared on Fox News Sunday and he told Chris Wallace, "When word of the attack campaign, the president was meeting with his top national security folks."
a. Not true. In February 2013, Leon Panetta told a congressional hearing that the president only had one phone call with his secretary of defense and military advisers while the eight-hour attack took place. White House staffers also attributed the consulate attack to a YouTube video when intelligence officials knew it was a terrorist plot organized by Al Qaeda. An unreleased CBS video shows Obama admitting that the attack was planned by Muslim radicals but the footage was never aired on national television.
60. In 2012, Obama was secretly taped telling Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, "This is my last election . . . After my election, I'll have more flexibility." Obama was talking about U.S. missile defense.
a. (Video) Self explanatory.
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Pathological lying has several causes including a dysfunctional family; sexual or physical abuse in childhood; impulse control disorders; accommodating or suggestible personality traits; personality disorders such as sociopathic or narcissistic behaviors; substance abuse or substance abuse in family.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “the prospect of power can make individuals . . . resort to lying to maintain power or control over others. When they lose power, they may resort to more lying. When they gain power and success from lying, it is thus reinforced. The lie becomes a useful tool for this person in denigrating others to boost their own reputation . . . . They may create realities to . . . create a successful image for others.
For more on Barack Obama’s broken campaign promises, see Politifact.com.
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