Politics 101 Fail: Bill O’Reilly Blames Obama for State and Local Taxes

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:04 pm

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Fox News continued their network wide attempt to dumb down America tonight on The O’Reilly Factor, when host Bill O’Reilly was complaining about taxes, when he argued that Obama is to blame for increasing state and local taxes because, “all taxes are taxes. That’s taxes. That’s more money out of your wallet.” No Bill. President Obama doesn’t control state and local taxes.

Here is the video courtesy of Media Matters

O’Reilly was trying to argue with Alan Colmes that America could not afford healthcare reform, but when Colmes pointed out that Bill-O cited increases in local and state taxes which Obama has no control over, O’Reilly replied, “It doesn’t matter where you’re taxed. It means the American consumer/worker is going to pay higher taxes.”

When Colmes again tried to point out that O’Reilly didn’t give any evidence that Obama was going to raise federal taxes, “O’Reilly said that’s taxes, Colmes. That’s money out of your wallet.” According to O’Reilly it is irrelevant that state and local taxes are going up based on budgetary mandates and policy choices that the federal government has nothing to do with.

Contrary to what Bill O’Reilly was trying to sell, state and local taxes are not set or controlled by Washington, D.C. A loss of federal funding could cause state and local taxes to go up to make up for revenue shortfalls, but sales and property tax rates fall with the constitutional authority of the state and local governments.

This is basic civics kind of stuff. Fox News is distorting the most basic facts relating to states rights. Bill-O needs to remember the Tenth Amendment, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” State and local taxes do not fall under the authority of the federal government.

On the local level taxes are increasing because the mortgage crisis decimated many property tax bases around the county. Many municipalities are facing dire revenue shortfalls. At the state level, decreasing tax revenue combined with an explosion in the demand for services have put states, especially those with balanced budget requirements under the gun.

Any idiot knows that Obama is not responsible for state and local taxes, but hey why should Bill O’Reilly let something like the truth ruin a good story? Fox News has been systemically misleading their viewers about how their government works, since Obama was elected, so it comes as no surprise that they would think nothing of trying rewrite the documents that form the bedrock of our system, as long as it helps the GOP win a few more seats in November.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association