YEAH, THEY'RE LYING ... HOW TO RESPOND TO THESE TWO SHUTDOWN LIES

LIE #1: Obamacare is so flawed that it produces part-time jobs.
This week Rep. McCarthy (R-CA), the Majority Whip in Congress (and my poorly performing representative in Washington), made this claim:

"Look, when you look at what has transpired since Obamacare has moved forward, we've created more than 840,000 jobs in this country, more than 90 percent of them have been part-time, because of Obamacare."

Got that? At least 90 percent of all jobs created since Obamacare became the law of the land are part-time because of Obamacare. Huh? So America's precarious jobs picture has nothing to do with Republicans going after unions ... It has nothing to do with weakening labor's bargaining position by shipping jobs overseas ... It has nothing to do with the fact that our GOP-led Congress has either opposed or failed to put together any jobs program of substance ... It has nothing to do with the 2008 market collapse and our weakened economy ... etc.

This is really very simple. Instead of listening to Rep. McCarthy, who is part of a larger GOP-led obstructionist juggernaut, let's take a look at the numbers.

Courtesy of Barry Ritholtz, author of "Bailout Nation" and host of The Big Picture, we learn that the number of part-time workers in America spiked because of the Great Recession. In fact, if Rep. McCarthy were telling the truth, we would know that the part-time jobs spike started under President Bush, and was in full throttle mode by the time President Obama took office.

LIE #2: The shutdown is President Obama's fault
Not even close. The plan to undermine the legitimacy of the constitutional process and our system of democracy was planned months in advance by people like the billionaire Koch brothers and former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese. The New York Times reports:

Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. Their push to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care law was going nowhere, and they desperately needed a new plan. 

Out of that session, held one morning in a location the members insist on keeping secret, came a little-noticed “blueprint to defunding Obamacare,” signed by Mr. Meese and leaders of more than three dozen conservative groups. 

It articulated a take-no-prisoners legislative strategy that had long percolated in conservative circles: that Republicans could derail the health care overhaul if conservative lawmakers were willing to push fellow Republicans — including their cautious leaders — into cutting off financing for the entire federal government.

Included as part of the shutdown plan was a "defunding tool kit" that provides tailor made answers and talking points for pesky questions like "What happens when you get blamed for the shutdown?"

So, are we headed for a government shutdown that will lead to catastrophic economic turmoil? If the Koch brothers have anything to do with it, yes.

At the end of the day we need to recognize that House Republicans have been bent on sabotaging President Obama's presidency - as Robert Draper pointed out - since President Obama entered the White House. At issue now is how many lies they're willing to tell to drown his presidency.

As John Boehner's interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos suggests Republicans are not only willing to tell lies but, worse, they don't care if their lies end up destroying the nation's economy in the process.

- Mark