Karl Rove must be feeling a little antsy about 2012 — he’s not only repeating falsehoods on national television, he’s telling old lies that were debunked years ago.
Here was Rove on Fox News last night, telling Sean Hannity about President Obama giving a loan to Brazil.
“The president gave a loan to Brazil. Brazil which is eating our lunch economically internationally, why do they need our money? They have plenty of their own. [Obama] gave them a loan and told them, as you’ve just alluded to, went down there and said we want to be your best customer.”
This again? Are Republicans still pushing this bogus story? I remember writing an item setting the record straight in 2010, after having seen it debunked in 2009.
In far-right circles, President Obama loaned $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company to drill for oil in Brazilian waters, to benefit China. In reality, a Brazilian oil company, PetroBras, received a loan from the independent Export-Import Bank.
The loan was approved by appointees of — you guessed it — the Bush/Cheney administration. The Export-Import Bank agreed to the loan, by the way, in large part because PetroBras agreed to use U.S.-made oilfield equipment and services on the project, which made the deal beneficial for both countries. The notion that Obama is just handing over money to Brazil is just silly. It’s possible Rove is bringing up this old argument because of rising gas prices, but for those who take reality seriously, this canard isn’t improving with age.
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