I posted a little while ago about Barack Obama’s failure to live up to the “sunshine before signing” promise he made during the campaign. While there, however, I was reminded of a blatant lie Obama has been telling in order to push his monstrosity of a “stimulus” package. The president claims that economists, both left and right, agree that we need to pass this legislation.

There’s plenty of debate about how to respond to the economic crisis, but you wouldn’t know that from the comments of President Obama and fellow Democrats.

“Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment and the American dream slipping further and further out of reach,” Obama said in his weekly address on Jan. 3, 2009.

“Every economist from right to left, Republican, Democrat, advises that (a government stimulus) has to be a very substantial package,” said Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland on Jan. 4.

“There’s no disagreement that we need action by our government — a recovery plan that will help to jump-start the economy,” Obama said at news conference on Jan. 9.

“Everybody, I think, from economists on the left to economists on the right realize that we must make critical investments at this time,” said White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel on Jan. 18.

Those claims are demonstrably false. In fact, the Cato Institute took out an ad in the New York Times to point out Obama’s dishonesty.

“More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan’s ‘lost decade’ in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today,” the ad says. “Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.”

The text was signed by 203 economists, including academics from NYU, Cornell, George Mason, Columbia, Duke, Rutgers, and the National Bureau of Economic Research. You’ll also find Nobel laureates among the signatories. So no, President Obama, everyone doesn’t agree with your push for more spending. That’s a lie.