From chain emails to Beck to Congress

[Swede]

About a year ago, a right-wing chain-email started making the rounds, about an alleged nefarious scheme. As the story went, President Obama loaned $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company to drill for oil in Brazilian waters, to benefit China. Worse, the tale continued, George Soros was involved in some way, as an investor in the project.

The whole thing was debunked last year by, among others, FactCheck.org. In reality, it seems the Brazilian oil company, PetroBras, received a loan from the independent Export-Import Bank, approved by appointees of the Bush/Cheney administration. Soros is part of the project, but his investment came in 2008 -- months before the Export-Import Bank agreed to make the loan.

The Export-Import Bank agreed to the loan, by the way, in large part because PetroBras will use U.S.-made oilfield equipment and services on the project.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024424.php

[louis-t]

1. I can just see the people who receive these phony petitions

at the WH rolling on the floor laughing. I get a few every month filled with fake outrage, mis-spellings, and lots of caps and exclamation points. Oh, forgot about the threats. "I better not find out about anybody breaking the chain" or "if you don't sign this we will lose all of the signatures below."