Matt Palumbo - Debunk This!: Shattering Liberal Lies

Advance Praise for
Debunk This!

Debunk This! is a must-read for all conservatives eager to master the art of debating liberals. Palumbos book will equip you with knowledge on virtually every political topic to effortlessly win arguments with your know-it-all lefty friends and enemies.

Kristin Tate, The Hill , Author of How Do I Tax Thee?

Matt Palumbo lives up to his reputation as one of the best liberal myth busters in the conservative movement. In Debunk This! Palumbo conveniently puts them all in one place and simplifies the wonky data to make it digestible for any and all readers. Looking to dominate your next debate? Look no further.

Will Ricciardella , The Washington Examiner

Matt has produced one of the best resources Ive found for anyone interested in wasting their time arguing with know-nothings on twitter.

Phil Labonte , All That Remains

If theres anyone who could convince a socialist like me that the ruling class has the absolute right to accumulate unconscionable amounts of wealth at the expense of everyday American workers, it would be Matt Palumbo.

Carl Gibson , The Guardian , Houston Chronicle

Socialism has failed everywhere its been tried, and Matt demolishes the tired liberal myths that try to resurrect it.

Phil Kennedy , Founder, Kennedy Financial

Matt Palumbo has an exceptional ability to critically analyze political and economic myths in a way nobody else can quite match. In his latest book, Debunk This! , Matt looks at some of the most commonly misunderstood political and economic ideas peddled by the American left. From misconceptions about welfare and inequality, to downright lies about hate crimes, Matt Palumbo expertly takes down the modern lefts main, fake arguments. This book doesnt own the libs. It totally and utterly destroys the falsehoods perpetuated by the mainstream press and progressive activists.

Jack Buckby , Poland Daily

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

Debunk This!:

Shattering Liberal Lies

2019 by Matt Palumbo

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-64293-304-8

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-305-5

Cover art by Cody Corcoran

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press

New York Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

For my parents.

Contents

Its hard to believe that its already been nearly six years since Matt Palumbo and I crossed paths.

The year was 2013, and the Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich had just released a new documentary largely critical of modern capitalism called Inequality for All . An article authored by Matt popped up in my Twitter that purported to prove Reichs inequality for all is really disinformation for all, which I had to give a read.

Those whove followed Matts column on which this book is based already know that he possesses a unique ability to explain the supposed logic behind liberal policies with as much ease as he has in making mincemeat out of them, with plenty of snark to boot.

I remember Googling Matts name after reading his takedown of Reich, assuming he was probably a middle-aged academic, not a nineteen-year-old publishing what was one of his first articles ever. Admittedly surprised at his age, I made an effort to reach out to Matt on Twitter (who later joked he didnt know who I wasbut assumed I was important due to the blue check mark next to my name), and the rest is history.

Since then, Matt has always been my go-to researcher, or as those on the show know him, my resident fact-checker.

The phrase fake news didnt even enter the nations lexicon until the 2016 election, and ironically it was coined by the left to explain away why it was they werent successfully influencing voters against Trump. The liberals in the media mustve been projecting, because never have we seen so much bogus and deceiving news pumped out as we have in the past couple of years. In fact, the media has become so dishonest that it forced me to hire Matt to debunk every fake story or misleading talking point theyre pushing!

Fortunately for Matt, being tasked with shredding fake news and liberal talking points is like being a kid in a candy store. In Debunk This! youll find the most comprehensive takedown of every liberal myth or talking point youve seen spread in the media or pop up in political debate.

If youre looking for ammunition to shoot down the lefts talking points, this book will leave you well equipped.

Most of this book is the culmination of a years debunking over at my column Debunk This! which Ive been fortunate to have accompany The Dan Bongino Show podcast since 2018. Countless fans of the column began requesting a collection of my articles in book form to use as a reference guide or to simply have all my writings in one place. To give additional value to the reader, I beefed up the length of most essays by up to 20 percent and updated all data to the most recent available when possible.

The man who sparked my interest in politics and economics, Thomas Sowell, commonly compiles all his newspaper columns into books once hes accumulated enough writings, and Ive always found them to be his easiest books to digest. I tried to organize this book in a way that doesnt need to be read in chronological order, so a reader can glean a comprehensive overview of why a particular myth is false in only a few minutes.

The book is divided into four sections, the first annihilating liberal economic myths. Economics has never been the lefts strong suit, so it didnt come as a surprise when those essays ended up becoming the longest section of the book.

The second section of this book chronicles myths that the media pushed as conventional wisdom and the miniscule amount of fact-checking that wouldve prevented it. (Then again, maybe theyre aware when theyre lying.)

The third section deals with any myths that pertain to Donald Trump and Barack Obama. Obama routinely takes credit for Trumps accomplishmentseven when he pursued policies as president that would achieve the opposite of whatever hes taking credit for.

The last section of the book contains essays on gun myths, particularly those spread by the media. Whether it be the claim that Australia eliminated mass shootings by banning all guns or that mass public shootings simply dont happen in other countries, this chapter has a refutation.

As a collection of individual essays, there isnt any grand takeaway youll experience at the end of this book, but you will accumulate countless pieces of ammunition to shoot down liberal lies.

For me personally, politics and economics have always been interchangeable. Conservatisms philosophical underpinnings of limited government and personal responsibility have always appealed to me, but economics has always been the way I quantify and objectively evaluate political policies.

Seldom do politicians think the same.

As Thomas Sowell puts it, The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.

Its easy to understand the appeal of the kind of Santa Claus economics the modern left is pushing, especially to those who dont believe theyll be ponying up to fund it. Ive long joked that the problem with conservative policies is that they work in practice but not in theory.