Lou Dobbs Falsely Claims That “For The First Time” Obama Is “Talk[ing] Business Friendly”

On The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly invited newly minted Fox Business host Lou Dobbs on to give his investment advice for 2011. The entire segment worked to feed the right's ludicrous “Obama is anti-business” narrative. In the course of making his case, Dobbs displayed a particular lack of knowledge about the Obama administration's pro-business policies, which is surprising considering that O'Reilly described Dobbs as “the guru of business reporting.”

From the December 17 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

DOBBS: We are seeing responsible government return to Washington. The bond market is going to love that. The equities markets will love that, and I believe investors will love that.

[...]

DOBBS: We are hearing this administration, for the first time, talk business friendly. They're talking about doubling business exports. They're talking about manufacturing. These are very healthy possibilities for investors right now....

Of course, Dobbs doesn't know what he's talking about. In July of this year, Dobbs' new employer Fox Business, on its website, quoted the president as saying “building exports is an imperative.” The article also reported on trade discussions with China, a timetable for the now-completed South Korean Free Trade Agreement, the 18 trade missions the administration had at that point completed, and the creation of an “Export Council” made up of chief executives, “a high-powered private sector council to help reach [the] goal [of doubling exports].”

Months earlier, Obama introduced the “National Export Initiative” during his January State of the Union address. He said that “tonight, we set a new goal: We will double our exports over the next five years. ... [W]e're launching the National Export initiative that will help farmers and small business increase their exports, and reform export controls.” On March 11, the administration announced the concrete steps being taken to accomplish that goal.

As for manufacturing, one year ago the Administration released a document called “A Framework for Revitalizing American Manufacturing.”

Furthermore, while still anemic, job growth in the manufacturing sector is now higher than it's been in the last decade.

But Obama is anti-business. We know because Fox told us so. And everyone knows how well Fox informs its viewers.