Kilmeade, Wash. Times make false claims about people “not invited” to White House jobs summit

On Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade falsely claimed that the White House did not invite “corporate executives” to its December 3 Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth; in fact, numerous corporate executives are reportedly scheduled to attend the summit. Moreover, The Washington Times falsely claimed that “critics” of President Obama's policies were “not invited to [the] White House 'jobs summit.' ”

Kilmeade falsely claims “corporate executives” not invited to White House jobs summit

From the December 3 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

KILMEADE: The White House says it's focusing on creating jobs today. So how come corporate executives, small-business owners, and the Chamber of Commerce aren't invited?

But numerous corporate executives are reportedly scheduled to attend summit. While a full list of jobs summit attendees has not yet been released, a partial list of attendees released by the White House includes Google CEO Eric Schmidt, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Quest Diagnostics CEO Surya Mohapatra, FedEx CEO Frederick Smith, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Boeing CEO James McNerney, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, Dow Corning CEO Stephanie Burns, and Peter Solmssen, head of corporate legal and compliance for Siemens.

Ignoring critical economists, Wash. Times falsely claimed “critics” of Obama policies were “not invited”

Washington Times: “Critics not invited” to summit. A December 2 Washington Times headline claimed, “Critics not invited to White House 'jobs summit.' ”

Screen capture of Washington Times headline,

Krugman has argued that stimulus package was too small. Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman, who is reportedly attending the summit, has repeatedly argued that the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress and supported by the Obama administration was too small and that further stimulus spending may be necessary, as the Times article itself noted.

Stiglitz: “I fear that the effect of the American economic stimulus plan won't be even half as big as expected.” Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, who is reportedly attending the summit, has criticized the stimulus package as being too small, reportedly saying in April: “More than $700 billion sounds like a lot, but it's not. On the one hand, a large part of the money will first be given out next year, which is too late. On the other, a third of it is drained away by tax cuts. They don't really stimulate consumption, because people will save the majority of that money. I fear that the effect of the American economic stimulus plan won't be even half as big as expected.”

Sachs: Obama's economic policies “may work in the short term” but “threaten to produce still greater crises within a few years.” Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, who is reportedly attending the summit, has repeatedly criticized Obama administration economic policies, writing in a March Scientific American article that “Obama's economic team is now calling for an unprecedented stimulus of large budget deficits and zero interest rates to counteract the recession. These policies may work in the short term but they threaten to produce still greater crises within a few years.”

CEO scheduled to attend summit was a McCain campaign adviser

FedEx CEO Frederick Smith reportedly gave $2,300 to McCain campaign, served as campaign adviser. According to a December 2 FoxNews.com article, Smith “contributed $2,300 to Republican presidential nominee John McCain and served on the Republican's 'kitchen cabinet' of campaign advisers.”

Wash. Times previously misled with similar headline

Wash. Times: “Top Republican Lawmakers Not Invited to Obama's First State Dinner.” On November 23 the Times posted an article to its website with the headline, “Top Republican lawmakers not invited to State Dinner.” In fact, the article itself listed at least three “top” Republicans who were invited to the dinner, as well as top Democratic lawmakers who were not invited.