At CNBC’s Republican debate Wednesday night, Michele Bachmann towards the end of the evening hurled a ridiculous screed, that America’s interest payments to China will become so large that they will cover the cost of the entire Chinese army. Unsurprisingly, those with a modicum of sanity recognized this as false, so, sadly, many in the Republican party no doubt believed it.
“By 2015, we will be sending so much interest money over, we will be paying for the entire People’s Liberation Army of China, the number one employer of the world,” Bachmann said on stage.
But not only did those with common sense simply dismiss Bachmann’s lie, those with facts to check, did.
The good folks at the non-partisan Politifact, fact-checked the often fact-less Bachmann, and rated her claim “false.”
Officially, the Chinese defense budget is $91.5 billion for 2011. But many experts believe the actual figure is higher. The Pentagon estimates that China’s military-related spending in 2009 was $150 billion.
Do Chinese investors including the government collect that much in interest? We found they didn’t and rated Bachmann’s claim False.
Like so many other statements Bachmann makes.
Watch the lunacy:
http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/3000056468/code/cnbcplayershare