Anatomy of a Right Wing Lie

I don't know why I am bothering, but I was particularly annoyed by the following claim at Confederate Yankee this morning:

"Obama's Eco-Nazis A Threat to a Million Sport-Fishing Jobs...(The Obama task force's) but its indifference to the economic, social and biological value of the sport has been deafening.

...policies based on junk science are being pushed by anti-use environmental extremists friendly to the Administration could be a threat to a multi-billion dollar industry employing over a million people."

I'd think this was a parody, if this wasn't the exact path Obama's energy policy has already taken."

Well, Mr. Yankee, I would think it was a parody too, if I didn't already know that it was an outright lie. So we are going to lose one million jobs in the vital economic segment of sport fishing? Lets take a look at something that wingnuts like Confederate Yankee never bother with- the facts.

Here is the most recent information on total jobs in the United States, from the U. S. Department of Labor Statistics. This chart focused on changes in employment. I have left this information off, and have only listed the total number of jobs in each category. Let's dive right in:

U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Detailed industry employment ranked by change between January and February 2010, in thousands, seasonally adjusted

Rank Industry Current

1 Administrative and support services 561
2 Federal, except U.S. Postal Service 911
3 Social assistance 624
4 General merchandise stores 452
5 Building material and garden supply stores 444
6 Performing arts and spectator sports 711
7 Ambulatory health care services 621
8 Primary metals 331
9 Nursing and residential care facilities 623
10 Personal and laundry services 812
11 Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores 451
12 Fabricated metal products 332
13(tie) Machinery 333
Food manufacturing 311
Textile mills 313
14 Amusements, gambling, and recreation 713
15 Credit intermediation and related activities 522
16 Durable goods 423
17 Support activities for mining 213
18 Furniture and home furnishings stores 442
19 Electrical equipment and appliances 335
20 Mining, except oil and gas 212
21(tie) Miscellaneous manufacturing 339
Hospitals 622
22 Warehousing and storage 493
23(tie) Wood products 321
Clothing and clothing accessories stores 448
24 Electronic markets and agents and brokers 425
25 Beverages and tobacco products 312
26 Waste management and remediation services 562
27 Data processing, hosting and related services 518
28(tie) Furniture and related products 337
Paper and paper products 322
29(tie) Textile product mills 314
Nonstore retailers 454
Rental and leasing services 532
Museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks 712
Food services and drinking places 722
30 Oil and gas extraction 211
31 Broadcasting, except Internet 515


Now, what can we gather from this information? Well, first of all, more people are employed in the exciting career area of sport fishing than work for the U. S. Government, or in nursing care facilities, or restaurants and bars, or hospitals, or food manufacturing. In fact, according to the ever-reliable Confederate Yankee, more people are employed in sport fishing than any other single area of the American economy! Who knew? In fact, more people work in sport fishing than the total number employed in "Amusements, gambling, and recreation," which I suspect includes sport fishing.

There's just no lie too big, is there?