Stossel Debunks 'Lies and Myths'

By
ABC News
June 25, 2006, 12:56 PM ET
2 min read

June 25, 2006 — -- John Stossel, the co-anchor of ABC News' "20/20," has been crusading for consumers for over 30 years. His trademark "Give me a break" series took him to the top of the New York Times bestseller list two years ago, and now he's at it again. Uncovering "Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity," Stossel is out to prove why "everything you know is wrong."

John Stossel: It's a book title. It's an exaggeration. It's not everything, but so much of what I thought was true turned out to be wrong.

I believed it when I heard that we weren't spending enough money, and that's why schools were struggling. I was shocked to find out we're spending $10,000 per student. Do the math. That's $250,000 per classroom. Think what you could do with that money. You could hire three great teachers.

We spent half a trillion dollars on Africa. Africa is poorer than before we spent that money. … I wish Bono, instead of saying, "Ask President Bush to spend more of your money," would say, "Let's spend more of our money on a private charity," because private charities keep their eye on where the money goes.

We need lawyers. We need lawyers like we need nuclear missiles. They keep us safe. But nuclear missiles kill innocent people. Lawyers wreck the lives of innocent people. We should avoid using them the way we avoid using our missiles. But we don't, because in America we have a unique legal system that invites destructive lawsuits.

The media are by and large economically and scientifically clueless. … Imbeciles in our business are saying gas prices are at record highs. Well, it's only a record if you don't adjust for inflation. And then you might as well say the movie "Rush Hour 3" is one of the highest grossing movies of all time. It's absurd not to adjust for inflation, and when you do gas prices today are lower than they were in 1980 and 1920.

You should listen to the media skeptically … Correct me if you find anything I've said that is a myth or a lie or downright stupid, myself … and I'll apologize.