According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a hoax is

1: an act intended to trick or dupe 
2: something accepted or established by fraud or fabrication
A lie is
1: to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive
2: to create a false or misleading impression
This morning on my show, I applauded a hoax and excoriated a lie and the liar who did it.
The hoax in question was a thing of beauty.  A press release from “GE” awaited me when I awoke this morning.  Although the website on which it was hosted is no longer working, here’s how the release read:
13 April 2011

GE Responds to Public Outcry – Will Donate Entire $3.2 Billion Tax Refund to Help Offset Cuts and Save American Jobs

Fairfield, CT, 13th April, 2011– GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt has informed the Obama administration that the company will be gifting its entire 2010 tax refund, worth $3.2 Billion, to the US Treasury on April 18, Tax Day, and will furthermore adopt a host of new policies that secure its position as a leader in corporate social responsibility.

“We want the public to know that we’ve heard them, and that we know many Americans are going through tough times,” said GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt. “GE will therefore give our 2010 tax refund back to the public and allow the public to decide how to spend it.”

Immelt acknowledged no wrongdoing. “All seven of our foreign tax havens are entirely legal,” Immelt noted. “But Americans have made it clear that they deplore laws that enable tax avoidance. While we owe it to our shareholders to use every legal loophole to maximize returns – we also owe something to the American people. We didn’t write the laws that let us legally avoid paying taxes. Congress did. But we benefit from those laws, and now we’d like to share those benefits. We are proud to be giving something back to America, and we are proud to set an example for all industry to follow.”

Over the coming weeks, GE will conduct a nationwide survey to determine how the company’s $3.2 billion returned refund is to be allocated. The survey will be conducted both online and offline, and will permit the public to weigh in on which of the recently-enacted budget cuts they would like to see reversed.

In tandem with the gift, the company is also announcing a host of new policies to restore public faith in the GE brand, including a commitment to keep American jobs in America, and to create one U.S. job for each new job created abroad. The ambitious plan will overhaul accounting systems to allow public transparency and phase out the use of tax havens in five years. “Given my recent appointment as President Obama’s Chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, it is no longer appropriate for GE to engage in practices that, whether by fact or perception, are at odds with the greater good of the nation,” Immelt said.

Immelt outlined several concrete steps he would take to push for modernized tax policies that reflect the realities of the global economy. “I will personally ask President Obama to work with Congress to require country-by-country reporting by multi-national corporations of the sales made, profits earned and taxes paid in every jurisdiction where an entity operates. Instead of moving money via “transfer pricing,” corporations ought to pay taxes in the jurisdictions where profits are actually made. If Congress is able to establish standard industry-wide solutions, GE will close our tax haven operations abroad, including our subsidiaries in Bermuda, Singapore and Luxembourg.”

Further details on GE’s new policy will be released in the coming weeks.

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is an advanced technology, services and finance company taking on the world’s toughest challenges. Dedicated to innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.ge.com.

PRESS CONTACTS

Samuel Winnacker
GE Corporate, Assistant Director
Communications & Public Affairs
+1 615 375 6658
samuel.winnacker@ge.com

I’ve learned that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.  Before I finished reading the statement, I just knew this had to be the work of The Yes Men, who are know for “Impersonating big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them. Our targets are leaders and big corporations who put profits ahead of everything else.”

I read the above  “press release” and immediately placed a call to Andy Bichlbaum – one of the original Yes Men – to gauge their involvement. After feigning innocence for a moment or two, he fessed up to the fact that the GE release was actually a product of the Yes Lab, in which they assist other activists in the same type of political theater at which they are so adept.  In this case, the activist group who got the assist was the fledgling but rapidly growing UsUncut.

By fooling the AP, ABC News, Huffington Post and other so-called news outlets, the perpetrators of this hoax have been able to make headlines regarding about the fact that General Electric, led by President Obama’s new Jobs Czar, is a corporate tax dodger, to the tune of $3.2 billion for 2010 alone.  They also deftly pointed out that should that money find its way back into the treasury coffers, it could fund  — or “uncut” —  some of the programs now being slashed by the government.

I held on to my taped interview with Bichlbaum until the second hour of the show, as I promised him I’d do, so the hoax could play out as long as possible.  I did, however, begin today’s program by reading the fake release and calling the “press contact” listed at the bottom of the release, who wasn’t actually Samuel Winnacker but, as I was later to find out, Andrew Boyd of US Uncut.

After airing the interview with Bichlbaum, I reached out to Carl Gibson, founder of USUncut, to congratulate him on a wonderful show of political theater.  They soon after sent out this (real) press release):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Duncan Meisel duncan.meisel@gmail.com
Carl Gibson  usuncut@gmail.com

US Uncut Welcomes Tax Dodger GE’s Change of Heart
Warns one-time return of tax refund not enough – Congress must stop cuts, end tax loopholes

Washington, DC – GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt announced today that in response to public pressure, GE will return its $3.2 billion 2010 tax benefit. US Uncut, the main grassroots effort pressuring corporate tax cheats to pay their fair share, welcomed the move and claimed it as a victory.

“This is a good first step,” said, US Uncut spokesman Carl Gibson. “But even if they return their full $3.2 billion 2010 tax benefit as they’re promising, they will still have paid $0 in US taxes since 2006, when they had profits of $26 billion. So while we welcome this gesture by GE, it is only a first step. GE should pay its share, and Congress needs to stop the budget cuts and close the tax loopholes that give the richest corporations a free ride.”

“This just shows the power of the growing backlash to corporate power in America,” said US Uncut spokesman Duncan Meisel. “In just a few short months, regular Americans have put the biggest companies in America on the defensive as a result of bold, direct action in our communities. The billions that GE is returning to the US Treasury will enable us to restore a few of the recent devastating cuts to health, education and infrastructure that so many of us count on. People across America who are hurting and angry will be pleased to read the papers for a change. We hope other corporate tax cheats, like Verizon, Bank of America, FedEx, and ExxonMobil follow GE’s lead.”

“We’re hoping this isn’t a publicity stunt,” said Gibson. “Promises just aren’t enough – we need to see results from GE and then from Congress. We’re still planning to continue with our actions this weekend. We won’t stop until the cuts stop.”

US Uncut, a grassroots movement organized through social media, connects corporate tax cheating to public service cuts. The group has led over 180 actions nationwide, bringing protests directly to corporate tax cheats’ front door. US Uncut will hold more than 80 events over the upcoming Tax Day weekend.

For more information, please visit http://USuncut.org

As to the title of this post regarding the difference between a hoax and a lie… I’m dealing with my soon-to-be 12-year old daughter’s propensity for lying and trying to teach her the consequences. It’s a really hard-fought battle, and I’m not winning … yet.
What USUncut and The Yes Men did was a hoax.  It was designed to fool people momentarily to make a point.  And they did it.  It was never intended to deceive on a permanent basis.
What Senator John Kyl did on the Senate floor in an official speech in his official capacity as a United States Senator was a bold-faced lie.  He said
“If you want an abortion, you go to Planned Parenthood, and that’s well over 90% of  what Planned Parenthood does.”
It was not a joke. It was not a hoax.  It was nothing but a complete and utter lie.  And when his office was questioned about it, they responded with these exact words:
“His remark was not intended to be a factual statement.”
If we can’t trust officials elected to the highest posts in the land to speak “factual statements” when making speeches on the US Senate floor, what luck do you think I’ll have in teaching my daughter that it’s wrong to lie?
My favorite activist, author David Swanson (War is a Lie) also  joined me on the show this morning.  I had him scheduled to talk about his very recent trip to Afghanistan.  I truly expected to spend the second hour talking about the consequences of President Obama’s recent “deal” on the 2011 budget, and what we might expect when he speaks to the nation this afternoon.
Thankfully, that was pre-empted by the great work I detailed above.  We’ll use tomorrow morning to listen to the president and figure out how we save our future from the thugs who want to steal it.