In my continuing crusade against the evils of occupational licensure, allies have been hard to come by. Most people take for granted the idea that licensing laws protect consumer welfare against unqualified professionals, and view any challenge to their legitimacy as some form of dangerous lunacy. This is particularly true in the medical profession. While the absurdity of requiring licenses for hair braiders or interior decorators may be relatively easy to convey, medical practice has such a high potential for danger that arguing for any reduction in regulations strikes people are reckless. In a new working paper from the Mercatus institute, however, Edward Timmons joins the fray, demonstrating that many licensing restrictions on medical providers exist not to protect consumer welfare, but to limit competition among doctors, resulting in higher prices and less choice for consumers.

By now, most people realize that the Affordable Care Act has not done much to help bring down the cost of medical care. In fact, insurance plans keep getting more expensive every year. Because of these failings, the administration has consistently had trouble getting people to sign up on the exchanges. Still, there’s one provision of ObamaCare that has remained popular despite its other failings: the requirement that insurers cover preexisting conditions.

The annual State of the Union Speech is an opportunity for the president to update the country on the progress made in the last year, as well as lay out an agenda for the coming twelve months. With 2016 being the last opportunity for Barack Obama to address the nation as president, it’s understandable that he would be more focused on summing up his accomplishments in office than looking forward to the future. Given his actual record, though, it’s no surprise that he has resulted to a few exaggerations, or outright untruths, in trying to whitewash his two terms as Commander in Chief. Here are six claims to be made in tonight’s speech that are unbelievable for the simple reason that they.