[ncallaway]

I mean, if you accept that Bitfinex is printing tether, then the difference would seem to be the fact that Bitfinex is lying about it while the US Government isn't lying about it?

The ability of the US Government to create more dollars is a well understood aspect of the financial system. The US Government acknowledges is has the power to print money, and regularly tells us how much it is printing.

Bitfinex claims they do not print USDT and that it is backed by USD.

For a system that's based largely on trust (for both the USD and USDT), lying is a significant problem.