Here’s a list of some of the whoppers that Paul Ryan served up Wednesday night.
Dispatches From the Republican National Convention
Entry 13: Here’s a list of some of the whoppers that Paul Ryan served up Wednesday night.
Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP/GettyImages.
Rice got the best pre-Ryan reception, definitely, but these nights are rigged for the veep speeches. The lights dim a little. The floor gets packed—so packed that reporters were told to stay away, lest we violate fire codes, starting at 10:20 pm.
So I was in the cheap seats, not on carpet, when Ryan plowed through one of the more impressive strings of whoppers we've seen at this level. Ryan's been doling out chunks of this speech for weeks, which made the fibs sound even stranger.
In the spirit of the Internet, I will package them in listicle form.
- The GM plant in Janesville. Ryan mentioned it in a pretty effective section on the Obama-induced pangs of his hometown. But as Matthew DeLuca explained two weeks ago,
GM announced the closure during the Bush presidency. Ryan hustled to
save it. He voted for the GM bailout, in another attempt to save it. You
can call that proof of government's failure, sure, but Obama didn't
force it on the city.
- "The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare,
and cronyism at their worst." That's extraordinarily hard to argue, and Ryan's office lobbied effectively for some stimulus grants that went to his district.
- "$716 billion, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama." Not really true, either.
The Medicare spending "cuts" are of the sort that Ryan defended when he
was rising through the House—reductions in future reimbursement rates.
- "A downgraded America." S&P's rationale for downgrading the United States from AAA to AA+
"assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of
2012, remain in place." This was "because the majority of Republicans in
Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues."
Ryan's promised to keep those tax cuts for now, then try and flatten the
code into two low rates, and we don't know what the S&P Tiki Gods
think of that.
- The "bipartisan debt commission" Ryan referred to was Simpson-Bowles. He served on it, and voted against the report, because it didn't tackle Medicare costs—which sort of brings us back to the "$716 billion funneling" issue.
Heck, this is the part where I should offer some balance. Well: Ryan delivered these lines perfectly, with just the right decibel shifts. And "a ship trying to sail on yesterday's wind" is a keeper.
Paul Ryan Address: Convention Speech Built On Demonstrably Misleading Assertions
TAMPA, Fla. -- Paul Ryan pledged Wednesday that if he and his running mate Mitt Romney were elected president, they would usher in an ethic of responsibility. The Wisconsin congressman and GOP vice presidential candidate repeatedly chided President Barack Obama for blaming the jobs and housing crises on his predecessor, saying that his habit of "forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago -– isn’t it about time he assumed responsibility?"
Ryan then noted that Obama, while campaigning for president, promised that a GM plant in Wisconsin would not shut down. "That plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight," Ryan said.
Except Obama didn't promise that. And the plant closed in December 2008 -- while George W. Bush was president.
It was just one of several striking and demonstrably misleading elements of Ryan's much-anticipated acceptance speech. And it comes just days after Romney pollster Neil Newhouse warned, defending the campaign's demonstrably false ads claiming Obama removed work requirements from welfare, "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers."
Ryan, for his part, slammed the president for not supporting a deficit commission report without mentioning that he himself had voted against it, helping to kill it.
He also made a cornerstone of his argument the claim that Obama "funneled" $716 billion out of Medicare to pay for Obamacare. But he didn't mention that his own budget plan relies on those very same savings.
Ryan also put responsibility for Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. government debt at Obama's doorstep. But he didn't mention that S&P itself, in explaining its downgrade, referred to the debt ceiling standoff. That process of raising the debt ceiling was only politicized in the last Congress, driven by House Republicans, led in the charge by Paul Ryan.
The credit rater also said it worried that Republicans would never agree to tax increases. “We have changed our assumption on [revenue] because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues,” S&P wrote.
Jodie Layton, a convention goer from Utah watching the Ryan speech, said she was blown away by the vice presidential candidate. But she said she was surprised to hear that after his speech about taking responsibility, he'd pinned a Bush-era plant closing on Obama.
"It closed in December 2008?" she asked, making sure she heard a HuffPost reporter's question right. After a long pause, she said, "It's happening a lot on both sides. It's to be expected."
Ryan has referenced the GM plant before, and his attack was debunked by the Detroit News, which called it inaccurate. "In fact, Obama made no such promise and the plant halted production in December 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office," Detroit News reporter David Sherpardson wrote earlier this month. "Obama did speak at the plant in February 2008, and suggested that a government partnership with automakers could keep the plant open, but made no promises as Ryan suggested."
After the speech, CNN's political commentators focused mostly on Ryan's misstatements, demonstrating the degree to which they were evident.
Top Obama adviser David Axelrod jumped on the GM factory claim. "Again, Ryan blames Obama for a GM plant that closed under Bush. But then, they did say they wouldn't 'let fact checkers get in the way.'"
Ryan, however, appears to have made the calculation that the misleading won't hurt him with voters. He might be right. CNN's David Gergen, while acknowledging some "misstatements" in Ryan's address, suggested that pundits focus elsewhere. "But let's not forget that this was a speech about big ideas," he told his audience.
UPDATE: For more on the closure process, which was announced in mid-2008, see the local Gazette Xtra. More than 2,000 Janesville GM workers were laid off immediately; another 57 stayed on until April 2009 as production wound down.
A comprehensive guide to the candidate's lies or misrepresentations from his big RNC speech
Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan waves after his address at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Paul Ryan delivered a blistering assessment of President Obama aided by a casual disregard for facts. Many, including Salon’s Joan Walsh and Steve Kornacki, have already pointed out the speech’s mendacity, but here is a comprehensive guide of every single lie, misrepresentation, or omission from the speech, in the order they were delivered:
- GM plant — Ryan: blamed Obama for the closing of GM plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wis. Truth: One of the biggest whoppers of the night, the plant closed before Obama was even sworn into office. His position also contradicts the Republicans’ position of opPposing President Obama’s auto rescue.
- Stimulus — Ryan: “The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal.” Truth: The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the stimulus created 3.3 million jobs. Four out of five economists agree. Ryan himself wrote letters requesting stimulus money, then lied about it.
- Medicare — Ryan: “Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.” Truth: As we’ve pointed out many times, Obamacare doesn’t raid Medicare and Ryan’s plan would do a lot more to ruin Medicare. One of the biggest lies of the campaign.
- Obamacare — Ryan: “You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover…” Truth: Politifact called the “government takeover” of healthcare meme their “lie of the year” in 2010.
Quoting PamR:
A comprehensive guide to the candidate's
lies or misrepresentations from his big RNC speech
Republican
vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan waves after his address at
the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. (AP/J.
Scott Applewhite)
Paul Ryan delivered a blistering assessment of President Obama aided by a casual disregard for facts. Many, including Salon’s Joan Walsh and Steve Kornacki,
have already pointed out the speech’s mendacity, but here is a
comprehensive guide of every single lie, misrepresentation, or omission
from the speech, in the order they were delivered:
- GM plant — Ryan: blamed Obama for the closing of GM plant in his
hometown of Janesville, Wis. Truth: One of the biggest whoppers of the
night, the plant closed before Obama was even sworn into office. His position also contradicts the Republicans’ position of opPposing President Obama’s auto rescue.
- Stimulus — Ryan: “The stimulus was a case of political patronage,
corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and
women of this country, were cut out of the deal.” Truth: The
non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the stimulus created 3.3 million jobs. Four out of five economists agree. Ryan himself wrote letters requesting stimulus money, then lied about it.
- Medicare — Ryan: “Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.” Truth: As we’ve pointed out many times, Obamacare doesn’t raid Medicare and Ryan’s plan would do a lot more to ruin Medicare. One of the biggest lies of the campaign.
- Obamacare — Ryan: “You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay
for the health care takeover…” Truth: Politifact called the “government
takeover” of healthcare meme their “lie of the year” in 2010.
LOL You are entitled to your thoughts and opinions whatever they are based on.
Quoting rachelrothchild:
I'm not a liberal, and I'm not uneducated. You can't vote for something (or several things) that screws over the American people and then talk about freedom and liberty. It doesn't work that way. You can't just talk the talk. You have to walk the walk. People like me aren't stupid enough to buy this. He is a corrupt piece of crap who will tell you what you want to hear and give you whatever answer is popular at the time, just like Romney. Wolves in sheeps' clothing. I almost feel sorry for anyone who trusts what he says. His voting record speaks for itself.
I think you are the one who is uneducated about the facts. As for me, I'm not voting for Romney or Obama because they are both controlled by the same people.
Quoting itsmesteph11:
Typical liberal statement (or maybe you are just uneducated about the facts?)
Quoting rachelrothchild:
He's a hypocrite.
LMAO
Some of these are very humorous. Liberals will say anything to try and reduce the truth and instill doubt. It's what they do. They are freaked about Ryan and how he is already putting Obamas "ability to speak to the people" to shame.
Quoting Carpy:
And then David Axelrod? LMAO. No bias there. My God, I fear for this country.
Quoting PamR:
A comprehensive guide to the candidate's
lies or misrepresentations from his big RNC speech
Republican
vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan waves after his address at
the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. (AP/J.
Scott Applewhite)
Paul Ryan delivered a blistering assessment of President Obama aided by a casual disregard for facts. Many, including Salon’s Joan Walsh and Steve Kornacki,
have already pointed out the speech’s mendacity, but here is a
comprehensive guide of every single lie, misrepresentation, or omission
from the speech, in the order they were delivered:
- GM plant — Ryan: blamed Obama for the closing of GM plant in his
hometown of Janesville, Wis. Truth: One of the biggest whoppers of the
night, the plant closed before Obama was even sworn into office. His position also contradicts the Republicans’ position of opPposing President Obama’s auto rescue.
- Stimulus — Ryan: “The stimulus was a case of political patronage,
corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and
women of this country, were cut out of the deal.” Truth: The
non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the stimulus created 3.3 million jobs. Four out of five economists agree. Ryan himself wrote letters requesting stimulus money, then lied about it.
- Medicare — Ryan: “Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.” Truth: As we’ve pointed out many times, Obamacare doesn’t raid Medicare and Ryan’s plan would do a lot more to ruin Medicare. One of the biggest lies of the campaign.
- Obamacare — Ryan: “You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay
for the health care takeover…” Truth: Politifact called the “government
takeover” of healthcare meme their “lie of the year” in 2010.
The "fact-checkers" have been fact checked. Those "fact-checkers" aren't being honest themselves. Sad when the "fact-checkers" have to be fact checked.
Thirded.
Quoting Raintree:What are the facts, steph? I second Pam. Take your time.
Quoting itsmesteph11:Typical liberal statement (or maybe you are just uneducated about the facts?)
Quoting rachelrothchild:
He's a hypocrite.
Mitch McConnell Defends Obama Administration On AP Scandal
Posted: 08/30/2012 12:29 am Updated: 08/30/2012 11:52 am