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A couple of months ago, I launched a Friday afternoon feature, highlighting the most offensive Mitt Romney falsehoods of the week, and it moved to Maddow Blog a month ago. Let's keep this going with another installment.
1. Going after President Obama, Romney told voters this week, "Did you hear this? He believes he ranks among the top four presidents in American history. Can you believe that? I'd find a different spot for him."
Obama never said this.
2. Romney told Michigan voters about his presence at Detroit's Golden Jubilee, celebrating the American automobile's 50th anniversary. Romney said he "probably 4 or something like that" when his dad "had a job being the grandmaster."
Romney wasn't born at the time of the event.
3. Referring to the president, Romney argued, "He also promised he'd cut taxes for middle-income Americans. Hasn't done that, either."
Actually, Obama has cut middle-class taxes several times over the last three years. If this is supposed to be one of Romney's key areas of interest, how could he not have noticed this?
4. After winning the Michigan primary, Romney boasted, "[T]here are a lot of people who were saying that if you are running for office you really can't speak honestly to the American people. Well, we did."
Given how often Romney lies, at an almost pathological level, this is one of those fun meta-falsehoods.
5. Romney also argued, "This president, by the way, he likes to remind us that he inherited an economy that was in crisis. But he doesn't like to remind us that he also inherited a Democrat [sic] Congress. He had majorities in both the House and the Senate. He was free to pursue any policy he pleased."
Mitt Romney, after nearly two decades in electoral politics, has apparently never heard of the filibuster.
6. Romney claimed this week about Obama, "He lost our triple AAA credit rating."
No, actually, he didn't.
7. Romney also argued in Michigan, "This president wants to raise your taxes. I'm going to cut them."
Well, not exactly. Obama only intends to raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year, so when Romney says the president wants to raise "your" taxes, unless he's talking to an audience filled exclusively with the 2% of all income earners -- at a Romney event, I suppose that's possible -- he's lying. As for his vow to "cut" your taxes, the very poor would see their taxes go up under Romney's tax plan.
8. Romney claimed about the president, "Do you realize after saying that Medicare and Social Security were in trouble, he has yet to offer a single serious proposal for saving Medicare and Social Security?"
Ironically, Romney has also attacked Obama for doing too much to scale back entitlements. He can't -- or at least shouldn't -- have it both ways.
9. Romney boasted this week, "I have a plan to save both [Medicare and Social Security], and unlike [Obama], I have the courage to put my plan on the table."
No, actually, he doesn't -- at least not yet. Romney has presented no details about his "plan" for Medicare and Social Security.
10. Romney also claimed this week, "My plans will ... will not add to our deficit. They will abolish it."
No serious person could possibly look at Romney's plan and believe this.
11. Romney argued yesterday, in reference to oil production, "This is a president who`s not been helping the situation. And then he takes his EPA and uses them to try and stifle the development of oil and gas in this country."
That might make more sense if U.S. oil production under Obama weren't up so significantly.
12. Romney argued this morning, "You know how many trade agreements this president has negotiated? Zero."
Panama, Colombia, and South Korea know better.
Newt Gingrich argued this week that Mitt Romney "has a near Pavlovian reflex of lapsing into falsehoods in order to rearrange reality to his liking." That's harsh, but hardly unfounded.
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This blog is excellent with its fact checking. Until the mainstream media begins to fact check or voters who seldom look beyond their party affiliation, decide the truth is ultimately more convenient nothing will change.
Look up the word and Willard ' Mitt ' Romney's picture is right next to it !
men·dac·i·ty
[men-das-i-tee] Show IPA
noun, plural -ties for 2.
1.
the quality of being mendacious; untruthfulness; tendency to lie.
2.
an instance of lying; falsehood.
Romney has become extremely comfortable with constant lying...especially about President Obama. I'm glad at least somebody in the media is calling him on these lies. I wish journalists would call his lies to his face, however....that would be better.
"He lost our triple AAA credit rating."
I threw a shoe at the Tee Vee when he let that whopper rip. Someone should give him a current affairs lesson .
I do believe that if he gets the nomination Obama will have him for lunch in the debate.
He can respond to every Mitt Statement starting it by saying "I'm sorry Mitt that's a lie"
Mitt will repeat them so many times on the campaign trail he will not be able to discern reality.....(may have already happened)
"I'm Sorry Mitt. That's a lie." That's awesome. T-shirts should be made with simply that statement on it if he gets the nomination.
Romney won't be revealing too much of his game plan against Obama this early on so Obama better address some of the issues that he will have to deal with during the trip to November.
The campaigns are dancing at this point, but the candidate that gets to the nitty gritty first, we'll do better.
Obama will need more than the auto industry bail out, there are a lot of other jobs that need to be created and filled, and filled soon.
The election is going to come down to a battle between insurance companies and the insured, big business and wage earners, entitlement programs, those who produce and those who do not.
The GOP has hurt themselves on women's rights badly, but the Dems will need more heading to November to secure a win. I'm left of center, and although women's rights are very important, issues other than women's right's bother me too. And if they bother me, they also bother those in the center, and right of center. In other words, those who will decide the next election.
How ever unpopular the topic of entitlement programs are for Dems, they need to be addressed. Obama needs to show a direction that exposes those who take advantage of a system designed for those who need it, and get them working for a living. Entitlements need to be trimmed for them to remain solvent, we all know it..
Collecting unemployment checks is not a job. I understand the hardships of those without work, but if they're going to be collecting unemployment checks for years on end, they should be required to volunteer some time at local schools or other community organizations.
Unions need to continue to show a willingness to adjust to economic times. Some unions have ruined it for others by asking too much and present "strikes" as a threat to companies far too often. If they show willingness to negotiate reasonably, we will all benefit.
The GOP will be trying to privatize anything from Social Security, health insurance, and Medicare, to prison systems. As time goes by they will take what they can from anyone they can, that's just the GOP and the corporations that support them…money,money, money. Americans know that privatization of America has been the ultimate goal for the GOP, and always will be. Luckily for Obama, Americans know the benefits of privatization are limited to the large corporations that seek it.
of course you are entitled to your opinions, but after reading them, i don't consider you to be "left of center".
bill...I am left of center you can visit my site www.gopeabrain.com if you like. It is dedicated to what I refer to as "G.O. Peabrains", but that is not the point.
If you think that the issues I outlined in my original comment will not be used against Obama in the general election, you will be helping to hand over the keys to the White House to Romney in the fall.
We will experience the closest thing to anAristocracy that we can without actually being called an Aristocracy.
People like to read what they want to, but Obama will need to get to work to succeed again. He has women on his side, but he will need more...trust me.
I agree with Joe.
Except, as Maddow pointed out above, Romney has not offered any detailed solutions on most of these things either other than the stale, tired, failed republican mantras. Maybe you didn't listen to the Labor Day speech, the State of the Union address and others where Obama said he could not wait for Congress to act and he would move ahead on his jobs plan as much as he could without them. He has already outlined in much more specific terms what he would like to do.
You've rather contradicted yourself, have you not? You say on one hand that Romney won't tip his hand at this early point in the game, but then you say whoever gets to the nitty gritty first wins.
You honestly haven't seen union concessions? Where have you been hiding out? They've been conceding across the nation! Have you heard how much they contributed to the auto industry bailout? (Never mind that the failing CEOs got their millions...per year.)
I think you underestimate the President. By now, you should know he's actually quite savvy. I have been angered by his caving in quite a few times only to see it work to his benefit (and ours) over time.
And the unemployment checks? That is money being spent in the economy which actually does help with the job situation. So it's about more than the hardship. I think we've all known someone who lost their job in the downturn and tried very hard to find another one and found nothing for over a year. In my case, these were highly qualified people, but not exactly young anymore. Imagine being 60 and tossed out of the job you've had 20 years. Just how easy is it to find a job - and if they're busy volunteering when do they go on interviews and do their searches?
Of course there are those who take advantage of a situation. No one displays that more than the party of low wages - Republicans.
my brother is 56, worked for same company since 16yrs. old. worked his way up to plant super. Company sold 51% of there stock to another, out of country firm, they came in and 8months later did away with him and brought there own ppl. in. He has been to many interviews but no job. Younger ppl get them and he was told because he worked only at one place he lacks experience. So Joe, what would you have him do, he needs those unemployment checks to pay bills. These are people with lives who have worked hard and now can't find work. Tell that do nothing congress to pass the jobs bill instead of worrying about norquist and there campaign funds. Our president has tried hard to get this jobs bill and they won't work with him on anything.
One has to wonder, why are they making it so easy for Obama to win? What the heck are they up to? Are they really this ignorant and out of touch with reality?
Sumpin's up and I don't like it, no siree I don't like it at all.(gosh is paranoia contagious?)
Could be. They prefer ideological cohesion, they only talk to each other, and have a whole big slice of the media world all to themselves. If you spend enough time with the same people thinking the same thoughts, then a person in among all that is bound to come to believe that everyone is on the same page.
There are ideologues on the left, but it's not the same as there isn't a bubble mediaverse for the far left as there is for the far right. Everybody not in the far right (leftists, moderates, and genuine conservatives) have to mix it up and sharpen each others' wits whether they like it or not. The far right, not so much.
Sometimes their divisive approach works and sometimes it doesn't. It worked (barely) in 2004. It failed miserably in 2006 and 2008. It succeeded in 2010 because the Democratic Party was in charge of everything and the party was too undisciplined to succeed politically with its very ambitious agenda. Many of us warned about this as soon as we saw how undisciplined and self-indulgent the Democratic Senatorial caucus was behaving. By election day it was far from a surprise, although the scope of it was even worse than most of us feared.
2012 feels to me like a real extreme-overreach year for the GOP. The most surprising thing of all is that for all of the GOP talk about wanting to turn the election into a referendum on President Obama, they've in reality done everything in their power to ensure that the election will be a very, very, stark choice. In 2010, all of the attention was on the messiness of the Democrats. That election was a referendum on the Democrats. Now, most of the attention is on the volatile primary season and extreme agenda of the GOP. The wildness of the GOP is THE political story of 2012. I don't believe that the GOP suddenly decided they'd be better off ensuring that the election would be anything but a referendum on President Obama. I think that the whole situation spun wildly out of their control.
i love this segment. don't stop
Sounds like a pool shark, lose a couple to draw the suckers in or create a diversion so they gain control state by state. Each state has the ability on some level to tie up most federal laws,see Roe vs Wade or their challenges to ACA. With control of state legislatures they can cut back on worker's rights, make it more difficult to vote and carve out districts where they are unlikely to lose.
Wisconsin has already repealed the equal pay for equal work law for women and any minorities. Now they're addressing a bill that makes single parenthood illegal. Yup. All single parents will be charged with child abuse and child neglect.
Do you have a cite for that?
I have two. First is a report on the matter from ThinkProgress. And the second is the full bill itself from the Wisconsin legislature's website so you can confirm the basic accuracy of the report yourself.
Over 230 pieces of legislation passed by Pelosi's hard working House were filibustered by publicans (sic) in the senate or the economy would be well on the way to a huge recovery. I wish they were all listed so the public could see just what repubs blocked from even being voted on.
Also, the US oil industry has twice as many oil drilling operations going on than the rest of the world combined. Romney is just the epitome of the corporate owned and operated publican party and the elected millionaire tea party fringe.
Yes...Do go see Jon Stewart define 'The Romney' last night. 'It is the unit of time during which a person can change his deeply held position to its direct opposite.' So great!
"...How ever unpopular the topic of entitlement programs are for Dems, they need to be addressed. Obama needs to show a direction that exposes those who take advantage of a system designed for those who need it, and get them working for a living. Entitlements need to be trimmed for them to remain solvent, we all know it..
Collecting unemployment checks is not a job. I understand the hardships of those without work, but if they're going to be collecting unemployment checks for years on end, they should be required to volunteer some time at local schools or other community organizations.
Unions need to continue to show a willingness to adjust to economic times. Some unions have ruined it for others by asking too much and present "strikes" as a threat to companies far too often. If they show willingness to negotiate reasonably, we will all benefit..."- JoeBlogger
These comments prove you are very far right from left of center as they are bogus right wing talking points which all here have seen debunked over and over again so I won't even bother. You're either an idiot or you don't have any idea what you're talking about. Auto Worker's Union helped save the industry by sacrificing so much for one example. Cut oil industry "entitlements" not the economy stimulating life saving social safety net of food stamps and unemployment benefits. Next you'll be raving about the Reagan's cadillac driving welfare queen they never could find.
So true...it gets old doesn't it?
Once again big botts and redsfan, in case you didn't read the post above I'm left of center. I have a site www.gopeabrain.com dedicated to what I refer to as G.O. Pea Brains.
Visit it and let me know if you think I'm right wing. You are missing the points that will hurt Obama, and putting your head in the sand, which is what I believe people like you will do, will keep you blind until Romney and Wall Street take control of the White House.
But don't let that stop you from ignoring what will come to be. Just enjoy the sand.
bjobotts...Although the UAW has made concessions, Americans are still paying 50k for a pick up...That's not being "right" that's just what they cost. If Obama loses, unions may be a thing of he past and those workers will be working for much less than they ever realized, just to eat.
Don't put your union party hat on so soon. You'll see what's coming down the pipe and you won't like it.
Dems are getting complacent with victories regarding social issues, but when it comes time to vote, there will be people that are out of their homes, out of a job, and they will be sour.
These social issues will have aged by then, and may not have the impact you, or others like you think. Beware..is all I'm sayin.
To paraphrase novelist Mary McCarthy's famous words about Lillian Hellman:" Everything he (Mitt Romney) says, including "'and' and 'the' is a lie."
This weekly blog entry is a balm on my wincing psyche. I thank you for it.
We could use a link to all the other weeks summaries of Mitt "tall tales." One week's worth is pretty impressive, but multiple weeks to refer to is awesome.
Maybe Romney does remember events before he was born. After all, in Mormon beliefs we all had a pre-mortal existence which stretches back before the formation of this planet. If someone asks nicely, perhaps Romney can confirm that he watched Detroit's jubilee from the pre-mortal world. I'm sure he'd appreciate being asked the question.
First you said 5 falsehoods a week, then 10 now you are up to 12. You need to get this under control. If you don't control yourself and set a higher standard and only report the very falsest of the falsehoods you will end up working very very late each Friday and might end up a little bit pregnant.
Look I know that totally false is totally false, but you really don't want to spend all Friday typing do you ?
It has been the GOP agenda to 'starve the beast; by cutting taxes increasing military spending and anything else to make so called entitlements a budgetary problem since Reagan. Before Bush's war of ego in Iran and before his massive tax cuts for the rich the budget was in surplus. I do understand there is not unlimited resources to take care of everyone comfortably but we can certainly trim the fat from defense and collect the taxes fairly owed. The corporations that complain about all the regulations can thank their peers who carelessly destroyed watersheds, loaded buildings with asbestos, made a fortune on unsafe drugs and the other unsafe practices and products they made and expected the taxpayer to clean up their messes. The banks are in a league of their own.
To paraphrase an old saw: How can you tell when Mitt Romney is lying? His lips are moving.
Wow! I noticed a few of these from reading the news, but when you put them all together like this, it's shocking. The only one I might quibble with is the one where he accuses Obama of going back on a pledge to cut taxes for "middle income Americans". I think we should remember that this is the same man who thinks $300,000 is "not very much". Who knows what his definition of "middle income Americans" is :-). I guess it's good news for Obama, but then I'm the person who though John Kerry couldn't lose to President Bush...
Nitt's Mendacity is destroying him with the conservative base:
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/03/02/breaking-mitt-romney-urged-obama-to-embrace-the-individual-mandate/
Stop! You're breaking my heart. (evil grin)
Rachel, please do a show giving a Civics lesson re how Obama did NOT inherit a Democratic majority in Congress in 2008 -- that it now takes 60 votes to make anything happen, that 51 votes is no longer a majority. Oh, and how this tactic has been used by Republicans prolifically over decades to stop anything they don't agree with -- including matters that were settled law decades ago. (Will they ever get over the 60s?) And maybe how working to make sure our President does not succeed is synonymous with working to make sure our country does not succeed -- how patriotic is that? Dems need to start drip-drip-dripping the truth to counteract and drown out Republican falsehoods.
Rachael,
I'm trying to get to talk to you (or rather your staff,maybe they will talk to you about what I said).
It's obvious that Rush Limbaugh has totally caved on the Fluke thing.
That's fine. It is as it should be.
But don't dance on this grave.
Take that fact, put it in your pocket and save it for a later day.
As in, "you say this, what did you say then" type of thing.
Just like you accepted Cal's apology, accept Rush's apology. Note it, accept it. Then move on.
Let's turn the heat down. But cable TV wants to turn the heat up.
That IS a problem for the USA.
Thanks
Limbaugh did not "cave". He apologized for using insulting words, but he also reiterated his original distortion of Fluke's testimony. Basically, he wants it both ways. He wants the heat off, and he wants to continue to lie about what Fluke said. I believe that your arch, ostentatious desire for 'reasonableness' is intended to give Limbaugh the media space to do just that.
At present, six sponsors have withdrawn support from Limbaugh's show, one since the fake apology. If you and Limbaugh wish the controversy would go away so that he can continue just the same as before, it doesn't look like you are going to get your wish. That is as it should be.
Limbaugh is a vile evil women hateing racist man and needs to be taken off the air waves. Anyone who listens to hate radio is just as bad.
This blog is doing an important service, but the problem is only us lefties are going to see. It ought to be adopted by the Obama campaign with a link on their webpage.
Yes and everytime he lies, his nose grows, extracting energy from another extremity! God hears all? SUE RUSH NOW, for his vile attack on all women seeking/needing health Ins coverage, of birth controlt. Defamation, conspiracy to attempted gang rape(demanding to "gang watch"innocent women in private, intimate settings,(voyeurism, inciting violence towards all women. Inituate a class action suit, with all awards donated to womens health organazations?
Every time I see Romney shaking hands, I flashback to the movie, "The Dead Zone." Martin Sheen runs for president and is exposed as a coward. I am waiting for Romney's exposure. If you haven't seen it, watch it. Romney has no backbone. But the real danger is Santorum! He is taking money from the state schools budget to pay for homeschooling his kids, but what I want to know is he also using state money to pay for his disabled child's health care. I know parents get taxpayers money for their disabled children. Is he like Bachman on the government teat ?
Rachel,
Time to move beyond Limbaugh and Romney. Sensible things need to be done with Iran and one of the ways of moving forward is to seek the advice of Vali Nasr of Tufts.