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As the 2012 presidential campaign advances, impatience with Mitt Romney's penchant for falsehoods grows. Jamelle Bouie this week reflected on the the fact that "the former Massachusetts governor has no use for honesty in his campaign."
"Constant mendacity is the norm for Romney and his campaign, and odds are good that he won't suffer for it," Bouie wrote. "Campaign reporters don't have a strong incentive to challenge him on his misrepresentations, and interested parties have a hard time dealing with the deluge."
And yet, we remain undeterred, as evidenced by the 17th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.
1. At an event in Euclid, Ohio, Romney argued, "We will not forget the fact that when [President Obama] was putting in place $787 billion of borrowing in his first few months in office that he said the borrowing would keep the unemployment rate below 8%."
That's a popular claim for Romney, but it's completely untrue.
2. Romney said in the same remarks the only reason the unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 8.1% is "because of the people that dropped out of the work force."
That's demonstrably false.
3. At the event, Romney also said of the president, "[H]is vision is that it is ok for a small business to raise taxes from 35% to 40% of small businesses."
In reality, Obama has cut taxes on small businesses, and raising the top income tax rate would not adversely affect small businesses, no matter how often Republicans argue to the contrary.
4. Romney added, "You know, the number of ships in the U.S. Navy is smaller than any time since 1917."
This one again? Romney dropped this lie a while ago, but it's apparently back.
5. Romney went on to say, "Let me tell you, we will take America in a very different place. He is taking America on a path towards Europe and Europe is not working there. It will not work here."
The irony is, Europe is trying to grow through austerity, just as Romney intends to do here. He's lying in a self-refuting sort of way.
6. Romney also argued, "Syria is Iran's source of access to the Mediterranean."
Iran doesn't share a border with Syria.
7. Romney said of the American auto industry, "I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back."
8. In a speech in Michigan, Romney said of Obama, "In his campaign kickoff speech last week, he asked us not to think about these last four years.... The president's plea that we simply ignore the last four years is his latest effort to escape responsibility for the failures."
Obama actually did the opposite, urging Americans to remember the last four years.
9. In the same speech, Romney said Obama has tried "to blame others" for the slow recovery, including "ATMs."
As his lies go, this one's just dumb.
10. He added, "President Clinton said the era of big government was over. President Obama brought it back with a vengeance."
That's the opposite of the truth.
11. Romney also argued, "Government at all levels now constitutes 38% of the economy, and if Obamacare is installed, it will reach almost 50%."
David Corn recently said this is arguably Romney's "biggest fib," which falls "somewhere between 'ridiculous' and 'stupid.'"
12. Romney went on to say, "Old-school liberals saw a problem and thought a government-run program was the answer. Obamacare is the fulfillment of their dreams."
There is no universe in which this makes sense -- "Obamacare" relies on private insurers, not a government takeover.
13. Romney also said of the Affordable Care Act, "An unelected board will tell seniors what treatments Medicare will cover."
That's not true.
14. He went on to argue, "President Obama takes his marching orders from union bosses ... and even denies an American company the right to build a factory in the American state of its choice."
That's wildly misleading and he knows it.
15. Romney also said, "Have you seen President Obama's vision of the future? To help us see it, his campaign has even created a little fictional character, living an imaginary life filled with happy milestones for which she will spend the rest of her days thanking President Obama. It's called 'The Life of Julia.' And it is a cartoon. Julia progresses from cradle to grave, showing how government makes every good thing in her life possible."
That's not at all what "The Life of Julia" says.
16. Romney asked, "What does it say about a president's policies when he has to use a cartoon character rather than real people to justify his record?"
Obama uses real people, with real stories, to justify his record all of the time. That many of these same real people would suffer under Romney's agenda matters, too.
17. The Romney campaign argued this week that "the average cost of college has increased by 25%" under Obama.
That's wildly misleading and deliberately deceptive.
18. The Romney campaign also argued this week that Obama has broken his promise "to pursue all available energy sources, an 'all of the above" policy.'
Actually, Obama's still pursuing an "all of the above" energy policy, which is nearly identical to John McCain's plan from 2008.
19. The Romney campaign also blamed Obama this week for gas prices having "more than doubled" since January 2009.
To call this comically misleading would be an understatement.
20. And overnight, the Romney campaign claimed that Obama has "now admitted that he's forgotten about the recession."
That's not even close to being accurate.
The New York Times' David Firestone said this week, after a Romney claim he called "preposterous" and "breathtaking," that the Republican presidential candidate has "pushed the boundaries of veracity," but "hasn't paid much of a price."
That's clearly a fair assessment. It's up to media professionals and voters to determine whether Romney's extraordinary detachment from the truth is going to matter in this election or not. So far, the former governor is gambling he can get away with falsehoods that are as extraordinary as they routine, and by all appearances, at for now, he's right.
Previous editions of Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity: Vol. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII,XIII, XIV, XV, XVI
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Asphyxia is what we will experience if we hold our breaths waiting for the Corporately Owned Media to hold Mittens accountable for his lies.
6. Romney also argued, "Syria is Iran's source of access to the Mediterranean."
I'm almost tempted to start buying up Earth Globes or Maps and just start sending them to every GOP candidate that opens their mouth about places around the world.. This is not the first, nor will it ever be the last, that they so screw up on basic geography.
Ubekibekibekistanstan...
re TessyCravesSanity...
Obviously you need a map reading class!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j6135gEuOCM/TBzAEvT-WjI/AAAAAAAABX8/sC9hToClmEI/s1600/n_africa_mid_east_pol_2010.jpg
If you would look closely at the linked map, you would see the 8 lane superhighways from Iran that run across both Iraq and Turkey and run thru Syria to the Mediterranean! Also notice the oversized welcome mats at the borders.
Sorry, I was merely going by the fact they do not share borders and the fact that Iran has to go through other countries to even get to Syria. So saying that Syria is Iran's access point is kinda silly when either Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, or Saudi Arabia to get inside Jordan would have to be entered first.
But thanks for the snarky correction on like Highways and stuff. So by that means shouldn't the other countries be the one to close their Highway entry points then? Would Syria even have control over ALL Highways that ran through other countries? But mmkay.
Good reply, tessy, he really is sad, and old.
Mitt Romney has no qualifications whatsoever to hold the position of commander in chief and leader of the free world. His chronic presidential campaigns have shown Mitt to be a weak character, a man with no convictions, and someone seemingly afraid of opening up to the very people that would be giving him the job of President. Mitt treats voters as he treated the employees at the companies he killed off at Bain: folks to be loosely courted with distant politeness, then to be wiped off the face of the earth in order to make a profit. The man is dangerous. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
I don't wish to do or say anything that may appear to defend Romney, but how exactly would one gain experience necessary to be POTUS except by being POTUS? Did FDR gain the experience necessary to cope with both the Great Depression and the Second World War when he was governor of New York? Did Lincoln gain the experience necessary to command during the Civil War when he was stumbling around the backwoods of Illinois with the state militia during the Black Hawk War? Something will burst if I laugh any harder.
To be clear, Mitt Romney is a sociopath and a pathological liar who can't be trusted to open a can of beans that's already open, but it's unrealistic to expect anyone to come pre-armed with presidential experience. There are plenty of excellent reasons to knock Romney. We can leave the silly excuses alone.
Excellent article on global climate change...
#13 'An unelected board will tell seniors what treatments Medicare will cover'. American women have had so much success with elected people telling their MD's to lie about abortions and cancer and forcing MD's to perform unneeded intrusive tests on women and making them pay for unwanted services. Of course if Mitt has his way Medicare will be gone and seniors would rejoin the rest of us that have insurance companies telling us what our care will be despite the MD's recommendations.
The corporate media has no monetary interest in calling Mitt a liar. Calling him out week after week, day after day, would only lead to Mitt losing the election before November. It is in the corporate owed media's best interest to keep Mitt in the race and the polling numbers pretty darn close to 50-50. Close races generate interest, generate income.
The 3 types of lies, remember: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Statistics, when used properly, makes people's eyes glaze over. But when used in the corporate interest, statisitics make people go hmmmmm. 'Cause numbers don't lie. In the Bush-Gore election, the news casters were in alt day after day as the pole numbers swang 49-51% back and forth every day. They were so excited that Bush and Gore traded who was on top over and over. And the ignorants listening nodded their heads sagely and wondered what Bush had done to bring his polling numbers up or what Gore had done. While the statisitcally wise tried shouting "but the margin of error is 3%! which means the polling data has not shifted one bit this week!" Stating that Gore and Bush were in a statistical tie doesn't sell news. It's not sexy. It's not newsworthy.
Neither is calling out Romney, which is unfortunate for those of us who can remember past last night's news.
Exactly, mathteacher. That's why Myth's still in the race and whetever juicy scandal's out there won't come out until October at least.
Keep up the GOOD WORK Steve!!
I look forward to having upwards of 41 (XXXXI) of these references to fall back on by election day in NOV (Unless you take a week off somewhere). This is cold proof of Mitt's inability to be honest with America and show he's ready for the responsibilities of being president.
Romney is betting on the fact that no one will care and that a large number of people/voters are too stupid to know any better.
Prove him wrong! Don't let this be the new level of expectation for something so important. I'm not trusting my country to a guy who lies with such impunity.
I meant XXXXII (42), not 41. My math was off.
I'm with you realquestion.
Poor Mitt, he cant open his mouth with out lying. But if I had the some religion, that makes things up as it seem fit, what might you expect.
Has anyone started selling Romney lies! tee shirts yet?
Very funny idea ! And maybe there should be a list of things he is responsible for on the T shirt too like : Romney created the universe, invented fire and the wheel, freed the slaves, brought down the wall in Germany, and personally saved the American Auto Industry !
do they make t-shirts BIG enough for all that ??
better use a tiny font !
LOL. And so many, many more lies that could be printed, too. Maybe there could be a series of T shirts printed.
thank you for this service to your country
" Lying vulture capitalist . . . party of one named Romney. . . your table is ready on the SS Teatanic. Enjoy your trip into oblivion ! "
Keep on recording Mitts lies and you will have more material than Tolstoy's War And Peace.
Gee, by the time Mitt corrects all of his lies and misconceptions, he'll realize that he's a democrat !!
/wishful thinking off
That's the worst lie, this liar pretending he was amoderate. he's always been a fake weather vane but he is for cutting an giving tax money to the rich.
Although nearly fifty years have passed since, I think this week's news that introduced us to Bully Mitt Romney is a real revelation – a real window into Romney’s psyche which comports with the other statements and actions he has made more recently.
Even as a high school student, Romney had been given everything: he was bright, he was rich, he was a very handsome, attractive young man with political connections. He was the very image of what any father would want his son to be. Yet, even with such a secure standing in his world, untouchable in a very real way, he found it necessary to pull other people down. He uses the word “prankster” to classify this behavior, a word loaded with a playful quality. But as more than one of the witnesses attests, it was vicious. That Romney has no memory of the episode is sort of perfect: this poor kid meant nothing to Romney, and posed no threat to him. His well being clearly had no value to Romney; why would he remember?
Romney’s glorified persona today demonstrates many of these same facets. A man who, as a financier, enjoyed using his position and wealth to upend the lives of thousands of less fortunate Americans in the name of his profit and his ego. This is a man who does not recognize the advantage that he had in life – he insists that he is a self-made man and refuses to acknowledge that his success was seeded in the privilege that he enjoyed all of his life. He is a man who displays a troubling and distinct sense of entitlement that allows no room for anyone else’s welfare. His candidacy is not about America’s well being, it is about his own thirst for ultimate power.
This is not the kind of president America needs.
I have long taken issue with the common assertion that a successful businessman is, de facto, going to be an exceptional executive in government. This is patently false logic. While it is true that an entrepreneur must navigate his business through the forces of the macroeconomic environment, it does not follow that such a businessman will know how to ensure a nation's welfare. (Romney would argue that GDP is the only measure of a country's welfare; an simple economic equation that I disagree with). But more importantly: What motive does a businessman (used to decision making driven by personal financial gain) have to make decisions that impact the populace? How does he downsize an economy? Does he fire America’s citizens? Can he offload the burden of the people? No, of course he cannot.
I posit that Mr. Romney, who has been afforded a life where he could act independently and with impunity, has few of the skills that are required to be an effective president of such a complex, diverse, and dynamic country. We need a president who understands that the success of a president will be shown in the welfare of all Americans, not just the aggregate of economic activity.
Thank you, Steve, for posting these lists.
You're right Theactivist but seems nobody wants to challenge Myth right now. They probably want a close election so they'll let him lie for a while longer until they're done with him.
Some are big money MSM who want Myth's tax cuts but much of the media are liberals, those people will eventually call him out come September.
Perhaps Myth should run for the leadership of the Cayman Islands.
Thanks Thomas W. your view of what America needs is exactly my view. I live approximately 2700 miles from you but your America is my America. I am glad this county can be united in what is needed to make the United States healthy both financially and socially. Our President needs to be honest and compassionate.
Steve, too many. Please change this to a daily feature so you can highlight just a few lies each day in great detail.