Many of us have become painfully accustomed to Mitt Romney making claims that aren't true, but once in a while, his most egregious falsehoods strike a nerve. This week in Texas, for example, the Republican presidential nominee told a whopper that Andrew Sullivan called "a classic of total disingenuous crap."
"[W]ith America in crisis, with 23 million people out of work or stopped looking for work, [President Obama] hasn't put forth a plan to get us working again," Romney said Tuesday. "Now I know we're getting close to an election so he'll come out with one soon, but three and a half years later, we're waiting."
Plenty of fine folks have noted the absurdity of the argument, but I'd like to echo their sentiments. When Romney says things like this, he's obviously lying. There's no gray area; it's not a claim that's partially true; it's simply 100% false. It's not even a close call.
Obama put forward a plan to get us working again in 2009 -- it's known as the Recovery Act, or the "stimulus," and it was extremely effective in turning the economy around (more on this later this morning). In 2011, as the recovery slowed, Obama put forward another plan -- it was called the American Jobs Act and independent economists said the proposal would have created as many as 2 million jobs this year.
Senate Republicans killed the jobs bill with a filibuster, while House Republicans refused to bring it to the floor for a vote, despite polls showing broad bipartisan support for the provisions in Obama's plan.
What's more, while the American Jobs Act was unveiled in September, Obama has continued to present ideas for job creation, including his State of the Union address and his economic "to-do list" for Congress. He reminded policymakers about his plans on Friday and again on Saturday.
"Three and a half years later, we're waiting"? Romney must know that's not true.
The GOP candidate can't feign ignorance and say his bogus argument in Texas is the result of confusion; Romney has given detailed critiques of the president's jobs plans. He's even endorsed some of the ideas in Obama's proposals.
Romney doesn't have to like Obama's jobs plans, but he shouldn't get away with brazenly lying about their existence.
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"Romney doesn't have to like Obama's jobs plans, but he shouldn't get away with brazenly lying about their existence." Well, it's up to the media to call him on this, or at least echo the Obama team calling him on it in an unambiguous way. I will not hold my breath.
On the other hand, none of Obama's plans have worked, so like Romney says we're still waiting. Sorry, but Romney isn't lying.
You and Mr Romney have a lot in common you are not afraid to allow the facts to get in the way of a good lie. For the Presidents plans to have failed they would first have had to be implemented. The Republicans in the House and Senate have blocked most of the proposed measures not even allowing them to come to a vote. The parts of the stimulus that were allowed to go forward worked and kept the economy from going into another Great Depression even the most conservative economists agree. The problem was we have not been able to do enough with the obstructionists in Congress wanting to do everything possible to tank the economy for their own short term political goals. They no longer even pretend they have respect for the office anymore and do all they can to hurt the American people so they can hurt the President and the Democrats this is about the short sighted behavior of the lunatic fringe that is now firmly in control of the Republican party.
The way to deal with this is grab the bull by the horns. Take the jobs issue, supposedly a bad one for Obama, and repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly remind people it's Republican obstruction that has unnecessarily made the situation this bad. It is the Republican economy we're now enjoying because they've gotten what they wanted: low taxes, low regulation, decreased spending (yes, DECREASED) not seen since the Korean War demobilization (see Krugman). Yep, it's the structure Republicans say would give us a booming economy. They should like it.
Make this issue an albatross around the Republicans' neck, not the Democrats.
"The GOP candidate can't feign ignorance..."
Maybe Mittens isn't "feigning ignorance", maybe it's just plain ole ignorance! And with a corporate owned media that just regurgitates what the GOP says instead of actually asking the hard questions and doing objective research & reporting the sheeple will lap it up no questions.
A charitable suggestion, Zora, but as Steve points out in his blog entry above:
Read it again, carefully.
A lie is a lie is a lie and Willard "Reversible Mittens" Raw-money IS A LIAR.
This gives me an idea - Mitt Romney is the real-life Ron Burgundy.
He doesn't know what he reads into the camera, he just reads it and goes on about his day. David Axelrod placed a paper in front of Mitt Romney one day that said "I agree with parts of President Obama's American Jobs Act.", then the next day, Grover Norquist puts a paper in front of Mitt Romney saying "Obama has not put forward a Jobs proposal in 3 and a half years. We are waiting..."
You can't write this stuff...
It really doesn't matter what plans the Democrats come up with as long as we have a Republican controlled congress who will block everything. This is not governance. This is a three and one half year old temper tantrum. They look like fools, but they are effective fools. They have stopped this government in their tracks, not because the proposals are wrong or stupid or damaging, but because they don't like the President. Shame on them!
I believe Romney is simply saying any of PBO's plans involve government spending to prop up more government spending. Local governments are caught in a bind. Their revenues cannot sustain their spending committments. PBO's response is to throw short term money to locals, then have it vanish. Even cities in California are seeing the futility in this approach.
The answer is not Keynes. His theories were developed in the 30's, when entitlements were not an issue. Now, entitlements drain our resources. They must be rolled back, and the market should be able to find the new norm.
Its government spending to prop up DEMAND which is where the economy is failing and has absolutely nothing to do with entitlements.
And Romney is lying as usual - the President has a jobs agenda and to say otherwise is flat out false.
No, from. That is not what Rmoney is saying. He very well knows what he's doing: he's LYING. It is intentional. It is not a mistake. It is mendacious. Because he knows the stupid people in the country will believe it. They are Useful Idiots. They are the reason we can't have nice things (I think that's Krugman's phrase).
Romney is lying.
You have no clue about Keynesian effectiveness. ALL the evidence supports Keynesian ideas during an economic demand slump. ALL. Entitlements have NOTHING to do with it. There is no reason to roll back Social Security. NONE. Medicare's problem is really only a small part of the real problem: the private health care system of the United States. Get costs down to where they are in other "advanced" countries, and there is no problem with Medicare. And no problem with deficits and debt in the U.S. The U.S. has a health care problem, not an entitlement problem.
Educate yourself.
And Romney is lying. It is not a mistake. It is intenional.
Here's just the latest (in addition to much more evidence available and it's not even the best evidence) on what wingnuts called the "failed" Keynesian stimulus known as the ARRA. From the CBO:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/congressional-budget-office-defends-stimulus/2012/06/06/gJQAnFnjJV_story.html
Better evidence:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=romer%20what%20have%20we%20learned%20about%20fiscal%20policy%20from%20the%20crisis%3F&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CFAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Felsa.berkeley.edu%2F~cromer%2FLessons%2520for%2520Fiscal%2520Policy.pdf&ei=HMjQT6KwKYLc9ATdzIy_AQ&usg=AFQjCNGhxElfyaD7ebDZE-gmla3lECvMow&cad=rja
fromnytosc:
Tell that to Romney:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/76940.html
When the corporate press targeted at mainstream audiences like Associated Propaganda are reporting matter-of-factually that the Rape-Public-CONs this week are "focusing on the No. 1 concern for all voters: jobs and the economy", as Steve notes in his blog entry at 9:50 am http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/07/12104105-dim-bulbs?lite, how are members of the general public to know any better?
These are typically "low-information voters" when they bother to vote at all - still wonder why?
As Charlie Pierce often writes at his wonderful (and prolific) Politics Blog http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/, "we are so screwed."
Truth has nothing to do with what Mitt says. It's all about what impression he can make stick in the minds of blue collar independents who don't pay day to day attention to politics.
Funny how Romney claims that we have been waiting 3 and a half years for an Obama jobs plan. He must have forgetten his past criticism, or maybe he thinks the voters will forget.
In September of 2011 Romney released an attack web-video claiming Obama's speech to Congress unveiling the American Jobs Act was 960 days late.
Nine months ago, Romney acknowledged the President's plan and his only criticism was that it was late in coming. Now Romney thinks he can say "three and a half years later, were waiting".
This is just a bald-faced lie and, to make it worse, he thinks he can get away with it.
see Romney For President Releases New Web Video, "960 Days" September 8, 2011
I find myself in contact with a wide variety of people who gain their news from the television every day. I find that is shocking how many of them that get their news from the infotanment channel "Fox News" are so poorly and factually uninformed. They will swear to me that those Damn Democrats are always screwing things up and it is all their fault that our economy is in such bad shape. They are low on facts and high on rhetoric and most of from ilk such as Sean Hannity and Bill O'Rilley and everyone of them certain that they are well informed about what is really going on in the Nation. I read a study the other day that those who get their primary source of News from Fox are considerably more likely to make factual errors about both currant and National and International events and it shows.