Just over the last two weeks, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has released three television ads and two online videos devoted exclusively to -- you guessed it -- welfare. The issue was a complete non-factor in the 2012 race until the Republican decided the racially-charged, peripheral issue could be exploited by telling a transparent lie.
The latest video was released overnight.
In this new clip, viewers hear from Danny Vargas, the former National Chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, who again accuses President Obama of removing work requirements from federal welfare law.
In this plane of reality, President Obama did not remove work requirements from federal welfare law. The Romney campaign simply made this up. The facts are unambiguous: governors asked the Obama administration for some flexibility on the existing welfare law, and the White House said that'd be fine, so long as the work requirement isn't weakened. It's consistent with the policy endorsed by many Republican governors, including Romney himself, just six years ago.
And yet, it's the basis for a ridiculous lie, predicated on Romney's assumption that voters are easily fooled, and his campaign will pay no price because the media won't call him on it.
For his part, President Obama weighed in on the subject yesterday, and as Greg Sargent noted, it was "the first time Obama himself has charged that virtually Romney's entire campaign is based on a 'centerpiece' that's flat out false." Take a look at these comments from the president's press briefing:
"I don't think that Governor Romney is somehow responsible for the death of the woman that was portrayed in that ad. But keep in mind this is an ad that I didn't approve, I did not produce, and as far as I can tell, has barely run. I think it ran once.
"Now, in contrast, you've got Governor Romney creating as a centerpiece of his campaign this notion that we're taking the work requirement out of welfare, which every single person here who's looked at it says is patently false. What he's arguing is somehow we have changed the welfare requirement -- the work requirement in our welfare laws. And, in fact, what's happened was that my administration, responding to the requests of five governors, including two Republican governors, agreed to approve giving them, those states, some flexibility in how they manage their welfare rolls as long as it produced 20 percent increases in the number of people who are getting work.
"So, in other words, we would potentially give states more flexibility to put more people back to work, not to take them off the work requirement under welfare. Everybody who has looked at this says what Governor Romney is saying is absolutely wrong. Not only are his super PACs running millions of dollars' worth of ads making this claim; Governor Romney himself is approving this and saying it on the stump.
"So the contrast I think is pretty stark. They can run the campaign that they want, but the truth of the matter is you can't just make stuff up. That's one thing you learn as President of the United States."
That certainly sounds reasonable. In theory, part of leadership is realizing that you "can't just make stuff up."
But Romney believes he can ignore this maxim and win anyway. He's working under the assumption that the political rules have changed, we've entered a new era of post-truth rhetorical norms, and there are no longer punishments for deliberately saying the opposite of the reality.
Indeed, we've created a system of incentives -- Romney will benefit by crafting a racially-charged lie, which has no bearing in fact, but which rallies his base, for whom the distinction between fact and fiction isn't terribly important. At the same time, the lie will begin to permeate the mainstream's understanding of current events, thanks to reporting that tells voters, "Romney claims Obama gutted welfare law; Obama disagrees."
Greg Sargent added, "It's true that there's serious truth-stretching on both sides.... But it remains the case that we are seeing nothing from the Obama side that's anything like what Romney is attempting. Romney right now is premising one of the central arguments of his whole campaign on a complete lie."
And with each passing day, Romney appears increasingly certain he can get away with it.
Michael Tomasky explained today, This is not normal. Normal is to stretch the truth.... But the Romney welfare ads have no grain of truth at all."
Romney is testing American politics, pushing past boundaries, raising uncomfortable questions about just what kind of man he really is. Eleven weeks before Election Day, however, Romney just doesn't seem to give a damn.
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This is an indictment on the American media. This man and his campaign hold not a shred of respect for the "job" the media is tasked to do, investigate. Demand answers, truthful answers. I work, I go to school, I take care of my household and in between I listen to NPR on my smart phone and watch Maddow when I get home at night. I have things to do and tracking down Boston and Mitt to tell the truth is frankly not one of them. That is YOUR job, media! Do it!!!
How can we expect our representative democracy to thrive if people are forced to make ill informed decisions? False equivalency is unfair and is a great disservice to the electorate. The man lies because he can get away with it. So Chuck, and Mark, and the dude from ABC should be spending every opportunity they have holding this man accountable to his lies. Forget the tax returns, you guys have already excepted you don't deserve the investigative opportunity, fine. But if you want to keep your job and even be worth your salt call this man's lies out. For your country, do your job.
The man's story in this video is a positive one. He's living the American dream. With societal support and hard work, his family succeeded. Unfortunately, he's an ignorant TOOL. With false information, he's helping to elect an administration that will remove that same support for other poor families. He seems intelligent enough to see the truth as it has been "lightly" covered in the news as of late. He should be ashamed, and I hope he is.
I hadn't thought of it quite that way before, but with these lies, there is heavy appeal to Romney's base. When you watch the adamant birthers, you realize how little this part of the far right cares for facts. In which case, Romney's attempts to further a culture of deception is definitely on track.
At this stage of the campaign, I just wonder why Romney is still focusing on winning over this segment of the population. On her show a while back, Rachel showed some old clips of the Republican debates where Michelle Bachman and Newt Gingrich received rabid applause for extreme positions, which would seem to suggest that these were wildly popular candidates. And yet Romney was the one who became the presumptive nominee; this seems to indicate that despite the loud vocal minority, there was a larger. quieter but more (ahem) moderate majority which carried him through.
What I don't understand is... for those who don't respect the facts, why does Romney need to stir up their support? That side is going to be anti-Democrat no matter what comes November, so whatever happens, he's got them. They can keep feeding off the birther issues and their own creative takes on the truth. They don't need him to generate falsehoods. But the quieter majority, if there is one, my guess/hope is they're less blind. They may still be anti-Democrat to the end, although you can see some grumbling about how Reagan couldn't make it in this Republican party, but they aren't completely overlooking the lack of truth or character.
Perhaps they excuse the factual lapses, since they think things like welfare don't affect them, so why should they care if Romney blatantly lies? Probably a lot of them don't have the same health insurance concerns that less well off people have or they don't see the magnitude of the problem. And yet, if Romney will lie this blatantly about welfare, who is to say he won't become bolder and lie about the things that they care about, like Medicare, or like who bears the brunt of the tax burden, as long as he gets his cuts. Perhaps they think they are all in the 1%, but if they are, that's not enough to get elected by... If you are an independent voter though, I can't see them wanting someone who is going to openly deceive them. Independent voters want to see themselves as self-directed, which implies some awareness of the truth on both sides.
Even if people are quiet, though, it doesn't mean they're brain dead or completely blind. At some point, I hope the brave people who do pursue the truth, will be followed by others, or probably in tandem, the lies get more outrageous since Romney will think he's getting away with it. Although the question is how long will it take for people to decide they want to let Romney set the rules and lead them down this path or if they want to make a difference.
Perhaps every age/generation of this nation will have a test for how it will grow or erode democracy or how much it cares for the truth. Although we don't have a clear answer on how to effectively stop the deception, we have a lot of smart people in this country. Perhaps we won't find an answer, but I like to believe that we can.
Could it be that he doesn't give a damn because he believes elections are now bought in this country - not won? Is it possible that just planting the seed is enough to discourage individuals in this country from standing up, denouncing the nonsense that is under way to suppress the vote across the country, and sending a big message (via our vote) to all the special interest groups that we are not stupid. Unless we take a stand, stay educated on real political positions and behavior, and make sure we vote our conscience in November, he will be right to not care. Our apathy will give super paks the control they are spending billions of dollars to buy.
Students of political history should have at least heard of Machiavelli. Some interesting quotes that seem to describe some politicians of repute today:
"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not.
It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.
Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
Politics have no relation to morals.
No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."
Niccolo Machiavelli
"Niccolo Machiavelli (born May 3, 1469) was a diplomat for 14 years in Italy's Florentine Republic during the Medici family's exile. When the Medicis returned to power in 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed and briefly jailed. He then wrote The Prince, a handbook for politicians on the use of ruthless, self-serving cunning, inspiring the term "machiavellian." http://www.biography.com/people/niccol%C3%B2-machiavelli-9392446
The passive acquiescence to these blatant lies by the American press is nothing short of criminal. Aiding and abetting in the dissemination of these lies should be considered treason.
What a lovefest going on here.
Obama is a great leader?
Obama keeps his promises?
Obama tells the truth?
Obama loves America?
Stop being drones, 50% more debt in one term isn't success, and pawning the agenda off to Pelosi just is not leadership. People need confidence and that is what a leader would provide, perhaps your seeing clarity of vision but America is not, Obama just isn't a leader and definately isn't a uniter either, go fish!
Why would you bring facts and logic into a Democrat blog?
I just DO NOT get it, that ANYONE thinks the way to win anything is to lie.
Obviousy, this is not a problem for Romney or his campaign or his supporters.
However, it IS a problem for me--a monumental one. I was raised knowing that lieing was wrong. ("Thou shalt not bear false witness." The Ninth Commandment---anyone remember that?) Presumably, many of them were raised the same way. So how have they gotten to where they are now, where telling lies and believing it is acceptable to do so are "OK" is the norm?
(If THIS is going to be part of the so-called "new normal"---then 1) I will be proud to be in the minority, and 2) America will have lost a vital part of itself.
Republicans know the voters would not support their platform in sufficient numbers if they reveal it in the open. So they do make stuff up.
Notice the Republican "shunning" Akin. They only make it seem that they don't think that women claim rape that is not legitimate- see? It's women that lie about being raped. They need to lie so they don't have to say it.
They called Akin stupid for letting the truth slip out about women lying to get an abortion.
Was away on a business trip and caught 5 minutes of Fox news in the morning. I do not watch this station based on the fact they consistently relay false truths at a rate I have never seen before. Yes both sides do it but never to this degree. BUT what struck me most in this 5 minutes was how the 3 announcers blamed the "media" for twisting the truth. Excuse me, what the hell do they think they are?
Obama removed the federal requirement, and passed it on to the states. The states can willy-nilly do what they decide based on what THEY believe. This is ALSO fact, so yes, Obama DID remove the federal work requirement. I'm all for state's rights, but these are FEDERAL FUNDS...