Break It Down!: Playing Fast And Loose With The Facts: A Prescription For A One-Term Presidency!

It's time to Break It Down!

The early field of GOP candidates who would be President had their first big date night this past Monday evening. CNN, self-appointed “Most Trusted name in News” conceived, sponsored, and convened a Made-for-TV Debate (aren’t they all?), in conjunction with WMUR, a Manchester, New Hampshire TV station, and The NewHampshire Union Leader, Manchester’s daily newspaper. The Debate was held at Saint Anselm College, a Benedictine Catholic Liberal Arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Seven Republican luminaries who have stated their intent to vie to become President of the United States (POTUS) participated, including:

· Michele Bachmann

· Herman Cain

· Newt Gingrich

· Ron Paul

· Tim Pawlenty

· Mitt Romney

· Rick Santorum

Ms. Bachmann, Congresswoman, serving Minnesota’s 6^th Congressional District stated during the event that she filed the necessary Federal Election Commission (FEC) paperwork earlier in the day, Monday, to run for President, and in effect used the forum as staging for a thunder-stealing official announcement. Of the seven Debate participants, she was the only one not to have already announced her candidacy.

If there was one recurring theme during the evening’s Q & A, it was that the group would collectively eschew intraParty squabbling (at least for the night) in favor of launching repeated broad scale attacks on President Obama. They made it clear he should immediately contact North American Van Lines (NAVL), or whatever his preferred moving company is, because he will be relocating from the White House in January 2013. Ms. Bachmann went so far as to vow that as President, she would repeal “Obamacare.” “It’s a promise, take it to the bank, cash the check; I’ll make sure that happens.” She added, “Make no mistake about it, I want to announce tonight, President Obama is a one term President; we’ll win!”

Her assertions were embraced by the assembly, as they praised each other; Mitt Romney even declared any of the seven candidates on the stage would make a better President than Mr. Obama. When asked if there was anything President Obama had done right, the group in a stunning display of honesty, if not objectivity, could think of nothing.

The debate, which was moderated by CNN’s John King, included questions on domestic and foreign policy issues, including economic policy, deficit reduction, and the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

Questions were posed by journalists, audience members, and voters at gatherings across the State, which is home to the first Presidential Primary next year. Obviously, the area is in close proximity to Massachusetts. As a result, Mitt Romney, who served as Governor there, is considered the early favorite.

The campaign is in its infancy; a variety of themes are still developing. One mechanism that gained popularity in the latter stages of the 2008 Campaign season, due to the frequent use of hyperbole, and often misstatements and untruths, is Fact Checking. This is independent research, typically conducted by an organization not aligned with the candidates.

Even though it’s early, the GOP candidates, perhaps in their exuberance to distinguish themselves, without taking-on each other directly, have already shown a propensity to skew the facts in terms of their claims about Mr. Obama’s record, his policy positions, and in some instances, their own records and accomplishments.

Two sharpen the focus on this pattern of behavior I will single out a couple of last night’s Debate participants. While each of the seven has put forth egregiously indefensible assertions, I will point out a few notable examples of non-credible claims by two of the candidates.

Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania Senator, in announcing his Presidential bid introduced several arguments that wilt under scrutiny. They include:

· Santorum: “Thanks to this President, for every dollar we spend, 40 cents is borrowed.”

The Facts – The government does borrow about 40 cents for every dollar spent in the current budget. However, Mr. Santorum conveniently omits, forgets, or simply ignores the recession, two major George Bush tax cuts, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other decisions made before Mr. Obama took office.

Santorum: “The 2010 health care overhaul will result in the government having the power to create dependency on every American.”

The Facts – The 2010 law preserves employer-based private insurances for most people, so they would not be wholly or perhaps even partly dependent on the government for health care. The President quickly gave up on a government-run, single-payer, universal health care system (incidentally, to the chagrin of many of his staunchest supporters). However, due to Medicare, Medicaid and more, government was an enormous player in health care long before last year’s changes. Government at all levels was on track to pay most of the nation’s health care costs even absent the President’s overhaul.

Santorum: Quoted Mr. Obama speaking of Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance as saying, “The country is a better country with these programs. I will go one step further; America was not a great country until these programs.” Mr. Santorum then went on to counter the alleged quote by saying, “America was a great country before 1965.”

The Facts – Mr. Santorum misquoted President Obama’s April 13^th speech. Mr. Obama said, “We contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss, and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children and those with disabilities. We are a better country because of these commitments. I’ll go further — we would not be a great country without those commitments.”

Mr. Santorum also conveniently neglected to note that the President included Social Security, a popular program created in 1935.

Santorum: President Obama “has devalued our currency by pumping Federal Reserve currency, pumping money, inflating our commodities, our food prices, our oil prices, which is a horrible penalty on working Americans.”

The Facts - Presidents appoint the Federal Reserve’s board members. But the members serve fixed terms, and their decisions are not subject to ratification by the president or anyone else. The Fed is subject to congressional oversight. As for the cost of living, core inflation remained low as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent in April and at a 6.2 percent annualized rate over the past three months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Santorum: Under Obama, the nation suffers a “discouragingly high rate of unemployment. Not 9.1 percent, but 14 or 15 percent of people who really want to get work and cannot find it.”

The Facts – Mr. Santorum is including estimates of part-time workers who want full-time work and “discouraged” workers who want jobs but have quit looking. Economists recognize these types of workers. But they are not included in the Labor Department’s monthly unemployment rate, a widely cited statistic that stands at 9.1 percent.

The generally presumed GOP front-runner is Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts. Similar to Mr. Santorum, in announcing his candidacy, Mr. Romney resorted to good old-fashioned GOP creatively to characterize several of the President’s positions. For example:

Romney: “When he took office, the economy was in recession. He made it worse. And he made it last longer.”

The Facts - A case can be made for and against the idea that President Obama’s policies made the economy worse than it needed to be and that the recession lasted longer than it might have under another president. Such arguments are at the core of political debate. But the President did not, as Mr. Romney alleged, make the economy worse than it was when he took office.

Romney: A few months into office, he traveled around the globe to apologize for America.”

The Facts – President Obama has not apologized for America. What he has done, in travels early in his presidency and since, is to make clear his belief that the

U.S.

is not beyond reproach. He has told foreigners that the U.S. at times acted “contrary to our traditions and ideals” in its treatment of terrorist suspects, that “America has too often been selective in its promotion of democracy,” that the U.S. “certainly shares blame” for international economic turmoil and has sometimes shown arrogance toward allies. President Obama, whose criticisms of America’s past were typically balanced by praise, was in most cases taking issue with policies or the record of the previous administration, not an unusual approach for a new president — or a presidential candidate. Mr. Romney’s actual point seems to be that President Obama has been too critical of his country.

But there has been no formal – or informal – apology. No saying “sorry” on behalf of America. Simply did not happen…period!

Romney: “Instead of encouraging entrepreneurs and employers, he raises their taxes, piles on record-breaking mounds of regulation and bureaucracy and gives more power to union bosses.”

The Facts: Mr. Romney ignores ambitious tax-cutting pushed by President Obama. The stimulus plan early in his presidency cut taxes broadly for the middle class and business. He more recently won a one-year tax cut for 2011 that reduced most workers’ Social Security payroll taxes by nearly a third. He also campaigned in support of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all except the wealthy, whose taxes he wanted to raise. In office, he accepted a deal from Republicans extending the tax cuts for all. As for tax increases, Mr. Obama won congressional approval to raise them on tobacco and tanning salons. The penalty for those who don’t buy health insurance, once coverage is mandatory, is a form of taxation. Several large tax increases in the health care law have not yet taken effect.

Romney: “The expectation was that we’d have to raise taxes but I refused. I ordered a review of all state spending, made tough choices and balanced the budget without raising taxes.”

The Facts – Mr. Romney largely held the line on tax increases when he was Massachusetts governor but that’s only part of the revenue story. The state raised business taxes by $140 million in one year with measures branded “loophole closings,” the vast majority recommended by Governor Romney. Moreover, the Republican governor and Democratic lawmakers raised hundreds of millions of dollars from higher fees and fines, taxation by another name. Mr. Romney himself proposed creating 33 new fees and increasing 57 others — enough to raise $59 million. Anti-tax groups were split on his performance. The Clubfor Growth called the fee increases and business taxes troubling. Citizens for Limited Taxation praised him for being steadfast in supporting an income tax rollback.

The foundation of a democracy is an informed citizenry. The question of whether Americans pass that litmus test is a constant source of debate. We may soon learn the answer.

An analysis of the GOP talking points used by a number of the leading candidates seeking the Republican Presidential Nomination could lead one to infer that they believe the winning formula for 2012 is “Playing Fast and Loose With the Facts: A Prescription for a One Term Presidency!” Of course, an informed citizenry would never fall for the okey doke; will we?

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMUR-TV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_Union_Leader

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Anselm_College

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goffstown,_New_Hampshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester,_New_Hampshire

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fact-check-santorum-omits-details-on-deficit-health-care-obamas-record-in-announcing-bid/2011/06/07/AGLSvsKH_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fact-check-romney-makes-selective-use-of-obamas-economic-record-in-gop-presidential-debut/2011/06/03/AGB0QoHH_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/sarah-palin-collects-a-bushel-of-pinocchios-on-her-bus-tour/2011/06/02/AGkNAbHH_blog.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/newt-gingrichs-pinnochio-laden-debut/2011/05/12/AFf8qb1G_blog.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/tim-pawlentys-dubious-economic-assertions/2011/06/07/AGxyZRLH_blog.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/10/callista-gingrich-newt-gingrichs-wife_n_875236.html