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FACT CHECK: Ryan takes factual shortcuts in speech

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Moder@tor

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Aug 30, 2012, 4:19:13 AM8/30/12
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FACT CHECK: Ryan takes factual shortcuts in speech
By Associated Press on August 30th, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Laying out the first plans for his party’s presidential
ticket, GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took some factual shortcuts
Wednesday night when he attacked President Barack Obama’s policies on Medicare,
the economic stimulus and the budget deficit.

Sen. Rob Portman, a former U.S. trade representative, glossed over his own
problems when critiquing Obama’s trade dealings with China. A day earlier, the
convention’s keynote speaker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, bucked reality in
promising that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will lay out for the
American people the painful budget cuts it will take to wrestle the government’s
debt and deficit woes under control.

And former senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum stretched the truth
in taking Obama to task over his administration supposedly waiving work
requirements in the nation’s landmark welfare-to-work law.

A closer look at some of the words spoken at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.:

RYAN: “And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the
expense of the elderly. … So they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven
hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President
Obama.”

THE FACTS: Ryan’s claim ignores the fact that Ryan himself incorporated the same
cuts into budgets he steered through the House in the past two years as chairman
of its Budget Committee, using the money for deficit reduction. And the cuts do
not affect Medicare recipients directly, but rather reduce payments to
hospitals, health insurance plans and other service providers.

In addition, Ryan’s own plan to remake Medicare would squeeze the program’s
spending even more than the changes Obama made, shifting future retirees into a
system in which they would get a fixed payment to shop for coverage among
private insurance plans. Critics charge that would expose the elderly to more
out-of-pocket costs.

RYAN: “The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and
cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were
cut out of the deal.”

THE FACTS: Ryan himself asked for stimulus funds shortly after Congress approved
the $800 billion plan, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Ryan’s pleas to federal agencies included letters to Energy Secretary Steven Chu
and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin
energy conservation companies.

One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., received $20.3
million from the Energy Department to help homes and businesses improve energy
efficiency, according to federal records. That company, he said in his letter,
would build “sustainable demand for green jobs.” Another eventual recipient, the
Energy Center of Wisconsin, received about $365,000.

RYAN: Said Obama misled people in Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wis., by making
them think a General Motors plant there threatened with closure could be saved.
“A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there
at that plant, candidate Obama said: `I believe that if our government is there
to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.’ That’s what
he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year.”

THE FACTS: The plant halted production in December 2008, weeks before Obama took
office and well before he enacted a more robust auto industry bailout that
rescued GM and Chrysler and allowed the majority of their plants – though not
the Janesville facility – to stay in operation. Ryan himself voted for an auto
bailout under President George W. Bush that was designed to help GM, but he was
a vocal critic of the one pushed through by Obama that has been widely credited
with revitalizing both GM and Chrysler.

RYAN: Obama “created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent
report. He thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing.”

THE FACTS: It’s true that Obama hasn’t heeded his commission’s recommendations,
but Ryan’s not the best one to complain. He was a member of the commission and
voted against its final report.

CHRISTIE: “Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the
torrent of debt that is compromising our future and burying our economy. …
Tonight, our duty is to tell the American people the truth. Our problems are big
and the solutions will not be painless. We all must share in the sacrifice. Any
leader that tells us differently is simply not telling the truth.”

THE FACTS: Romney has made a core promise to cut $500 billion per year from the
federal budget by 2016 to bring spending below 20 percent of the U.S. economy,
and to balance it entirely by 2020.

His campaign manifesto, however, is almost completely devoid of the “hard
truths” Christie promises. In fact, Romney is promising to reverse $716 billion
in Medicare savings achieved by Obama over the coming decade and promises big
increases in military spending as well, along with extending tax cuts for
everyone, including the wealthiest.

The few specifics Romney offers include repealing Obama’s health care law,
cutting federal payrolls, weaning Amtrak from subsidies, cutting foreign aid and
curbing the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled.

But it’ll take a lot more than those steps for Romney to keep his vague
promises, which are unrealistic if he’s unwilling to touch Medicare and Social
Security in the coming decade. Even the controversial budget plan of his vice
presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., largely endorsed by Romney, leaves
Medicare virtually untouched over the next 10 years.

What’s left for Romney to cut is benefit programs other than Medicare and Social
Security, which include food stamps, welfare, farm subsidies and retirement
benefits for federal workers. The remaining pot of money includes the day-to-day
budgets of domestic agencies, which have already borne cuts under last year’s
budget deal. There’s also widespread congressional aversion to cutting most of
what remains on the chopping block, which includes health research, NASA,
transportation, air traffic control, homeland security, education, food
inspection, housing and heating subsidies for the poor, food aid for pregnant
women, the FBI, grants to local governments, national parks and veterans’ health
care.

PORTMAN: “Take trade with China. China manipulates its currency, giving it an
unfair trade advantage. So why doesn’t the president do something about it? I’ll
tell you one reason. President Obama could not run up his record trillion-dollar
deficits if the Chinese didn’t buy our bonds to finance them. Folks, we are as
beholden to China for bonds as we are to the Middle East for oil. This will end
under Mitt Romney.”

THE FACTS: Portman is an expert on commerce, having served as President George
W. Bush’s trade representative from May 2005 to May 2006. But he didn’t fare
particularly well in stemming China’s trade advantage, either.

Under Portman’s watch, the U.S. trade deficit with China soared by 25 percent in
2005, and the next year it climbed more than 15 percent. By contrast, the
deficit rose 10 percent over the first three years of Obama’s presidency,
according to U.S. government figures.

Both the Bush and Obama administrations have launched unfair trade cases against
China at the World Trade Organization, but neither has been able to rebalance
the relationship.

SANTORUM: “This summer (Obama) showed us once again he believes in government
handouts and dependency by waiving the work requirement for welfare. Now, I
helped write the welfare reform bill. We made a lot crystal clear. No president
can waive the work requirement, but as with his refusal to enforce our
immigration laws, President Obama rules like he is above the law.”

THE FACTS: The administration did not waive the work requirement. Instead, it
invited governors to apply on behalf of their states for waivers of
administrative requirements in the 1996 law. Some states have complained those
rules tie up caseworkers who could be helping clients directly.

In a July 18 letter to congressional leaders, Health and Human Services
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that to be eligible for a waiver, governors
must commit that their plans will move at least 20 percent more people from
welfare to work. Moreover, states must show clear progress toward the goal
within a year, or lose the waiver.

“We will not accept any changes that undercut employment-focused welfare reforms
that were signed into law fifteen years ago,” Sebelius wrote.

Ron Haskins, a former senior Republican House aide who helped write the
welfare-to-work law, has said “there is merit” to the administration’s proposal
and “I don’t see how you can get to the conclusion that the waiver provision
undermines welfare reform and it eliminates the work requirement.”

Haskins, now co-director of the Brookings Center on Children and Families, says
the administration was wrong to roll out its proposal without first getting
Republicans to sign off on it. But he said the idea itself is one both parties
should be able to agree on, were it not for the bitter political divisions that
rule Washington.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/08/30/fact-check-ryan-takes-factual-shortcuts-in-speech/

360 murdered in Obama's 'organized communities'

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Aug 30, 2012, 5:23:03 AM8/30/12
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On Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:19:13 +0200, "Moder@tor" <Mo...@tor.com> wrote:

>FACT CHECK: Ryan takes factual shortcuts in speech

REALITY CHECK: Our current veep has taken the prevarication scenic
route since dirt was fresh.

skink on sink

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Aug 30, 2012, 10:48:52 AM8/30/12
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On 8/30/2012 2:19 AM, Moder@tor wrote:
> Ryan takes factual shortcuts

Obama has lied on almost EVERY one of his campaign promises:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/rulings/promise-broken/

Promise Broken rulings on the The Obameter






Increase the capital gains and dividends taxes for higher-income taxpayers




Increase capital gains and dividends taxes from 15 to 20 percent for
those making more than $250,000 (couples) or $200,000 (single)


>> More






Expand the child and dependent care credit




Expand and make refundable the child and dependent care credit.


>> More






Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners




Create a $10 billion fund to help homeowners refinance or sell their
homes. "The Fund will not help speculators, people who bought vacation
homes or people who falsely represented their incomes."


>> More






Provide option for a pre-filled-out tax form




Will direct the Internal Revenue Service to "give taxpayers the option
of a pre-filled tax form to verify, sign and return to the IRS or
online. This will eliminate the need for Americans to hire expensive tax
preparers and to gather information that the federal government already
has on file."



>> More






Create a mortgage interest tax credit for non-itemizers




Create a refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of mortgage
interest for nonitemizers, up to a maximum credit of $800.



>> More






Require automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans




Automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans for workers whose employers offer
retirement plans.



>> More






Require automatic enrollment in IRA plans




Require employers who do not offer retirement plans to offer their
workers access to automatic IRAs and contribute via payroll deduction.



>> More






Create a retirement savings tax credit for low incomes




A tax credit for retirement savings up to $500 (couples) or $250
(singles). Phases out when incomes exceed $65,000 (couples) or $32,500
(single). Indexed for inflation.



>> More






End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000


"Will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000
per year. This will eliminate taxes for 7 million seniors -- saving them
an average of $1,400 a year-- and will also mean that 27 million seniors
will not need to file an income tax return at all."


>> More






End no-bid contracts above $25,000



"Will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid."


>> More






Create a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges




"Will address the infrastructure challenge by creating a National
Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to expand and enhance, not supplant,
existing federal transportation investments. This independent entity
will be directed to invest in our nation's most challenging
transportation infrastructure needs. The Bank will receive an infusion
of federal money, $60 billion over 10 years, to provide financing to
transportation infrastructure projects across the nation. These projects
will create up to two million new direct and indirect jobs and stimulate
approximately $35 billion per year in new economic activity."



>> More






Repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes




Repeal the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 (couples)
or $200,000 (single)


>> More






Phase out exemptions and deductions for higher earners




Restore the phaseouts of personal exemptions and itemized deductions
for those making more than $250,000 (couples) or $200,000 (single), with
threshholds indexed for inflation.


>> More






Sign the Employee Free Choice Act, making it easier for workers to unionize




"Obama is a cosponsor and strong advocate of the Employee Free Choice
Act (EFCA), a bipartisan effort to make the unionization process more
transparent and increase penalties on companies that violate employee
rights. He will sign EFCA into law as president."


>> More






Lift the payroll tax cap on earnings above $250,000




"Barack Obama believes that the first place to look to strengthen
Social Security is the payroll tax system. Obama believes that one
strong option is increasing the maximum amount of earnings covered by
Social Security by lifting the payroll tax cap on only earnings above
$250,000."



>> More






Forbid companies in bankruptcy from giving executives bonuses




"Protect the jobs and benefits of workers and retirees when
corporations file for bankruptcy by telling companies that they cannot
issue bonuses for executives during bankruptcy while their workers watch
their pensions disappear."


>> More






Allow workers to claim more in unpaid wages and benefits in bankruptcy court




"Increase the amount of unpaid wages and benefits workers can claim in
bankruptcy court against their employer."


>> More






Allow imported prescription drugs



"Allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries
if the drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the U.S."


>> More






Prevent drug companies from blocking generic drugs




"Prevent drug companies from blocking generic drugs from consumers."



>> More






Allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices




"Allow Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices."



>> More


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