Fact Checking the mendacity of ‘Mittens’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Time once again for Steve Benen's weekly fact check of the shameless shapeshifter and pathological liar, Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXI:

Campaigning in St. Louis yesterday, Mitt Romney, reading from his teleprompter, told supporters he would never be a "president of doubt and deception."

You could almost hear irony weeping. After all, as Kevin Drum explained, "I expect political candidates to bend the truth a fair amount…. But Romney's willingness to flat-out lie is singular."

Or as Rachel Maddow explained just last night, "Mr. Romney gets caught saying things that are factually wrong, and the thing that is different about him is that he does not mind; he doesn't fix it; he doesn't even try to worm out of it. He doesn't appear to feel any shame about it at all — and he's happy to keep telling the lie once he knows it is a lie."

As has become painfully clear, Romney's reliance on "deception" has practically become an addiction. To help appreciate the scope of the dishonesty, consider the 21st installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.

1. Campaigning in Texas, Romney argued, "[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. 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."

No, actually we're not.

2. Referencing Noam Scheiber's book, "The Escape Artists," told a remarkable tale about Obama and his aides, saying, "[T]here was discussion about the fact that Obamacare would slow down the economic recovery in this country." He added that the administration "knew" the health care reform package would hurt the economy, "but they concluded that we would all forget how long the recovery took once it had happened, so they decided to go ahead."

Given the relevant details, Romney is "just making stuff up" with this deceptive tale.

3. Romney added that he's concerned about the millions of Americans "on food stamps, most of whom never expected that would be their course."

This, at a minimum, is misleading, given that Romney enthusiastically endorsed a budget plan that slashes food stamps.

4. In the same speech, Romney said the Affordable Care Act includes a "job-killing mandate."

The individual mandate in the law does not undermine job creation, and more importantly, Romney championed the same mandate policy for years.

Continue reading Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXI.

Previous editions of Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity: Vol. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII,XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX

Bonus Fact Checks:

ABC News From the Fact Check Desk — Did the Energy Department Inspector General Testify that Energy Loans Had Been Steered to Friends and Family? (Answer: It never happened).

Washington Post FACT CHECK: Romney misses a mark on Solyndra 'friends and family' claim.