Fact Checking the mendacity of ‘Mittens’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Time once again for Steve Benen's weekly fact checking of the pathological liar Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XVII:

As the 2012 presidential campaign advances, impatience with Mitt Romney's penchant for falsehoods grows. Jamelle Bouie this week reflected on the the fact that "the former Massachusetts governor has no use for honesty in his campaign."

"Constant mendacity is the norm for Romney and his campaign, and odds are good that he won't suffer for it," Bouie wrote. "Campaign reporters don't have a strong incentive to challenge him on his misrepresentations, and interested parties have a hard time dealing with the deluge."

And yet, we remain undeterred, as evidenced by the 17th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.

1. At an event in Euclid, Ohio, Romney argued, "We will not forget the fact that when [President Obama] was putting in place $787 billion of borrowing in his first few months in office that he said the borrowing would keep the unemployment rate below 8%."

That's a popular claim for Romney, but it's completely untrue.

2. Romney said in the same remarks the only reason the unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 8.1% is "because of the people that dropped out of the work force."

That's demonstrably false.

3. At the event, Romney also said of the president, "[H]is vision is that it is ok for a small business to raise taxes from 35% to 40% of small businesses."

In reality, Obama has cut taxes on small businesses, and raising the top income tax rate would not adversely affect small businesses, no matter how often Republicans argue to the contrary.

4. Romney added, "You know, the number of ships in the U.S. Navy is smaller than any time since 1917."

This one again? Romney dropped this lie a while ago, but it's apparently back.

5. Romney went on to say, "Let me tell you, we will take America in a very different place. He is taking America on a path towards Europe and Europe is not working there. It will not work here."

The irony is, Europe is trying to grow through austerity, just as Romney intends to do here. He's lying in a self-refuting sort of way.

6. Romney also argued, "Syria is Iran's source of access to the Mediterranean."

Iran doesn't share a border with Syria.

7. Romney said of the American auto industry, "I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back."

You've got to be kidding me.

8. In a speech in Michigan, Romney said of Obama, "In his campaign kickoff speech last week, he asked us not to think about these last four years…. The president's plea that we simply ignore the last four years is his latest effort to escape responsibility for the failures."

Obama actually did the opposite, urging Americans to remember the last four years.

9. In the same speech, Romney said Obama has tried "to blame others" for the slow recovery, including "ATMs."

As his lies go, this one's just dumb.

10. He added, "President Clinton said the era of big government was over. President Obama brought it back with a vengeance."

That's the opposite of the truth.

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

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

The New York Times' David Firestone said this week, after a Romney claim he called "preposterous" and "breathtaking," that the Republican presidential candidate has "pushed the boundaries of veracity," but "hasn't paid much of a price."

That's clearly a fair assessment. It's up to media professionals and voters to determine whether Romney's extraordinary detachment from the truth is going to matter in this election or not. So far, the former governor is gambling he can get away with falsehoods that are as extraordinary as they routine, and by all appearances, at for now, he's right.

UPDATE: Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler really goes to town on Romney’s claim of credit for the auto industry’s rebound, and crucially, Kessler notes that Romney keeps distorting the history of the autobailout even though his version of events has already been widely debunked. (h/t Greg Sargent at the Plum Line).