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. XIX:

Campaigning in Iowa yesterday, President Obama reflected on some of Mitt Romney's recent speeches, including last week's remarks in Iowa. "I know Governor Romney came to Des Moines last week; warned about a 'prairie fire of debt,'" Obama said. "But he left out some facts. His speech was more like a cow pie of distortion. I don't know whose record he twisted the most — mine or his."

It was a rhetorical point, of course, but when it comes to Romney's falsehoods, I'm not sure whose record he twists more, either. Maybe you can help me decide by taking a look at the 19th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.

1. In an interview with Mark Halperin, Romney argued about President Obama, "Did he hold unemployment below 8%? It's been, what, 39 months now. That hasn't happened. He promised it would happen by virtue of his stimulus."

As Romney surely knows by now, that's simply not true.

2. In the same interview, Romney asked, "Are people happy with … the level of foreclosures?"

Romney was trying to attack the administration, but he's on record supporting more foreclosures, making this, at a minimum, wildly misleading.

3. Romney added, in reference to the president, " Look at him right now. He just doesn't have a clue what to do to get this economy going. I do."

Actually, Obama's jobs agenda, unveiled in September, included specific policy proposals that Romney had previously endorsed. If the president "doesn't have a clue," then Romney doesn't have a clue.

4. Romney went on to say, "I actually lay out a plan to get us to a balanced budget within eight years."

That's plainly false. Romney says his plan "can't be scored," but independent budget analysts have found his agenda would make the deficit bigger, not smaller, and add trillions to the national debt.

5. Romney also argued, in the context of talking about budget savings, "I'm going to take action immediately by eliminating programs like Obamacare, which become more and more expensive down the road — by eliminating them, we get to a balanced budget."

He's lying. In fact, this is the polar opposite of the truth — Obamacare's savings become greater in future years, and killing the law makes it harder to balance the budget.

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

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