(Update) Mitt-Math: Only count the postitive

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I almost couldn't believe it when Willard "Mittens" Romney doubled-down on his claim during the debates this weekend that he "created 100,000 jobs" after a week in which fact checkers and political pundits thoroughly debunked his claim. As I posted last week Mitt-Math: Only count the positive:

Willard "Mittens" Romney has finally been called out on his bogus claim that he created "over 100,000 jobs" while at Bain Capital, a claim that fact-checkers have found to be unverifiable. It turns out that "Mittens" Romney is using newfangled "new math," Mitt-Math, in which you only count the positive.

George "Snufalufagus" tried to nail down MIttens on his bogus claim during the ABC News debate on Saturday, but Mittens doubled-down on his claim. "That's my story and I'm sticking to it," he essentially said. Every time Mittens makes this claim the media villagers and Beltway bloviators need to remind people that Mittens is lying. This 'big lie" propaganda technique the Romney campaign is using needs to be called out for what it is.

The DNC today released a new video — its first that mentions Romney’s Bain Capital record. Political Animal – Making Bain the center of attention:

This one reminds folks that Romney didn’t just lay off thousands of American workers, he also lied about the jobs his firm created.

“Mitt, why not just tell the truth?” the tagline reads.

Given the frequency with which Romney misleads the public, it’s a question that’s likely to come up quite a bit in the coming months.

UPDATE: Washington Post fact checker:

Earlier, we had ruled that it was all but impossible to prove or disprove Romney’s claims on job creation. But in light of Romney’s comments during the debate and some additional research, we have come to a new assessment.

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[I]t has become increasingly hard to understand how Romney’s personal involvement played a role in creating these jobs, especially years later. He clearly is adding up all the jobs now at the companies that are thriving, arguing these numbers far outweigh the job losses at companies that failed. But as the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, the failure rate one can attribute to Bain Capital changes significantly if one counts five years from an investment or eight years from an investment.

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When Romney made a run for the governorship, the Boston Globe reported in 2002 that he had not been involved in the details of many deals toward the end of his Bain experience: “These days, Romney can say he hasn't inked a deal in many years. Even during the end of his tenure at Bain, from 1994 to 1999, he played the role of CEO and rainmaker rather than delving into the details of buyouts.”

 Interestingly, when Romney ran for the Senate in 1994, his campaign only claimed he had created 10,000 jobs. In one ad, a narrator said: “Mitt Romney has spent his life building more than 20 businesses and helping to create more than 10,000 jobs. So when it comes to creating jobs, he's not just talk. He's done it.”

Now, apparently, those 10,000 jobs have increased tenfold, apparently in part because of Bain investments in which Romney had at best a tangential role.

 In the 2008 presidential campaign, as far as we can tell, Romney never highlighted any number for jobs created, having learned a lesson from how ruthlessly he was attacked by Sen. Edward Kennedy in that Senate race for jobs lost through Bain investments.

 We asked the Romney campaign for a response, but did not get one.

Romney certainly has a good story to tell about knowing how to manage a business, spotting opportunities and understanding high finance. But if he is to continue to make claims about job creation, the Romney campaign needs to provide a real accounting of how many jobs were gained or lost through Bain Capital investments while the firm managed these companies — and while Romney was chief executive. Any jobs counted after either of those data points simply do not pass the laugh test.