From the Obama campaign:
FACT CHECK: Romney’s Policies Wouldn't Create Jobs
While Mitt Romney tonight said that we need “jobs…lots of jobs”, even independent economists have said that his policies would cost jobs and slow down the recovery.
ECONOMISTS SAY ROMNEY’S ECONOMIC POLICY PLANS WOULD “DO MORE HARM IN THE SHORT TERM” AND “PUSH US DEEPER INTO RECESSION AND MAKE THE RECOVERY SLOWER”
Washington Post Headline: “Economists: Romney’s Ideas Wouldn’t Fix Short-Term Crisis, And Could Make Things Worse.” [Greg Sargent, Washington Post, 6/7/12]
Senior Adviser At Moody’s Analytics Mark Hopkins: Romney’s Policies “Would Do More Harm In The Short Term” And “If We Implemented All Of His Policies, It Would Push Us Deeper Into Recession And Make The Recovery Slower.” Asking whether Romney’s economic policy ideas would create jobs in the short-term: “‘On net, all of these policies would do more harm in the short term,’ added Mark Hopkins, a senior adviser at Moody’s Analytics. ‘If we implemented all of his policies, it would push us deeper into recession and make the recovery slower.’” [Greg Sargent, Washington Post, 6/7/12]
Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz: “The Romney Plan Is Going To Slow Down The Economy, Worsen The Jobs Deficit And Significantly Increase The Likelihood Of A Recession.” [Bloomberg, 6/5/12]
FACT CHECK: Romney’s Salt Lake Olympics: Taxpayers Built It
Mitt Romney’s Olympics claim ignores one key fact about the turnaround: he didn’t build it. After three days of attacking federal resources and assistance, the facts show that Romney received an unprecedented taxpayer bailout to help his effort—so much taxpayer funding that Sen. John McCain called it a “national disgrace.”
ROMNEY OVERSAW A WIDE-RANGING LOBBYING CAMPAIGN TO BAILOUT THE SALT LAKE OLYMPICS WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS – ROMNEY’S GAMES WERE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE WINTER GAMES EVER”
NBC News: “Mitt Romney Oversaw A Wide-Ranging Lobbying Campaign To Snare Tens Of Millions Of Dollars In Federal Earmarks For The Salt Lake City Olympic Games At A Time Critics Were Charging The Games Had Become A Prime Example Of Out-Of-Control ‘Pork Barrel’ Spending.” [NBC News, 2/18/12]
The Salt Lake Olympic Games “Got More Federal Cash Than Any Previous U.S. Olympics.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/13/11]
The Salt Lake Olympics Were “The Most Expensive Winter Games Ever” Costing $2 Billion With $1 Out Of Every $5 Funded By Taxpayers.“The Salt Lake City Olympics will be the most expensive Winter Games ever, costing nearly $2 billion — or $791,667 per athlete — to stage 17 days of skiing and skating. Nearly $1 of every $5 will be picked up by U.S. taxpayers.” [Associated Press, 12/11/01]
ROMNEY REPEATEDLY TOUTED THE AMOUNT OF MONEY HE TOOK FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Romney Bragged About Federal Subsidies He Got For The Olympics And Pledged He’d Bring Home More Washington Money As Governor.“Pledging to avoid tax hikes and minimize cuts, Romney has made Olympic-size federal subsidies a campaign-promise solution to balancing the state budget. ‘We need to do a better job getting money from Washington,’ he tells voters in a televised speech. ‘I was successful in doing that in organizing the Olympics, got record funds from the federal government. I’ll do that here.’” [Salt Lake Tribune, 11/4/02]
Romney Touted The “Record Amount Of Money” He Got From The Federal Government For The Olympics And Said “That’s The Same Thing I’ll Do As Governor Of Massachusetts–Get More Money From The Federal Government.” In a gubernatorial debate with Shannon O’Brien and the minor party candidates, Romney said, “I need a little chance on the idea that the government bailing out the Olympics…We cut our costs by $200 million . The federal government actually provided a record amount of money to us for security and transportation –that was a separate area. That’s the same thing I’ll do as governor of Massachusetts—get more money from the federal government.” [2002 Massachusetts Governor’s Debate, WB56, 10/9/02]
2002: Romney: “I Am Big Believer In Getting Money Where The Money Is. … The Money Is In Washington.” “In a long-forgotten tape from the 2002 Massachusetts governor’s race obtained by ABC News, Mitt Romney is seen touting his Washington connections and his ability to get millions of taxpayer dollars from the federal government. ‘I am big believer in getting money where the money is,’ Romney says on the video, ‘The money is in Washington.’” [ABC News, 3/2/12]
SENATOR MCCAIN CALLED THE EARMARKS FOR ROMNEY’S OLYMPICS “A NATIONAL DISGRACE” AND CALLED FOR A “FEDERAL INVESTIGATION”
McCain Called The Amount Of Federal Money Going To The Olympics “A National Disgrace” And Said There Should Be “A Federal Investigation” While Romney Defended The Federal Funds. McCain: “But you’ve got well over $1 billion that’s just a rip-off of the taxpayers, and, you know, is really a national disgrace…Actually, there should be a federal investigation.” ROMNEY: But Senator McCain, I believe, raises a very good question. What should the role of the federal government be with regards to the Olympics? Should it provide the security? Should it provide the highways and bridges necessary to get people to venues? In my view, the answer is, unequivocally, yes.” [CBS Evening News (6:30 PM ET) – CBS, February 9, 2002]
FACT CHECK: Romney Would Not Stand Up For Women
While Mitt Romney tonight said that he would be good for American women, we know that’s not true. He wants to take women’s health care decisions out of their hands. He has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides contraception and essential health services like cancer screenings to women across the country. And he fails to stand up for women as we fight for equal pay.
ROMNEY SUPPORTS REPEALING SAFEGUARDS AND CUTTING FUNDING FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH
Romney: “If I’m President, I Will Repeal Obamacare, And I’ll Kill It Dead On Its First Day.” [Romney town hall, Collinsville, IL, 3/17/12]
Los Angeles Times: Romney “Vowed To End Federal Funding Of Planned Parenthood, Which, Along With Other Services, Provides Contraceptives To Those Who Cannot Otherwise Afford Them.” “Addressing contraceptives, Romney said he and other Republicans ‘of course … recognize that people should have a right to use contraceptives. There’s absolutely no validity whatsoever to the Obama effort to try and bring that up.’ Romney has, however, vowed to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood, which, along with other services, provides contraceptives to those who cannot otherwise afford them.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/26/12]
Romney Endorsed The Blunt Amendment Which Would Allow Employers To “Have Free Rein To Pick And Choose Your Medical Care As He Or She Saw Fit–So If The Boss Believed That Birth Control Were An Affront To God And Nature, Well, Too Bad For You.” “And yet, just weeks after Obama announced the compromise, Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) proposed legislation that would allow any employer or insurance company to decline to cover any medical care for any moral or religious reason. Under the law, your boss would have free rein to pick and choose your medical care as he or she saw fit–so if the boss believed that birth control were an affront to God and nature, well, too bad for you; you'd have to shell out the full monthly cost for your pill pack. The Blunt Amendment (which Romney endorsed) was blocked in the Senate with an extremely narrow margin–51 to 48–with Maine's Olympia Snowe (who announced around the same time that she would not be seeking reelection) the only Republican voting against it.” [Gretchen Voss, Women’s Health, September 2012]
2012: The Republican Party Platform “Will Include Language Calling For A Constitutional Amendment Against Abortion, Leaving Out Any Mention Of Exceptions For Cases Of Rape Or Incest.” “The Republican Party's platform will include language calling for a constitutional amendment against abortion, leaving out any mention of exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The draft platform as first obtained by CNN: ‘Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children.’ Amid a very brief debate in which several largely technical amendments were considered, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, the chairman of the platform committee, closed discussion on the abortion section after no further amendments were offered.” [Buzzfeed, 8/21/12]
· The Republican Party Platform “Was Written At The Direction Of Romney’s Campaign.” “It didn’t take long for strains within the Republican Party to surface Monday as national delegates got down to work on a final draft of the party platform, one week before the nominating convention opens. … There is no doubt about who is in charge, of course. Delegates for presumptive nominee Mitt Romney are voting down substantive changes to the platform language that was written at the direction of Romney’s campaign.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/20/12]
· Romney Said He Would Be “Delighted” To Sign A Bill Banning “All Abortions.” QUESTIONER: “Hello, my name is AJ. I'm from Millstone, New Jersey. I would all of the candidates to give an answer on this. If hypothetically, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and the Congress passed a federal ban on all abortions and it came to your desk, would you sign it? Yes or no?” COOPER: “Governor Romney?” ROMNEY: “I agree with Senator Thompson, which is we should overturn Roe v. Wade and return these issues to the states. I would welcome a circumstance where there was such a consensus in this country that we said, we don't want to have abortion in this country at all, period. That would be wonderful. I'd be delighted.” COOPER: “The question is: Would you sign that bill?” ROMNEY: “Let me say it. I'd be delighted to sign that bill. But that's not where we are. That's not where America is today. Where America is is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade and return to the states that authority. But if the Congress got there, we had that kind of consensus in that country, terrific.” [CNN Debate, 11/28/07]
ROMNEY REFUSED TO SUPPORT EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
Headline: “Romney Won't Say Whether He Would Have Signed Lilly Ledbetter Act” [Huffington Post, 4/16/12]
Headline: “Mitt Romney Mum On Paycheck Fairness Bill.” [Huffington Post, 6/4/12]
FLASHBACK: Gingrich Warned Us… Said Romney “Will Lie to You To Get To Be President”
During the primary campaign, Newt Gingrich saved his toughest attacks for Mitt Romney. He may be speaking at tonight’s convention, but earlier this year, Gingrich called Romney “someone who will lie to you to get to be president,” and added, “He’s not telling the American people the truth.” So it’s not surprising that Romney’s campaign has acknowledged that they “will not be dictated by the fact checkers” or that Paul Ryan’s speech has been widely panned as “breathtakingly dishonest” and full of “brazen lies.”
Gingrich: Romney Is A Liar And Will Lie To You In Order To Be President. “Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose support in Iowa has withered after riding on top of the polls, on Tuesday called former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney a liar who would mislead the American people if elected to the White House – but added that he would still vote for him if Romney won the GOP nomination. On CBS' ‘The Early Show’ this morning, CBS News chief White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell asked Gingrich about comments he had previously made about his chief rival and the Super PAC whose negative campaign ads have hurt his campaign: ‘You scolded Mitt Romney, his friends who are running this Super PAC that has funded that, and you said of Mitt Romney, 'Someone who will lie to you to get to be president will lie to you when they are president. I have to ask you, are you calling Mitt Romney a liar?’ ‘Yes,’ Gingrich replied. ‘You're calling Mitt Romney a liar?’ ‘Well, you seem shocked by it!’ said Gingrich. ‘This is a man whose staff created the PAC, his millionaire friends fund the PAC, he pretends he has nothing to do with the PAC – it's baloney. He's not telling the American people the truth.” [CBS News, 1/3/12]
Gingrich: Romney Will Lie To You If He’s Elected President. “After spending 20 minutes posing for photos, Mr. Gingrich held a press conference in which he continued skewering Mr. Romney for failing to stop the negative ads paid for by his supporters. ‘He's assuming that the American people are stupid …,’ Mr. Gingrich said. ‘He didn't get rid of me. He just slowed me down. We will make it increasingly clear that these are his ads … his former staff and his donors.’ ‘Someone who will lie to you to get to be president, will lie to you when he is president,’ Mr. Gingrich added.” [Washington Times, 1/2/12]
Romney Excerpts vs. the Truth: North American Energy Independence by 2020
In his high stakes convention speech tonight, Mitt Romney is going to reiterate his goal of making North America energy independent by year 2020. But this goal is impossible with his policies, which, Romney admits, was written by his Big Oil advisors for Big Oil interests. The plan would squash energy efficiency and cut incentives for homegrown alternative energy development.
ROMNEY EXCERPT:
“First, by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables.”
TRUTH:
ROMNEY CAN’T GET TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE WITHOUT THE EFFICIENCY STANDARDS HE OPPOSES
Washington Post: “Romney’s Plan Spends A Lot Of Time Talking About Drilling” But “Energy Independence Will Require More Than Just Drilling — It Will Also Depend On Efficiency Standards That Romney Has Opposed.” “Energy independence will require more than just drilling — it will also depend on efficiency standards that Romney has opposed. Mitt Romney’s plan spends a lot of time talking about drilling. But it’s worth noting that both the EIA and Citigroup credit the Obama administration’s new fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks as a major part of America’s lurch toward energy independence. By 2025, the increased CAFE standards are expected to reduce U.S. oil consumption by about 2.2 million barrels per day. Without those rules, energy independence looks nearly impossible. And Romney, for his part, has pledged to overturn those fuel-economy rules.” [Wonk Blog, Washington Post, 8/23/12]
New York Times’ Robert Semple, Jr.: American Energy Independence Would Depend On Alternatives And Efficiency, Neither Addressed In Romney’s Plan. “Let’s start first with the premise of the plan, which is also its promise: that energy independence is an achievable goal for America by 2020. Presidents have been talking about energy independence since Richard Nixon and haven’t come close. The simple truth, as President Obama has recognized, is that a country that holds less than 3 percent of the world’s reserves but consumes more than 20 percent of the world’s supply cannot drill its way to energy independence. More production will help, but true independence from foreign imports – not to mention fewer greenhouses gases and a safer climate, a subject Mr. Romney never touches upon – will depend on developing alternative fuels and more efficient vehicles.” [Robert Semple, Jr. op-ed, New York Times, 8/24/12]
Headline: “T. Boone Pickens Blasts Romney’s Energy Plan: ‘All They Talk About Is Oil’” [Thing Progress, 8/23/12]
ROMNEY’S ENERGY PLAN WAS DEVELOPED IN CONSULTATION WITH BIG OIL
A Romney Aide Revealed The Energy Plan Had Been Developed In Consultation With Oil And Gas Executives, Including Harold Hamm, Romney Advisor And Donor Who Owned Continental Resources Oil Company. “An individual close to the Romney campaign said that Mr. Romney’s staff drafted the proposal in consultation with industry executives, including Harold Hamm, an Oklahoma billionaire who is the chairman of the campaign’s energy advisory committee and chief executive of Continental Resources, an oil and gas driller. Just this week, the oil and gas industry gave nearly $10 million toward the Romney election effort in two fund-raisers. The Romney aide, who said she was not authorized to speak on the record about the plan, said that any consultation with industry officials was simply to tap their expertise and did not mean the proposal was being shaped to serve their interests. Mr. Romney’s proposal drew immediate praise from the industry, which has complained that gas production on public lands has slowed under President Obama, even while it has surged on private lands.” [New York Times, 8/24/12]
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing: “We Should Say In The Last Two Days Mitt Romney's Campaign Has Raised $10 Million In Oil Money. And Is It Fair For A Voter To Look And Say, ‘Can They Really Be Looking Out Of My Best Interest?’ …When You’re Taking Millions Of Dollars From People Who Clearly Have An Interest In Seeing More Drilling.” [Jansing & Co., MSNBC, 8/23/12]
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