Excerpt: "Ryan continues to insist on repeating known falsehoods, to the extent that even Fox Cable News lamented his dishonesty."
Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., gestures during a campaign stop at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. (photo: Justin Merriman/AP)
Top Ten Repeated Paul Ryan Lies
30 August 12
his year's Republican campaign may be the most dishonest in history. A couple of weeks ago I listed 10 major falsehoods and gaffes of Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan. He repeated several of them in his Tampa speech, and added a few more. In honest political debate, when a candidate says something that is not true, he is confronted by journalists and the public, and either gives evidence that it is true, or backs off. Ryan continues to insist on repeating known falsehoods, to the extent that even Fox Cable News lamented his dishonesty.
Voters need to ask who Ryan represents. It is people who make a million dollars a year or more. Everything he says is intended to produce policy that benefits them, and which hurts working people. Millionaires don't like having to pay for government-provided infrastructure, or health care for workers, and don't like having to put up with unions. The rest of us like driving on roads without potholes, over bridges that don't fall down, and not being bankrupted when we need an operation. Since most Americans would be crazy to vote for policies that only benefit our three million wealthiest, out of 310 million, Ryan tries to appeal to workers with religion (banning abortion). He needs to put together a coalition of millionaires and some religious workers in order to win. But even that wouldn't be enough. He has to get people on his side who would be hurt by his policies. And that requires that he simply lie to them.
So here are some new lies he just retailed, along with a reiteration of my earlier refutation of points drawn from his stock speeches, which he put right back in his Convention speech.
- Ryan blamed the US credit rating downgrade on President Obama. But it was caused by the Republican Congress's threat not to raise the debt ceiling. That is, the fault for the credit rating downgrade from AAA to AA belongs with... Paul Ryan.
- Ryan continues to claim that President Obama said business owners did not build their own businesses. Obama said that business owners benefit from government infrastructure and programs, which they did not build. No small business owner has built an inter-state highway or bridge, but those are the means whereby their goods get to market. Ryan's (and the GOP's) talking point in this regard is a typical Karl Rove Big Lie, and among an informed electorate it ought to discredit them.
- Ryan depicted Obamacare as virtually a turn to Soviet-style totalitarianism, as incompatible with liberal freedoms for the individual. But the logical conclusion is that Ryan's running mate, Mitt Romney, turned Massachusetts into a Gulag.
- Ryan slammed President Obama for not implementing the deficit-cutting measures recommended by the Simpson-Bowles commission. But he himself voted against Simpson-Bowles.
- Ryan keeps attacking Prsident Obama's stimulus program now. But in 2002 when then President George W. Bush proposed stimulus spending, Ryan supported it. "What we're trying to accomplish today with the passage of this third stimulus package is to create jobs and help the unemployed," Ryan told MSNBC in 2002. Ryan says that the stimulus had not positive effects, while economists say it saved or created millions of jobs and pulled the US out of a near-Depression.
- Even more embarrassing, in 2010, Ryan asked for $20 million in stimulus money from Obama for companies in his district, then repeatedly denied requesting stimulus funds. He finally admitted he had done so, but continues to slam the stimulus program as a failure (even though the economy pulled out of a Depression as a result of it).
- Ryan slammed President Obama for the closure of an auto plant that closed in late 2008 under George W. Bush. Ryan's running mate, Mitt Romney, opposed Obama's actual auto bailout, which was a great success and returned Detroit to profitability.
- Paul Ryan charges that Barack Obama has 'stolen' $700 billion from medicare for his Obamacare. In fact, these expense reductions do not cut Medicare benefits, and, moreover, Romney and Ryan supported these reductions! The difference is that they would give the savings to the affluent, whereas Obama uses them to cover the presently uninsured.
- Ryan continues to push his longstanding plans for a steal-from-the-elderly-and-give-to-the-rich medicare plan, which President Obama warned would cost ordinary recipients over $6000 a year extra. Politifact checked and rated Obama's charge as correct, though they noted that the figures referred to CBO analyses of Ryan's last plan, not his 'new' one, which hasn't been subjected to similar analysis. Ryan certainly recently put forward a plan that would cost ordinary people that much extra.
- Ryan neglected to note that under the tax plan he favors, Gov. Mitt Romney would pay less than 1% in annual federal taxes, highlighting Romney's already low rate compared to ordinary Americans (slightly lower than Ryan's own!) and putting the spotlight back where Ryan's appointment was supposed to misdirect it.
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Comments
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This think about Ryan being such a good man, a family man, an intellectual ... how can anyone who lies so much so he can destroy the country be good ... I mean that is just about the worst thing I can imagine anyone of psychotic morals to do.
Running for VP when he should be in prison for what he is trying to do to this country.
DO VOTE, and vote as if your livelihood depends on it, as it certainly does. The alternative is devastating.
Ever heard of the expression "All governments (and most politicians) lie"?
If there was an informed populace, they wouldn't get away with such whoppers and self-denial but the last thing the Twit-Rayand ticket and their huge corporate/banke r backers wants is that. They might start to see through their sound-byte/comm ercial-opiated fog and push back!
There is a difference between taking and manipulating certain political stances (and I'm disappointed in much of what Obama has been PERMITTED to accomplish by the party of "No!" to date) and his sincere attempts to put some progressive issues into being.
These bastards are downright fantasizing and posturing for their own self-aggrandizement.
Hell, if the ultra-right-eve n-if-wrong FOX is outraged, that in itself proof-positive.
So who will YOU proposed to vote for in the name of truth?
But you're a neo-con Obama hater so fact are anathema to you.
"Romney pollster Neil Newhouse warned, defending the campaign's demonstrably false ads claiming Obama removed work requirements from welfare, 'We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.' " - from Huffpost
1. Democrats were in control of Congress since 2006, no budget has passed in almost four years now. The debt ceiling would not have needed to be raised to unimaginable levels had there been financial responsibility. So your argument is like a child blaming a parent for being grounded.
Who has used the filibuster most?
What the mainstream media don't tell you is that in S&P's online PDF report, they specifically blame the Republicans for their downgrade of America's credit rating.
This is a quote (the caps are mine) from the last paragraph of page four of Standard & Poor's "Research Update:
United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To 'AA+' On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative:"
"Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because THE MAJORITY OF REPUBLICANS in Congress continue to resist any measure that would RAISE REVENUES, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act."
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/af2c4fac-bfc2-11e0-90d5-00144feabdc0.pdf
What this means is S&P changed their rating when they realized the Republicans would allow no revenue to offset debt (as evidenced by their intransigence during the debt-ceiling negotiations) and expect that they will never let the temporarily extended Bush tax cuts for the rich and powerful expire as they're supposed to in 2012.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office determined the ACA (what you call Obamacare) will reduce the deficit by billions at the end of ten years. Argue with THEM. Challenge THEIR calculations.
In the past, debt ceiling increases were pro forma events; voted for without any fanfare. The debt ceiling under G.W. Bush was raised 5 times from $5.95 trillion to $9.815 trillion. This was done with the help (and votes from) Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl. The reason for the increases under Obama are partly due to the unfunded wars under G.W. Bush. (along with MANY other factors) Know your facts before you speak shoeless aj (by the way, you probably lost those shoes under Bush)
Then remember, "W" started with a budget surplus. Obama started with a failed economy and a huge deficit, thanks the the two counter-product ive wars Bush started for the benefit of his backers in the defense industry and companies like Haliburton.
Try, just once, to check the facts.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jul/26/barack-obama/obama-says-reagan-raised-debt-ceiling-18-times-geo/
But I digress, it's because of comments like your that allow Ryan to lie the way he did.
Well, it is a play stolen from the playbooks of another propagandist:
"...in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they willstill doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying." - Adolf Hitler
The problem is not that Ryan lies - all politicians lie. It is that soooooo very many prospective voters believe him - that's scary!
"we'll give you details AFTER the election!" "No more tax returns needed by those people."
So we have a known and clear-to-see 'flip-flopper-i n-chief' candidate choosing a known liar-in-chief, joined at the hip only by Machiavellian (means justifies the end) plots underwritten by legions of 'corporate people' (dollars).
Talk about scary! And dangerous. It's a whole new level, transcended from "you can fool some people some of the time", to "you can buy all the gullible's beliefs with all of the propaganda, spin, and lies that money can buy". Add a pinch of fear, hate, and doublespeak, and it's the GOP Dream Team from Hell. Just lie over and over, change the associations we have to words (like 'shared'), re-write history to further drive the lies, and if there's any problem - well, blame it on Obama! And be sure never to draw focus to facts - or lies - or their intersection in the political battle to capture hearts and minds.
Lies, lies, more lies. "Facts are stupid things". (Reagan)
We need a landslide vote for sanity, honesty, integrity....
1. Iraq was involved with al-Qaeda and 9/11.
2. Iraq had WMD's and the war was justified.
This was bolstered by a flurry of spurious yellow alerts during 2003-2004 that seemed to suspiciously dry up as soon as the election was over.
If the public and the media will swallow that, the GOP is more than justified in its belief that it's members can get away with almost anything.
Unfortunately, completely forgetting something was said, especially something so wrong, is not a very strong human trait. Jurors of good moral conduct will abide by the law... but to err is to be human- and residue lingers. This appears to be Karl Rove 101; textbook material, probably Chapter One.
I'd venture to say that Eddie Munster says all this stuff because he's not stupid and he wants potential voters to take- what he knows will be objected- back to the jury to vote w/some residue on their mind. He's counting on those too ignorant, too biased, too angry and too hungry, to question something said on TV.
The problem with this tactic today, is the age of technology in which we live. Time was when people needed books to research- now we have the internet. Time was when people needed big, bulky desktop computers- now we have instant libraries in our iPhones.
This is a flagrant foul never the less and has its dire consequences. Because the difference between being a smart man who gets caught and being a man who thinks he's so smart he won't get caught is the difference between Nixon and Clinton.
You'd think that after decades of Republican mis-rule they'd be a minor party - at best. Instead, if the Democrats prove to be their usual feckless selves, we'll again be in danger of a Republican take-over which will usher in an era of greater selfishness, corruption, and even more tax breaks for the rich at the expense of the working class. If that isn't bad enough we'll also experience security crackdowns as well as a more intolerant approach to the private lives of American citizens. Is the USA going insane? RIP USA.
The seeking mind’s not only quite uncouth,
But shamelessly subversive, so they say;
It wastes the enterprising years of youth
On heresies. But who are they
That dictate to our splendid here-and-now
Their purse-lipped maunderings in the night?
Why, they’re the fanatic few. And we must bow
In servile homage to their frowning might.
It’s unanimity these days instead
Of honest doubt. Well, that’s the way of things
When fearful folk go off to desolate bed
And psychopaths exert the power of kings.
I had a few thoughts about your comment:
I was listening to an old Jean Shepherd radio program from 1960. He was discussing the fact that, "Americans don't want accomplishment anymore. They just want fame". He also bemoaned the fact that there were people who's only reason for being famous was the fame itself. In other words, they were famous for being famous - rather than for any noteworthing talent or accomplisments.
I couldn't believe it. He said this in 1960. He didn't even KNOW about Paris Hilton, or "reality" tv yet.
My mom once said, "People don't change from one generation to the next. The only thing that changes is the situations they deal with." I really agree with that.
Nothing has really changed, but things have gotten worse, because today's joe mccarthy's have an unbelievable amount of technology to use against the rest of us.
We really need to do something about our right of privacy and fast in this country, before it's gone entirely.
*brain explodes*
(which, coincidentally, tends to happen every time I even think about TRYING to watch Faux News)
Hm...
Fox News: mouthpiece for corporations, 50% religion, 50% batshit insanity, 100% giving logic the finger
RSN: No corporate sponsors so no articles are biased or left unprinted due to censorship, writers are vetted and credentialed and usually know what they're talking about, emphasis placed on science and fact-checking
Gee, what a tough choice...
He and Mitt so conveniently distort the truth that they seem to believe their own lies!
We get a lot of snarky remarks essentially saying, "yeah but you guys suck too!", but I'm not reading anything disagreeing with the article itself. THAT'S what the discussion is about.
It's not just that ayn ryan happens to fit a lie in every sentence, which is a major feat even for a politician. It's that those lies tend to be HUGE and DANGEROUS ones. It's that those lies need to be scrutinized more than they have been and it's that the survival of things like Medicare, Social Security hang in the balance.
These aren't just lies. They're specifically manipulative ones intended to cause the greatest amount of damage to the public good while further enriching his own faction.
It seems to me that if something unfair was said about ayn ryan, these guys would have plenty to say about it. The article catalogs 10 major lies. Not one of them has been seriously defended by any of the conservatives on this thread.
Just consider the latest Romney pollster's statement on the subject:
“We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers"( i.e. truth tellers)
Anything to be elected including duping the American public and all too many of the American public are willing to be duped out of hate and irrationalfear.
It seems that Repugs are determind to make themselves uelectable, by being as outrageous as they can be, clearing the way, for what appears to be the only alternative.
That appears to be more of the zio-natzi loving, assassin by drone, extraordinary renditioning, Wiki Leaks truth fearing, wolf in sheep's clothing, that had an open goal chance to do some good, when he took office.
I suppose he may do some good yet though, by proving that people have to start accepting personal responsibility, stop the Repug/Imitation Democrat, and become good Anarchists.
That is what i call success. Ford refused to take anything and are truly profitable.
With respect to Obamacare, any bill that is over 2,000 pages long is flawed and open to capricious interpretaation . Do not unestimate the power and guile of bureaucraTRS WHO HAVE THOUSANDS OF WORDS TO PLAY WITH. YOU, NOR ANYONE ELSE INCLUDING NANCY pELOSI,KNOW WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THOSE PAGES. NEPA WHEN PASSED WAS ONLY A FEW PAGES; IT HAS GROWN INTO A USEFUL INSTRUMENT THROUGH REGULATION AND TRIAL AND ERROR.
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