News: Mitt Romney tells 533 lies in 30 weeks

Doc

Mitt Romney tells 533 lies in 30 weeks, Steve Benen documents them

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I’ve written about or linked to a great deal here “chronicling Mitt’s mendacity” — to borrow Steven Benen’s phrase.

Mitt Romney says many, many things that are not true. He says this despite being in possession of the correct facts of the matter.

Which is to say that Mitt Romney lies. A lot. He lies more than any other national candidate for office in my lifetime. And I was born before the Nixon administration.

This is documented. Proven. Validated, verified, demonstrated, catalogued and quantified. Mitt Romney lies.

Here are 30 — 30! — of Benen’s weekly “chronicling” posts. These are all backed up and sourced. These are not assertions, interpretations or allegations. These are facts, actual instances.

Over the past 30 weeks, Mitt Romney has told lie after lie after lie: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX.

Click those links. Read the lists. List after list of lie after lie. Hundreds of them — 533, to be exact, although Benen does not make any claim to providing a comprehensive chronicle.

This is unprecedented. “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” Romney’s pollster, Neil Newhouse, said.

This has produced what James Fallows calls the “post-truth” age — a relentlessly dishonest onslaught of brazen falsehoods with which the media and the political system are struggling to cope. What do you do when every article, every “fact-check,” every arbiter denounces a lie and corrects it, but then a politician just keeps repeating it?

It’s remarkable to behold.

One of the weirder aspects of this for me is watching this unfold in the politically conservative culture of my evangelical world. The most partisan evangelical conservatives are also those most likely to rant against “relativism” and to trumpet their status as defenders of “absolute truth.” Those same folks will dismiss this post — and all 30 of Benen’s posts above — as mere partisan attacks without ever bothering to examine the 533 factual instances of Mitt’s mendacity, chronicled.

That’s the only cognitive defense they have, I guess. Jam fingers in ears and shout la-la-la-you’re-being-partisan!

Because, you see, the fact that Mitt Romney said something he knew to be false is a partisan fact. And the fact that he has done this at least 533 times in the past 30 weeks is also partisan.

I suppose the other approach for Romney defenders who cannot bear to face the fact of those 533 facts will be to angrily pore over all of Benen’s lists, reading each one with a lawyerly eye.

Have at it. Please. Cherry-pick. Spin. Split hairs. Hand-wave away whichever lies you wish as mere misdemeanors and not full-fledged felonies against honesty.

But how many of those charges do you think you can get dismissed? 10 percent? 20 percent? Maybe, if you’re that sort of person and you work really hard at it — if you’re willing to get even more pedantic and semantic and technical than even you are usually comfortable with — maybe you could half convince yourself that 50 percent of those lies somehow shouldn’t really count against Romney.

That still leaves more than 260 lies. That still leaves Mitt Romney as a convicted liar, 260 times over. And at that point you’ll have to join your friends with their fingers in their ears.

But you’ll still know.

Because everyone knows. Mitt Romney lies. A lot. That is what he does. That is who he is. And friend or foe, he does not care if you know it.

Smooth Criminal

Republicans don't belong to the current world. May them go back to 1890.

Neptune

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“We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” Romney’s pollster, Neil Newhouse, said.

That's such a Sarah Palin 'the media is out to get me' response.

lasersss

The patience and time it took to count all those is deserving of an award.

Tsuko

Isn't lieing against his religion?

Stephen

Romney and his campaign are pathetic. This is worse than I could have imagined, even for a Republican.

Swaggie

This dude deserves an award, and to think he didn't get all of them.

Achilles.

I wish I had the effort to read them all.

lancelovesgaga

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Originally posted by Smooth Criminal

Republicans don't belong to the current world. May them go back to 1890.

+1

Doc

Here are last week's lies:

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Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXX

Mitt Romney gave a speech Beallsville, Ohio, this week, and presented an unfortunate attack against President Obama. "How can you go out there and tell people things that just aren't true?" he asked rhetorically. He added, "This is a time for truths."

In context, Romney was referring to Obama's claim that "we're adding jobs in the coal industry." In reality, the nation really is adding jobs in the coal industry -- Romney was looking for an example of the president saying something that "just isn't true," and he pointed to an Obama quote that happened to be accurate, though he told his audience the opposite.

It's hard not to appreciate the ironic circle -- the president said something true, Romney lied when he said the accurate claim is false, and then he complained about falsehoods in the campaign.

I don't know the Republican candidate personally, but from a distance, it appears there's a part of his brain that allows him to create some kind of deliberate blind-spot. It's actually a little scary to think of a leader -- a man who'd be given enormous power and influence, literally making life and death decisions on a regular basis -- who can convince himself that his falsehoods are true, and that others' truths are falsehoods.

But here we are. If this is, as Romney claims, a "time for truths," I can only hope the Republican candidate will take a few moments to consider the 30th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity. (This is the biggest list I've ever done.)

1. At an impromptu event in South Carolina yesterday, Romney said on Medicare policy, "Our plan [has] no change for current seniors and those 55 and older."

That's plainly false. Romney's plan eliminates all new benefits for seniors under the Affordable Care Act, which necessarily means higher prescription drug costs for seniors, and more expensive preventive care.

2. At the same event, Romney argued, "Under the president's plan, [Medicare] goes bankrupt... Under the plan I propose, it is solvent."

That's the exact opposite of reality. Obama's policy strengthens Medicare's finances, and under Romney's plan, the system would be closer to insolvency faster.

3. In Chillicothe, Ohio, Romney said that under Obama, "We've got lower economic growth."

Actually, we got higher economic growth.

4. In the same speech, Romney said that under Obama, "We've got higher unemployment."

Actually, we got lower unemployment.

5. He went on to say the annual budget deficit has hit the $1 trillion mark under Obama for the "first time the history of our country."

Not true. The first time in the history of our country that the deficit hit $1 trillion was George W. Bush's last year in office, when the annual shortfall was $1.3 trillion.

6. Romney added that Obama promised "he'd get the unemployment down to under 5.6 percent today if we pass that $1 trillion stimulus package."

That's actually two falsehoods wrapped as one. For one thing, the stimulus wasn't $1 trillion (Romney's off by over $200 billion, and that's real money). For another, that's not what Obama promised.

7. Romney added, "You see unlike President Obama, I won't raise taxes on small business."

Obama has repeatedly cut taxes on small businesses -- by some counts, 18 times -- and if given a second term, his tax plan would have no effect on 97% of small businesses.

8. In an interview with Fortune magazine, Romney said the president's stimulus measures "have not put Americans back to work."

Yes they have.

9. In the same interview, Romney said he would create jobs by "taking advantage of America's energy resources, particularly natural gas, as well as coal, oil, nuclear, solar, and wind."

Much of this is contradicted by Romney's own agenda. He opposes the wind production tax credit, no matter how many jobs it costs the nation, and has vowed to cut off investments in renewable energy programs (Romney has said wind and solar do not constitute "real energy.")

10. Romney went on to say, "A nation which is a highly productive nation as we are benefits by trade with others... The Obama administration has negotiated no new [trade] agreements."

Did Romney not hear about the trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea?

11. Romney added, "We have to cut the deficit and get America on track to a balanced budget in order to convince investors that America is a good place to invest long term.... The president has done virtually nothing other than to propose a series of tax increases."

Actually, Obama proposed a massive, $4 trillion "grand bargain," most of which was made up of spending cuts. Congressional Republicans turned it down anyway.

12. Romney also said, "We're at a 30-year low in new business startups."

Still not true.

13. Romney went on to say, "I indicated as I announced my tax plan that the key principles included the following. First, that high-income people would continue to pay the same share of the tax burden that they do today."

At a minimum, this is ridiculously misleading. Under Romney's plan, high-income people would get an enormous tax break.

14. Romney added, "Obamacare is a tax. It's been so determined by the Supreme Court, and it falls predominantly on the middle class."

He's referring to an individual mandate that would apply to 1% of the population. And if President Obama's health care policy "raised taxes on the middle class," then Mitt Romney raised taxes on the middle class.

15. Romney also said, "President Obama raises taxes on the middle class. I will under no circumstances raise taxes on the middle class."

There's overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

16. Romney went on to say, "I will follow a model similar to Simpson-Bowles."

No he won't.

17. Romney also said, "I believe infrastructure is going to see very substantial investments over the coming decade."

He may believe that, but he's also endorsed a budget plan that drastically curtails infrastructure investments.

18. Romney argued, "I believe that you're going to see us having created 12 million new jobs."

If we do nothing, we're on track to create 12 million new American jobs over the next four years anyway.

19. In a televised ad, Romney said Obama "cut $716 billion dollars from Medicare ... to pay for Obamacare."

Oh, please.

20. The ad goes on to say, in reference to seniors, "So now the money you paid for your guaranteed healthcare is going to a massive new government program that's not for you."

That's plainly false. Under the Affordable Care Act, seniors pay less for prescription medication and preventive care -- meaning the policy is "for" them, too.

21. At a campaign stop in Ohio, Romney said under Obama we're not "adding jobs in the coal industry" and not "producing more coal."

Romney's lying. In reality, we're adding jobs in the coal industry and producing more coal.

22. Romney said this week that Paul Ryan reached out to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to "co-lead a piece of legislation that makes sure we can save Medicare."

According to Ron Wyden, that's ridiculously untrue.

23. In another attack ad this week, Romney once again accused Obama of "quietly ending work requirements" in the welfare law."

He's still blatantly lying.

24. In Beallsville, Ohio, Romney argued, "President said he'd cut the deficit in half. He's doubled it."

Maybe Romney doesn't know what "double" means. The deficit on Obama's first day was $1.3 trillion. Last year, it was also $1.3 trillion. This year, it's projected to be $1.1 trillion. When he says the president "more than doubled" the deficit, as he has many times, Romney's lying.

25. In the same speech, Romney added that Obama has "raided that [Medicare] trust fund."

Obama has strengthened the Medicare trust fund.

26. Romney went on to call the Affordable Care Act an "unproven federal government takeover to health care."

There is no universe in which this makes sense -- "Obamacare" relies on private insurers, not a government takeover. (Also, it's not "unproven" -- the policy works quite well in, ahem, Massachusetts.)

27. Romney also said, "My number four [goal] is to stop spending massively more than we take in to get America on track to have a balanced budget. And I'll do it."

No you won't.

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.

28. Romney went on to say, "Seventy-five percent of small businesses in this country surveyed by the Chamber of Commerce said that Obamacare makes it less likely for them to hire people."

The "survey" is a joke. The Chamber, a pro-Republican lobbying institution heavily invested in helping Romney, put up an unscientific online survey. Treating this as a legitimate poll of businesses is fundamentally dishonest.

29. Romney also said, "I'm going to put work back into welfare."

Work hasn't been taken out of welfare.

30. Romney went on to say, "[Obama] said if you have a business, you didn't build that. Someone else did that."

That's not even close to what the president said.

31. At an event in St. Augustine, Florida, Romney said the president "won't want to remind people of Greece because that's where he's taking our country if we don't get off the road we're on."

That's painfully untrue.

32. In the same speech Romney said of the president, "He said he'd measure progress also by whether people were able to have a good job that kept them in their home and paid their mortgage. Well, 8.5 million homes foreclosed, a record level, is not success, Mr. President."

Putting aside how dishonest it is for Romney to blame the housing crash on the president, let's also not forget that Romney intends to deliberately avoid any efforts to curtail foreclosures.

33. Romney added, "I'm going to take every government program and apply this test: Is this program so critical it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And if it's not, we'll get rid of it."

This continues to be misleading. The implication here is that U.S. debt is financed by the Chinese, but this isn't true -- China only holds about 8% of the nation's debt.

Lyrical.

If he becomes president,

to the United States of America.

I will NAWT let him take away my Pell Grants. That's one thing he won't do.

TPG14

At all of you calling out Mitt when Obama's whole presidential campaign was a lie in '08

mike_10

every president lies but

Ginger.

Jeez.

Doc

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Originally posted by TPG14

At all of you calling out Mitt when Obama's whole presidential campaign was a lie in '08

I don't recall Obama ever lying 33 times in one single week, let alone 533 in 30, but feel free to provide sources that say otherwise.

Sloth

Who takes him seriously?

He's a laughing stock on the internet and mostly in real life, I doubt he'll win the election.

Stephen

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Originally posted by TPG14

At all of you calling out Mitt when Obama's whole presidential campaign was a lie in '08

Give me a break

They're incomparable.

Retro

Someone needs to spread this around to the big sites like Facebook and Twitter to help ensure the American people know what they'd be voting for if they voted for Romney.

Marq

If Romney is elected, I'll be fuming.

Igrt

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Originally posted by lasersss

The patience and time it took to count all those is deserving of an award.

.