Campaign 2010

Aug 17, 2011

FACT CHECK: Boehner/Cantor Budget OpEd With 8 Major Falsehoods

In today’s USA Today, House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Leader Eric Cantor wrote a joint OpEd riddled with falsehoods and misleading information. In just 732 words, they make eight false claims or misleading arguments about the recent S&P downgrade, the Republican budget, the Republican jobs record, and their rigidity and extremism in the recent debt limit debate.

 

FACT CHECK

 

FALSE CLAIM #1: “Time and again, we have reached out to President Obama in the hope that he would finally be ready to do what is needed to solve our debt crisis and tackle America's job crisis.” They even claim, “The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake for Washington to continue ducking the toughest choices.”

 

TRUTH: House Republicans have been “ducking the toughest choices” by repeatedly walking out of deficit reduction negotiations.

 

  • New York Times: Budget Talks Near Collapse as G.O.P. Leader Quits. “Congressional Republicans on Thursday abandoned budget talks aimed at clearing the way for a federal debt limit increase, leaving the outcome in doubt as they vowed not to give in to a Democratic push for new tax revenues as part of any compromise. The breakdown was set off by the surprise decision of Representative Eric of Virginia, the House majority leader and one of two Republicans participating in sessions led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to quit the negotiations. This week’s talks were considered to be crucial as the Aug. 2 deadline for an increase in federal borrowing authority nears.” [New York Times, 6/23/11]

 

  • CBS News: John Boehner Walks Away from Debt Talks. “House Speaker John Boehner has walked away from negotiations with President Obama over a deal to raise the debt limit. Boehner and the president have been seeking a "grand bargain" of perhaps $4 trillion in deficit reduction.” [CBS News, 7/22/11]

 

  • Wall Street Journal: Republicans Are Not Acting Like Adults. On July 30, 2011, The Wall Street Journal wrote that “Republicans are not looking like adults to whom voters can entrust the government” in regards to the ongoing debt limit debate. [Wall Street Journal, Editorial, 7/30/11]

 

  • Republicans Played A Cynical Political Game With Hugely High Economic Stakes. According to the Economist, “if there is no political deal, the American government will go into default. […]It is because the vast majority of Republicans, driven on by the wilder-eyed members of their party and the cacophony of conservative media, are clinging to the position that not a single cent of deficit reduction must come from a higher tax take. This is economically illiterate and disgracefully cynical. […] The closer you look, the more unprincipled the Republicans look. […] the blame falls clearly on the Republicans. Independent voters should take note.” [Economist Editorial, 7/7/11]

 

FALSE CLAIM #2: “Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade our creditworthiness is a clarion call to get America's fiscal house in order.”

 

TRUTH: Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade was a repudiation of the House Republican’s decision to gamble with the country’s economy.

 

  • National Journal Said Standard & Poor’s Downgrade Explanation was a “Blast at Republicans.” In reaction to the Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade U.S. treasury rating from AAA to AA+, on August 7, 2011 National Journal reported that “it’s hard to read the S&P analysis as anything other than a blast at Republicans.  In denouncing the threat of default as a ‘bargaining chip,’ the agency was saying that the GOP strategy had shaken its confidence.” [National Journal, 8/7/11]

 

  • Standard & Poor’s Said Debt Default Skeptics Were Responsible for Downgrade. “A Standard & Poor’s director said for the first time Thursday that one reason the United States lost its triple-A credit rating was that several lawmakers expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default — a position put forth by some Republicans. Without specifically mentioning Republicans, S&P senior director Joydeep Mukherji said the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that ‘people in the political arena were even talking about a potential default,’ Mukherji said. ‘That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable,’ he added. ‘This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.’” [Politico, 8/11/11]

 

FALSE CLAIM #3: “This spring, the House passed a budget that would cut spending by trillions of dollars and encourage private-sector job creation through economic growth”

 

TRUTH: In reality, the House Republicans voted overwhelmingly for a plan that could result in 1.7 million fewer jobs

 

  • Former McCain Economic Advisor: 1.7 Million few Jobs Under Ryan Plan. According the Mark Zandi of Moody's, a former economist for the McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign, the Ryan approach would result in 1.7 million fewer jobs, including 900,000 next year, than is the case under the president's proposal. [Moody's Analytics, 4/14/11]

 

  • 224 Days of the House Republicans’ Jobless Agenda. Instead of focusing on jobs, House Republicans voted to end Medicare, voted to protect taxpayer giveaways for Big Oil companies making record profits, and almost shut down the government in pursuit of their extremist agenda that restricts women’s reproductive health care even including cancer screenings. Republicans have still failed to do anything that creates jobs for 130 according to the clock at www.whenarethejobs.com. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11; Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11; H.R. 1229, Vote #308, 5/11/11; LA Times, 4/8/11; HR 1, Pence Amendment (#11), Vote #93, 2/18/11; ABC News, 4/8/11; whenarethejobs.com, accessed 5/15/11]

 

FALSE CLAIM #4: House Republicans support closing tax loopholes

 

TRUTH: House Republicans have repeatedly voted against eliminating tax loopholes for Big Oil and companies that ship American jobs overseas. [S 627, Vote #676, 7/29/11; H Res 245, Vote #293, 5/5/11; HJRes 44, Vote #153, 3/1/11; H Res 38, Vote #19, 1/25/11; HR 1586, Vote #518, 8/10/10; HR 5982, Vote #514, 7/30/10]

 

FALSE CLAIM #5: “Our budget [House Republican/Ryan Budget] also included real reforms that preserve and strengthen our insolvent entitlement programs”

 

TRUTH: The House Republican budget would end Medicare.

 

  • Wall Street Journal: House Republican Plan “Would Essential End Medicare.” On April 4, 2011, the Wall Street Journal reported that House Republican’s budget proposal “would essentially end Medicare.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11]

 

  • McClatchy: House Republican Spending Plan Would End Medicare. “The proposals from Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee, would reverse retirement policies created during President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society programs of the mid-1960s…His plan effectively would end Medicare for seniors, revamp Medicaid for the poor, scrap the 2010 health care law, roll back nonmilitary federal spending overall and lower individual and corporate tax rates.” [McClatchy-Tribune News Service, 4/5/11]

 

FALSE CLAIM #6: President Obama “and his allies demanded tax increases on families and small businesses, tax increases that would destroy jobs.”

 

TRUTH: President Obama and congressional Democrats have repeatedly called for ending special tax breaks for oil companies, millionaires and billionaires, corporate jet owners and corporations that ship jobs overseas.

 

  • President Obama Proposed Ending Tax Breaks for Millionaires, Big Oil and Corporate Jet Owners. On June 29, 2011, President Obama said: “There’s been a lot of discussion about revenues and raising taxes in recent weeks, so I want to be clear about what we’re proposing here.  I spent the last two years cutting taxes for ordinary Americans, and I want to extend those middle-class tax cuts.  The tax cuts I’m proposing we get rid of are tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires; tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners. It would be nice if we could keep every tax break there is, but we’ve got to make some tough choices here if we want to reduce our deficit.” [Press Conference by the President, 6/29/11]

 

  • Minority Leader Pelosi Proposed Ending Tax Breaks for Corporations that Ship Jobs Overseas and Subsidies for Big Oil. On June 23, 2011, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said: “Yes, we do want to remove tax subsidies for Big Oil.  We want to remove tax breaks for corporations that send jobs overseas.  That list goes on.  I don't know that that's a reason to walk away from the table when we are trying to find a balanced approach.”  [Minority Leader Pelosi’s Press Conference, 6/23/11]

 

FALSE CLAIM #7: “Ratification of a balanced-budget amendment would provide greater certainty about our nation's fiscal trajectory over the long haul, helping private sector small-business people — who are being overwhelmed with uncertainty from Washington — to plan, invest and get back to creating jobs. That is the type of commitment to fiscal responsibility that S&P and other rating services are looking for.”

 

TRUTH: John Chambers, the head of Standard & Poor’s sovereign ratings division said that passing a balance budget amendment would do more harm than good.

 

  • S&P’s Chambers: Balanced Budget Amendment Would Do More Harm Than Good. On August 6, 2011, John Chambers, head of Standard & Poor’s sovereign ratings division, said that passing a balanced budget amendment would do more harm than good. When asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer if adding  a balance budget amendment to the constitution would help restore the United State’s  AAA credit rating, Chambers responded:  “In general, we think that fiscal rules like these just diminish the flexibility of the government to respond. Also, when Congress has a long track record of trying to bind itself with various rules, but the rules when it comes to - when push comes to shove, they don't bind very much. So, it would be-even if you had a balanced budget amendment you have some questions about its credibility. And it would just reduce your flexibility in a crisis.” [CNN, 8/6/11; see also: Washington Post, 8/9/11]

 

FALSE CLAIM #8: “The American people understand that Washington can't keep spending money it doesn't have. They want to see less government — not more taxes.”

 

TRUTH: The American people would like to see the public deficit reduced by eliminating tax subsidies for Big Oil, companies that ship jobs overseas, and huge tax breaks for millionaires.

 

  • Former Ronald Reagan Advisor Bruce Bartlett: 23 Polls Say People Support Higher Taxes to Reduce the Deficit.  “Bruce Bartlett, a veteran of the Reagan and Bush administrations, has an updated list of 23 polls — all from the last nine months — which all show the same thing: consistent support from the American mainstream for higher taxes. The list isn’t selected — Bruce highlights (and links to) every poll he could find on this, and in each case, the margin was about 2-to-1 in support of tax increases for the wealthy.” [Bruce Bartlett’s blog, 8/10/11; Washington Monthly, 8/10/11]

 

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