December 20, 2011 2:19 pm ET filed under Fact Check
Fact-Checking PolitiFact On Its "Lie Of The Year"
Earlier in the year, Republicans in the House overwhelmingly voted on a budget proposal crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Ryan's radical piece of "right-wing social engineering," as Newt Gingrich once referred to it, aims to, among other things, convert both the Medicaid and food stamp program into block grants, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and end the single-payer health care system known as Medicare. Unfortunately, the fact checkers at PolitiFact have decided that this indisputable fact — that the Ryan budget ends what Americans have long understood as Medicare, and replaces it with a more expensive and inferior privatized health care system that will be Medicare in name alone — warranted their "Lie of the Year" designation. But PolitiFact is wrong. Republicans have voted to end what all Americans know as Medicare. As economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes of PolitiFact's decision, "they've bent over backwards to appear 'balanced.'"
December 19, 2011 9:26 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - December 18, 2011
December 19, 2011 9:24 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - December 18, 2011
This week on the Sunday political talk shows, topics of discussion ranged far and wide. On Fox News Sunday, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney advocated for block granting Medicaid despite the harm that would do to those who rely on the program. On This Week, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) distorted the content of a CBO report on income inequality. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), appearing on Meet the Press, shared several false claims: that employers are concerned about "uncertainty," and that the Keystone pipeline would create 20,000 jobs. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), also on Meet the Press, did the same, falsely asserting that there's no evidence the payroll tax holiday created jobs and that Iran has threatened the U.S. and Israel with nuclear weapons.
December 15, 2011 4:12 pm ET filed under Blog
Has Rep. Ryan Changed His Mind About The Affordable Care Act?
December 12, 2011 12:11 pm ET filed under Fact Check
Republicans: Payroll Tax Holiday Isn't "Stimulating" Enough
A prominent group of Republican lawmakers are opposing Obama administration efforts to extend a payroll tax holiday — due to expire on December 31 — that would continue putting more money in the pockets of working Americans. Opponents lean heavily on the argument that the current payroll tax holiday has not had a sufficiently stimulative effect on the economy, but experts disagree, arguing that the holiday has helped bolster the recovering economy.
December 08, 2011 3:06 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan Lies In Email Urging People To Vote For Lie Of The Year
November 18, 2011 2:56 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan Blames Economic Woes On "Moral Relativism" And "People Just Having No Work Ethic"
November 16, 2011 11:15 am ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan: GOP Compromised By Offering Plan To "Replace" The Bush Tax Cuts
November 04, 2011 12:15 pm ET filed under Blog
Will Rep. Paul Ryan Denounce "Gimmick" In Jon Huntsman's Praise Of Ryan Budget?
November 03, 2011 11:45 am ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan Knows A Thing Or Two About 'Straw Men'
November 03, 2011 11:38 am ET filed under Video
Rep. Ryan Accuses Obama Of "Preying On Resentment And Envy"
From a November 3, 2011, appearance by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on MSNBC's Morning Joe:
November 01, 2011 11:15 am ET filed under Blog
On Right-Wing Radio, Rep. Paul Ryan Lurches Between Desperate, Contrary Talking Points
October 28, 2011 3:59 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan Has No Idea What He's Talking About
October 28, 2011 1:15 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Ryan: I Know You Are, But What Am I?
October 27, 2011 12:30 pm ET filed under Blog
Poll: Almost 70 Percent Of Millionaires Support Higher Taxes On Millionaires
October 26, 2011 12:47 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan Blasts Obama's "Class Warfare" And "Intellectually Lazy Arguments"
October 24, 2011 2:42 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Ryan Is Confused About Who Wants "Painful Austerity, The Kind You See In Europe"
October 11, 2011 10:43 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - October 9, 2011
October 11, 2011 10:31 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - October 9, 2011
Sunday's political talk shows were chock full of the misinformation that we've come to expect from conservatives. On CBS' Face The Nation, presidential hopeful Herman Cain told viewers that his 9-9-9 economic plan was revenue neutral and disputed the charge that it is regressive. However, his plan would cut taxes for the very wealthy and "disproportionately tax lower and middle income earners." Cain also appeared on CNN's State of the Union, where he claimed that 50 percent of taxpayers account for just 3 percent of all taxes. On NBC's Meet the Press, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) claimed that businesses are not hiring because of regulatory uncertainty. That is not supported by the facts, however: Economists and business owners point to weak consumer demand, not uncertainty. And finally, Rick Santorum, another presidential contender, continued his homophobic ways by telling Fox News host Chris Wallace that being gay is a choice.
September 20, 2011 2:03 pm ET filed under Video
Rep. Ryan Hypocritically Accuses Obama Of "Nullifying The Notion That There Is An Alternative Path For America"
From the September 20, 2011, edition of The Laura Ingraham Show:
September 20, 2011 2:02 pm ET filed under Video
Rep. Ryan Decries Iraq, Afghanistan Savings He Himself Has Touted As "War Gimmick"
From the September 20, 2011, edition of The Laura Ingraham Show:
September 20, 2011 1:59 pm ET filed under Blog
GOP Rep. Ryan: Americans Are Wrong To Support President Obama On Fairer Taxes
September 19, 2011 9:51 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - September 18, 2011
September 19, 2011 9:32 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - September 18, 2011
This week's Sunday political talk shows saw a litany of standard GOP untruths. On CNN, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) repeated the favorite false Republican talking point of late: that businesses aren't hiring because of "uncertainty." He was joined in his lie by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and presidential candidate Herman Cain, both of whom appeared on Fox News Sunday. Both Cain and Ryan also revived an old piece of misinformation — that raising taxes on top earners would disproportionately harm small businesses — which was echoed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). For his part, Graham misrepresented the public's opinion on taxing the wealthy, and absurdly claimed that "everything" — including unemployment — is worse because of President Obama's policies. Ryan dredged up some old lies about the House-passed GOP budget's effects on Medicare, which it would essentially destroy, and then falsely claimed that the Affordable Care Act's Independent Payment Advisory Board puts bureaucrats in charge of "rationing."
September 15, 2011 1:31 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan: "Obviously Infrastructure Does Create Jobs," But Businesses Need "Certainty"
August 16, 2011 11:32 am ET filed under Blog
Rep. Paul Ryan Refuses To Face Voters This August, But 'Welcomed The Debate' In 2009
August 11, 2011 6:40 pm ET filed under Fact Check
GOP Social Security Schemes Would Only Harm Retirees
As the anniversary of Social Security nears, it's important to remember how Republicans have approached the program. Beginning with a Bush-era commission on Social Security reform and continuing up through Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-WI) "Roadmap for America's Future," Republicans have sought over the last decade to disrupt the Social Security system via a variety of schemes. Their proposals, which have often included privatization plans and "progressive price indexing," would introduce uncertainty into retirees' lives by attaching payouts to the ups and downs of the market, and would amount to substantial benefit cuts for many Americans.
August 08, 2011 10:01 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - August 7, 2011
August 08, 2011 9:46 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - August 7, 2011
The highlight of yesterday's Sunday political talk shows was Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) deceptive performance on Fox. Ryan misled on a range of topics, from the causes of the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt, to the drivers of that debt, to President Obama's policy positions, to the reasons businesses aren't expanding today, with plenty of stops in between. By comparison, Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) dishonesty about Afghanistan and Social Security, Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) bogus economic statistics, and Sen. Jeff Sessions' (R-AL) deceit on deficits under President Bush and Democrats' willingness to cut spending were barely even blips on the radar.
August 02, 2011 10:30 am ET filed under Fact Check
Op-Eds From Reps. Ryan And Pitts Filled With Health Care Lies
As a deal on the debt crisis was being reached, Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Joe Pitts (R-PA) refocused their energy on lying about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and distorting its impact on job creators, seniors and economy. In Politico op-eds, the congressmen attacked the health care waivers granted, cited the debunked McKinsey study as proof of the ACA's supposed negative impact on hiring, and condemned the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) for harming seniors by denying care. Rep. Ryan also rehashed the tired claim that the ACA cut $500 billion from Medicare and falsely asserted the ACA has "weakened our economy and accelerated out-of-control government spending" while touting his "Path to Prosperity" budget plan that would end Medicare as we know it.
