Congressman Renacci Raises The Level of His Game

We thought it would be proper to point out that Congressman Jim Renacci (R) appears to be raising the level of his game. Then again, when you set the bar of performance and truthfulness so low that it lays on the ground, clearing it takes very little effort.

During his first town hall (Walsh University/Jan. 10) since joining Congress, Renacci responded to a member of the audience with this line as justification for voting to repeal the health care law:

"I agree with you, there are some good things, but there are also a half a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare that are going to go in place."

I don't think you actually needed to do any research to recognize that this statement seemed a little ridiculous. Common sense would tell you that this doesn't seem right. Fortunately PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize winning website, fact-checked this claim and found it to be Barely True.

Here is a part of PolitiFact's assessment of Renacci's claim, which is often repeated by other Republicans:

That statement had a familiar ring to it. We decided it was one worth another look.

Renacci’s exchange with his constituent hit on the same themes as the health care debate in 2010. And more than once during the election season we looked at the claims from Republicans and groups that opposed the reforms that the health care package would cut $500 billion from Medicare.

But it’s important to note that the law does not take $500 billion out of the current Medicare budget, as Renacci and the bill’s foes make it sound. Rather, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act slows the program’s projected growth in Medicare spending by about $500 billion over 10 years.

That’s a big difference.

Medicare spending will still increase. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated it will reach $929 billion in 2020, up from $499 billion in actual spending in 2009. (Link)

So what Renacci is doing is taking a number that does actually exist ($500,000) but completely misrepresents what it means. Instead of using the words "slowing projected growth," he decides to throw in the buzz word "cuts." This completely changes the meaning of what the bill will do with Medicare.

So the question remains. Is Renacci ignorant, or deceitful? I suppose only Renacci and the political people closest to him know whether this misrepresentation is born of a lack of knowledge, or a lack of scruples.

On a positive note, a statement that at least brushes past the truth is better than what he has done before, as noted by both PolitiFact and fact-checking we did of Renacci's debate performance in September 2010.

Voters Say November Election Full of Misleading and False Information

Filed under the category of "tell me something that I don't already know," a poll found that 9 in 10 voters said that in the 2010 election they encountered information they believed was misleading or false, with 56% saying this occurred frequently. While the majority of this information was coming from Republicans (our opinion, but considering PolitiFact's last two Lies of the Year came from Republicans about the health care bill, our assessment stands on pretty solid ground), voters overwhelmingly voted for Republicans in November.

Why did this happen? Because voters, inexplicably in our assessment, believed a lot of the misinformation and lies being spread. And how do we know this? This same poll asked some specific policy questions, and the results were remarkable (and troubling). Here is a sampling:

• Though the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded that the stimulus legislation has saved or created 2.0-5.2 million jobs, only 8% of voters thought most economists who had studied it concluded that the stimulus legislation had created or saved several million jobs. Most (68%) believed that economists estimate that it only created or saved a few jobs and 20% even believed that it resulted in job losses.
• Though the CBO concluded that the health reform law would reduce the budget deficit, 53% of voters thought most economists have concluded that health reform will increase the deficit.
• Though the Department of Commerce says that the US economy began to recover from recession in the third quarter of 2009 and has continued to grow since then, only 44% of voters thought the economy is starting to recover, while 55% thought the economy is still getting worse.
• Though the National Academy of Sciences has concluded that climate change is occurring, 45% of voters thought most scientists think climate change is not occurring (12%) or that scientists are evenly divided (33%).
• 86% assumed their taxes had gone up (38%) or stayed the same (48%), while only 10% were aware that their taxes had gone down since 2009
  

Read more ...

Even Republicans Think Mitch McConnell is Full of It

As touched upon in this post, Republicans have nothing left but to lie about what the Democrats do. They can't run on their record, because it is lousy. And they have no new ideas. But when the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate so blatantly lies about a piece of legislation that even Republicans are calling him for it, then you know they truly have no credibility left.

FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, a Bush/Cheney appointee to the FDIC, a former assistant Treasury secretary in the Bush administration, had this to say about McConnell's comments about the financial reform bill that is currently being worked on in the Senate. McConnell claimed that the bill will perpetuate bailouts of major financial institutions:

Would this bill perpetuate bailouts?

BAIR: The status quo is bailouts. That's what we have now. If you don't do anything, you are going to keep having bailouts. Bankruptcy doesn't work -- we saw that with Lehman Brothers.

But does this bill stop them from happening?

BAIR: It makes them impossible and it should. We worked really hard to squeeze bailout language out of this bill. The construct is you can't bail out an individual institution — you just can't do it.

In a true liquidity crisis, the FDIC and the Fed can provide systemwide support in terms of liquidity support -- lending and debt guarantees -- but even then, a default would trigger resolution or bankruptcy. Link

Republicans - Lies Have Real-Life Consequences

I know for a lot of Republicans and most of the corporate media (and some Democrats too), politics is seen as a game. Actual consequences are secondary to simply trying to win the the day, week or month political spin cycle, ultimately leading towards the next election. But policies do matter (why enter government if you are not interested in policy) and have tangible outcomes to people. It's one thing if a given policy results in an undesired outcome for some Americans, but when a bold-face lie intended to scare people jeopardizes someone's health, a definite line has been crossed.

But that is exactly what happened with the Death Panel lie, made famous by half-term governor Sarah Palin:

Amy Townsend, 38, of Hurst was preparing last week for yet another round of treatments in her battle against breast cancer.

In addition to steeling herself for possible side effects, she and husband Jesse, 43, were preparing for the possibility that they might have to pay hundreds of dollars, up front, before radiation treatment can begin.

With both Amy and Jesse unemployed, the family buys health insurance through COBRA with a $5,500 yearly maximum for out-of-pocket expenses -- a threshold the family has not yet met. COBRA coverage generally lasts up to 18 months.

"We've got to come up with some money for next week," she said.

Though she still faces medical bills, Amy said she was against the health care act, fearing so-called death panels and government inefficiency. [emphasis added] Link

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PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: 'Death panels'

Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.

"Death panels."

The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn't made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page. Link

The lie of the year wasn't committed by a talk show host like Rush Limbaugh (althouth it is probably already assumed most of what he says is a lie), but by the Vice President nominee of the Republican Party last year. And possibly the 2012 Republican candidate for president in 2012.