As if it wasn’t understood before Wednesday night, in Denver, Mitt Romney will lie in order to get elected. His talking points in the debate contained as many lies as Paul Ryan’s RNC speech in August. I don’t know about you but I want a President who won’t lie on a whim. Mitt Romney just isn’t electable.
Here is a brief summary of some of the whoppers Mr. Romney let fly at the debate:
- When he claimed that “pre-existing conditions are covered under my plan.” They’re not.
- When he said that President Obama had “cut Medicare by $716 billion to pay for Obamacare.” Obama didn’t.
- When he denied proposing a $5 trillion tax cut. He did.
- When he said President Obama had “added almost as much to the federal debt as all the prior presidents combined.” Not even close.
- When he resurrected “death panels.” That was called “one of the biggest whoppers of the night.”
- When he stated that half the green energy companies given stimulus funds had failed. Only if three out of nearly three dozen is half.
Or how about this:
21) “Right now, the CBO says up to 20 million people will lose their insurance as Obamacare goes into effect next year. And likewise, a study by McKinsey and Company of American businesses said 30 percent of them are anticipating dropping people from coverage.” The Affordable Care Act would actually expand health care coverage to 30 million Americans, despite Romney fear mongering. According to CBO director Douglas Elmendorf, 3 million or less people would leave employer-sponsored health insurance coverage as a result of the law.
22) “I like the way we did it [health care] in Massachusetts…What were some differences? We didn’t raise taxes.” Romney raised fees, but he can claim that he didn’t increase taxes because the federal government funded almost half of his reforms.
23) “It’s why Republicans said, do not do this, and the Republicans had — had the plan. They put a plan out. They put out a plan, a bipartisan plan. It was swept aside.” The Affordable Care Act incorporates many Republican ideas including the individual mandate, state-based health care exchanges, high-risk insurance pools, and modified provisions that allow insurers to sell policies in multiple states. Republicans never offered a united bipartisan alternative.
24) “Preexisting conditions are covered under my plan.” Only people who are continuously insured would not be discriminated against because they suffer from pre-existing conditions. This protection would not be extended to people who are currently uninsured.
The conservatives are going to highlight the style win while the rest of us will focus on Romney’s tall tales. If he can lie like that in a debate imagine all the lies he could tell if he was elected.
I don’t want to find out.