Romney/Ryan Have a Problem With the Truth in First Week!

In one week on the trail, Romney and Ryan have managed to tell more whoppers then I can remember out of candidates running for President and Vice President.  As a candidate the truth gets stretched but the Romney/Ryan ticket outright lie when they don't have to lie which begs to question if they have any core principles.

Ryan says that reading Ayn Rand encouraged him to get into politics but now he disavows Ayn Rand according to ABC News:

Ryan, you see, is the country’s most powerful Randian. At least, he used to be. More on that in a moment. First, a look at his adoring relationship with the work of Russian emigre novelist Ayn Rand, author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.” 

It began, according to a 2005 speech Ryan gave to The Atlas Society, when he was still a student. And it guided his thinking on monetary policy for decades to come: 

“I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are,” he told the group. “It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff.” 

Ryan has since denied making his staff read the books. 

He continued: “But the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.”

Seems Ryan has as much trouble with the truth as Romney which means facts checking everything they have to say.  We all thought that Dan Quayle was a bad pick but this could turn out to be worse.  The Romney political advisers did not want Ryan but his wife and sons did so Mr. 'No Backbone' gave into them.  The Romney/Ryan campaign forget a basic rules in politics when sending out your VP to be the attack dog -- make sure when attacking they have their facts straight.  With this team when facts don't fit their narrative, they lie not once, not twice, but continually.  Ryan made charges against Obama for not saving the GM plant in Janesville that can be easily refuted..

When you first heard the clips from his speech, you think the President really doesn't have that much control over individual plants from a company like GM.  Then it hits you that GM announced the closing in the spring of 2008 when Obama was in a primary fight with Hillary Clinton and McCain was trying to defeat Romney.  That means the announcement came when President George W. Bush was in office as you see below:

April 29, 2008 - GM announced the Janesville plant was closing 

Then-Sen. Obama, who had visited the Janesville plant in February, issued a statement:

"My heart goes out to the workers and families affected by the closing of these GM plants," he said. "Today's news is a painful reminder not only of the challenges America faces in our global economy, but of George Bush's failed economic policies." He finished by pledging to help domestic automakers "with the funding they need to retool their factories and make fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel cars. And we'll invest in efforts to make sure that the cars of the future are made where they always have been -- in the United States."

After reporters woke up to the fact that it was Bush not Obama in office, more started researching the facts and in doing so, discovered that Ryan just might not be the deficit 'hawk' he has been portrayed as he supported the auto bailout that Romney opposed at the time:

By September of 2008, Ryan, who supported the auto bailout so long as the funds didn't come from the financial sector bailout, was still working aggressively to get GM to change its mind. He, along with Feingold and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), met with company officials in Detroit and "made clear what a tremendous asset the people of Janesville's GM plant are to GM, and how important GM jobs are to the Janesville community." On Sept. 13, the Herald Times Reporter said Ryan and then-Gov. Jim Doyle (D) had presented an "aggressive incentive plan" to GM leaders.

The deficit 'hawk' looks to have been a 'hawk' only when it came to other states because he immediately applied for federal funds to help dislocated works from the auto industry:

On Oct. 2, Ryan announced that the U.S. Department of Labor had awarded a $1.6 million national emergency grant to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. The money would help "dislocated workers in Rock County's automotive industry, including workers at General Motors, Lear Corporation, Logistics Services Inc., and United Industries."

The facts are now out for all to see that Paul Ryan requested and received for Wisconsin from the BUSH Administration Federal Funds -- those pesky Federal funds that Ryan never asks for if you listen closely where he gets caught lying like letters for stimulus money with his signature on the letters but it was the staffers fault.  He is the perfect match for Romney -- he has a huge problem with the truth and honesty plus he is quick to blame his staff for what he did.  The two could be clones and they expect the American to take their word?  Not happening with a lot of Americans.

Let me state openly that I have no problem with states requesting federal funds when they lose a major employer and a host of other reasons like drought, fire, tornadoes, hurricanes that through no fault of their own a state is suffering.  The problem is Ryan lying about requesting funds -- just tell the truth even if it shows you are not the deficit 'hawk' you claim to be -- at least it would be honest.

This article from Sam Stein gives the details with the dates of when the Janesville plant was closed.  Guess Paul Ryan 'forgot' that in 2008 that George W Bush was President not Barack Obama.  Did Ryan honestly think no one would catch him in a lie?  Sam Stein, the Huffington Post White House Reporter had this to say:

Paul Ryan Got Federal Funds To Help With Bush-Era GM Plant Closure He Blames On Obama 

Sam Stein 

Posted: 08/17/2012 7:11 pm Updated: 08/17/2012 8:06 pm 

GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan took a swipe at President Barack Obama on Thursday for failing to rescue a General Motors factory in his Wisconsin congressional district, calling it "one more broken promise" on the Democratic administration's record. 

"I remember President Obama visiting it when he was first running, saying he'll keep that plant open," Ryan said during a campaign stop. "One of the reasons that plant got shut down was $4 gasoline. You see, this costs jobs. The president's terrible energy policies are costing us jobs."
The attack has already received a fair amount of ridicule because the Janesville, Wis., plant actually closed during the last year of George W. Bush's presidency. What hasn't really been emphasized is whether Ryan clearly knew this and made the charge nonetheless. 

According to a rudimentary LexisNexis search, Ryan made multiple public pleas to GM, including op-eds in his home state newspaper, to keep the plant open. He and fellow Wisconsin lawmakers went to the automobile company's headquarters to present plans to extend the plant's life. When the Bush administration itself called the decision to close the plant evidence that the auto industry was trimming fat and improving its bottom line, Ryan called the news "gut-wrenching." 

And as it became clear in early-fall 2008 that GM wouldn't relent, Ryan publicly touted the federal tax money he secured to help displaced workers -- a use of funds that would seem at odds with his limited-government, fiscal conservative image. 

The timeline is worth recounting now that it has popped up in Ryan's stump speech. 

In April 29, 2008, it was announced that 750 workers at the GM plant in Janesville would lose their jobs. Ryan, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said he would "work closely with those in Janesville facing uncertainty in the months ahead and do all that I can to ensure that they get the assistance they need."  

(snip)

On May 1, 2008, then-Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), along with Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Ryan, sent a letter to Rick Wagoner, then GM CEO, urging the company to join government, community organizations and employers to help the affected workers.  "We ask that you give every consideration to maintaining GM's presence in Janesville, as well as taking future steps to ensure the continued success of the Janesville plant, including considering the assignment of new production models at the plant," the lawmakers wrote.

On May 4, 2008, Ryan wrote an op-ed in the Journal Sentinel calling for a comprehensive energy plan in light of the news that the GM plant was firing 750 people.
"As a fifth-generation native of Janesville, I grew up learning the old saying, "As GM goes, so goes Janesville,'" Ryan wrote. 

It was announced in early June that GM would indeed close the Janesville plant and three others. Ryan said it was "gut wrenching." 

Later, he joined Feingold and Kohl in writing another letter to Wagoner. "On May 1 of this year, we wrote to you asking that GM take future steps to ensure the continued success of the Janesville plant, including considering the assignment of new production models at the plant. We renew that request now," the letter read. 

On June 4, the Bush administration framed GM's decision as evidence the troubled automaker was getting its finances in order. 

The Bush White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said it was "a sign that Detroit continues to adapt and evolve and address the change in consumer tastes and attitudes. ... They're adapting well and they'll make these changes and hopefully be able to pull themselves up out of what has been a rough several years." 

(snip)  

Excerpt:  Read More at The Huffington Post

While we are on the subject of auto bailouts found this little gem interesting to show after first being against the auto bailouts which Romney repeated all through the debates, he now believes they work and wants to take credit.  You have to admit that Romney is flip flopping more than Kerry which I didn't think was possible. He beat the Kerry record during the debates and is keeping it up to this day as witnessed this week with the Ryan budget -- he was for it as it was like his budget, not like his budget, some things are the same, and now he is back to the budgets being the same all in one week.  He flip flopped so much on the Ryan budget it left your neck sore from pivoting back and forth.  Who knows if it is the same as the Romney camp has given so few details about the Romney budget  (if there is one) but we are just supposed to believe him to which I will use the term my boss at Wright-Patterson AFB used a lot -- 'Bravo Sierra!'  Now for the facts:

Mitt Romney's 'dishonest' auto rescue claim: 3 ways it hurts him:

1. Democrats will point to a broader pattern of deception
Democrats are turning Romney's claims about the auto rescue "into a full-scale assault" on his "character and record," says Byron Tau at Politico. They say Romney's record of mistruths "extends far beyond the auto bailout issue," reinforcing the Democratic argument that Romney is an "Etch A Sketch" candidate who will say absolutely anything to get elected.

2. Republicans genuinely oppose the bailouts
Romney's claims put his party "in an awkward position," says Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo. Nearly all Republicans "have attacked the Obama administration's bailout in exceptionally harsh terms," and they're now in a state of disbelief that their presidential candidate is claiming credit for Detroit's recovery. Even Romney's supporters have urged their man "to stop defending his comments and start talking about the auto makers' future instead," say Patrick O'Connor and Sara Murray at The Wall Street Journal.

3. Michigan voters won't forget his original position
Romney is "counting on the public's amnesia about the depth of the recession and its generally faulty memory of recent events," says Andrew Rosenthal at The New York Times. But it's improbable that he'll "be able to get away with this kind of thing in Michigan, where people know better." Romney really wants to win in Michigan and other Rust Belt states, which will be crucial in determing the presidential election's victor, but that's a tough sell for a bailout-opposing candidate in a region where the bailouts are quite popular, say O'Connor and Murray. 

The list of Romney flip flops is so huge, it would probably be easier to say what he hasn't flip flopped on -- let me think what that would be.  I will have to get back to you because he flip flops on the simplest of issues.  Adding to that is the fact that Romney should not be questioned on

• His time at Bain (when he doesn't know when he left even though he agreed to stay on part time) 
• His time as an independent and sometime Democrat from 1976 - 1994 when he decided that he would challenge Ted Kennedy in the Senate race as a Republican (?) when his wife said they knew no Republicans in MA then he ran to the left of Ted Kennedy
• His time as head of the Utah Winter Olympics (he requested federal dollars as a lobbyist and then more federal dollars and wanted non-Bain companies to give up their contracts like Office Depot for Staples which was Bain owned)
• His time as Governor of MA when during the general election campaign he promised pro-choice women they would have nothing to fear from a Romney as Governor and tracked far to the left to run.  He raised fees instead of outright raising taxes as he preferred to do away with deductions.  Most famous of all was his signature issue Romneycare that he touted before he distanced himself and said it wasn't like Obama when the two people who helped write Romneycare helped with Obamacare and said it is essentially the same with the difference one is Federal and one is at the state level.  Then his spokesperson, Andrea Saul exploded conservative heads with her comments on Fox News disputing the ad about the steel plant closing which was from a Super PAC not Obama by saying if they had lived in MA, Romney's health plan would have covered them after losing his job.
• His Taxes  (Romney hid his tax returns in MA in 2002 too)
• His word because what he says is always right when you can find out the real truth in seconds not his version -- just click on search
• His foreign policy where he believes Russia is our #1 geopolitical foe and has managed to insult/criticize every member of the G-8

Those are just a few topics off the table when it comes to questioning Romney -- time for the press corps to start finding more answers -- Lexis Nexis should become their best friend.  Probably it is not a friend of the Romney camp and Republicans who have been lying through their teeth about Obama when it wasn't necessary not to mention holding up legislation that would have added jobs.

If Republicans had spent more time reaching across the aisle in the House which they accused the Democrats of not doing, the economy would already be in better shape.  When the far right took over Republican Party, the more moderate elected officials seem to lose their voice like they are afraid to cross this group.  It is time now to get their voices back and tell it like it is -- the far right is a bunch of obstructionists that if you don't think the way they do, your ideas are socialist.

As Jeb Bush so famously said on June 10, 2012, at Bloomberg in NYC:

“Ronald Reagan would have, based on his record of finding accommodation, finding some degree of common ground, as would my dad, they would have a hard time if you define the Republican party, and I don’t, as having an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement, doesn’t allow for finding some common ground”

Even though he tried to clarify the comments the next day as both the far left and right, the damage was done because a lot of Republicans today feel that the Republican Party has lurched way too far right.  It was going that way before 2008 but after 2008, the GOP went hard right.  Mitt Romney, the MA liberal/moderate, morphed into a far right candidate all in a few months.  Simply amazing that anyone has so little core values that when running for President of the United States you have the ability to change your philosophy like a chameleon changes colors.