Romney: “Syria is Iran’s only ally in the Arab world. It’s their route to the sea.”

The minute that came out of Romney's mouth, I knew he had not prepared for the foreign policy debate because it isn't important to him.  He doesn't bother to read the papers prepared for him on foreign policy as the only thing that matters to Romney it seems is the economy and his wealthy friends getting wealthier.  Not someone I want as President.  I still cannot get over his said this again last night:

Puzzling over this tonight from Romney: “Syria is Iran’s only ally in the Arab world. It’s their route to the sea.” 

Late Update: Not the first time Romney has said this, apparently. More here.
David Kurtz

During the last night's debate when Romney talked about Iran's only route to the sea was Syria, I had a flashback to the GOP primary debate where he said the same thing and thought I must be imagining I heard it before, but I was right.  All these months later and no one has bothered to look at a map on the GOP side?

From the Washington Post site, Romney has said it six more times since then and again last night.  Why didn't his staff correct him?  I put up the first map because it shows the very reason we are talking and not attacking Iran's nuclear reactors.  To go from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and out to the Arabian Sea, you have to through the Strait of Hormuz which for years Americans and our NATO allies along with other countries on the Persian Gulf have been afraid Iran might mine that Strait.  In June of this year, it was revealed that there was a buildup in the Persian Gulf by the US and its allies:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 26 (UPI) -- In the wake of Iran's refusal to rein in its contentious nuclear program at talks in Moscow, the U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf is gathering pace, with four more Navy mine countermeasures ships arriving at the weekend. 

The Avenger class vessels out of San Diego will join eight U.S. and British navy mine hunters deployed in the region. 

Their main mission will be to keep open the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the only way in and out of the gulf, if the Iranians carry through on a threat to close the vital energy artery through which one-fifth of the world's oil supplies pass every day. 

Iran is reported to have in excess of 2,000 sea mines, including advanced Russian weapons, that could be used to block the narrow, 112-mile strait.

These could be used in conjunction with Chinese-designed anti-ship missiles and swarm attacks by fleets of armed speedboats manned by naval forces of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Read more:  UPI

The Air Force has joined the Navy buildup by increasing their resources in the Gulf with F-22 Raptors and F-15's moved to the region this summer.  Anyone thinking that we don't have a lot of resources in this region needs to look no farther then the fact that the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy headquartered in Bahrain.  We keep a carrier in the Persian Gulf at all times and another one in the Arabian Sea.

The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy is responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and coast off East Africa as far south as Kenya. It shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT).

Here is a map of the Middle East where you see that Iran does NOT border Syria and has plenty of access to water as its long coastline borders the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman which connects to the Arabian Sea.

These same maps were shown over and over again during Gulf War I and Gulf War II but Romney and his consultants (other then Bush national security people advising Romney) obviously never paid attention to the countries in the Middle East.  Yet for months Romney has been saber rattling against Iran and how we need to quit talking and attack Iran.  Even Senator Lindsey Graham wants talks to stop with Iran.  Wonder what he thinks of Romney today after he went out on a limb for him or Cong Peter King on Libya?  

It is obvious that Romney didn't pay any attention during Gulf War I or II to what was happening in the region but now parrots what Fox News and Rush have to say.  That is no way to run foreign policy.  I went after McCain/Palin for not being ready on foreign policy but Romney/Ryan are even worse.  In fact, they are downright scary when you realize that Romney considers Russia our biggest geopolitical foe and thinks the World Court should indict the Iranian Leader for a speech:

During Monday’s presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla., Romney brought up the notion of indicting Ahmadinejad for his inflammatory statements against Israel. The Iranian dictator famously was quoted in a speech saying that Israel “must be wiped off the map,” though the translation was later revealed to be somewhat inaccurate. 

“I’d make sure that Ahmadinejad is indicted under the Genocide Convention. His words amount to genocide incitation,” Romney said. 

So now Romney wants Ahmadinejad indicted for speaking out even though the translation was inaccurate and this man wants to be President?  Give me a break!

Then there is the little fact that once again Romney did not mention veterans last night but Obama did.  Imagine that after the uproar from the GOP Convention not mentioning veterans, that Romney did it again.

When I first joined Republicans for Obama, I wondered if I was doing the right thing, but now I know it was the right thing to do.  Romney is not ready on any front to be President and his ability to lie without batting an eye could be a foreign policy disaster.  Mitt Romney does not have the character to be President and it is time for the American people to send him back to one of his mansions for good on November 6th.

Think Progress: Romney Told 31 Myths (Lies) in 41 Minutes

Will someone please answer the basic question of how Republicans can prop up Romney who doesn't think twice about lying?  He upped his total of Myths or in plain talk lies in the second debate.  As I was watching the debate I kept thinking that  Romney came across as the boss you cannot stand.  He was arrogant and tried to badger not only the moderator but Obama by interrupting and acting like a spoiled brat.  This time Obama and the Moderator Candy Crowley were having none of the Romney entitled to speak over others mentality to tell more lies.

Finally Candy Crowley called out Romney on the lie Romney/Ryan and Republican pundits have been spreading about Obama not talking about it was an act of terrorism for two weeks.  Republicans on Twitter were trying to say act of terror and terrorism are not the same thing.  Do they know how dumb they look or is it because they don't care as the will they lie like Romney to prop him up.  Former NY Governor Pataki did when talking about oil leases where he lied just like Romney on the actual program which he was caught on in the debate.

Thanks to Think Progress for putting this together.  When Romney is the opponent, it is not an easy task as he tells so many lies during the course of the night sometimes over and over.  Then Republicans go out and call Obama a liar which is out of the Rove playbook to accuse your opponent of what you are doing.  I have had to quit using conservative sites for this blog because when I do the research I have discovered over and over they have a problem with facts.  Yet, the vast majority of more moderate to liberal sites provide links to prove their facts, but then they don't have Sean Hannity telling them what to do as he bragged last night.

At Last Night’s Debate: Romney Told 31 Myths In 41 Minutes
By Igor Volsky on Oct 17, 2012 at 9:12 am 

During the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado Romney managed to tell 27 myths in his 38 minutes of speaking time. But at his second encounter with Obama in New York, the GOP presidential candidate — who has run a post-truth campaign from day one — outdid himself and crammed 31 myths in 41 minutes: 

1) “I want to make sure we keep our Pell grant program growing. We’re also going to have our loan program, so that people are able to afford school.” Paul Ryan’s budget could cut Pell Grants for nearly 1 million college students and even Romney’s white paper on education, “A Chance for Every Child,” suggests that he “would reverse the growth in Pell Grant funding.” It says: “A Romney Administration will refocus Pell Grant dollars on the students that need them most and place the program on a responsible long-term path that avoids future funding cliffs and last-minute funding patches.” 

2) “I put out a five-point plan that gets America 12 million new jobs in four years and rising take-home pay.” The Washington Post’s in-house fact checker tore Romney’s claim that he will create 12 million jobs to shreds. The Post wrote that the “‘new math’” in Romney’s plan “doesn’t add up.” In awarding the claim four Pinocchios — the most untrue possible rating, the Post expressed incredulity at the fact Romney would personally stand behind such a flawed, baseless claim. 

3) “And the president’s right in terms of the additional oil production, but none of it came on federal land. As a matter of fact, oil production is down 14 percent this year on federal land, and gas production was down 9 percent.” 14 percent is a one-year number. “Overall, oil production on federal land under Obama is up from 566 million barrels in 2008 to 626 million barrels in 2011, a 10.6 percent increase.” Compared to the last three years of President Bush, there have been 241 million more barrels of oil produced from public lands in the first three years of Obama. 

4) “Because the president cut in half the number of licenses and permits for drilling on federal lands, and in federal waters.” There are slightly fewer permits in 2009 and 2010, from between 8,000-9,000 permits to over 5,000, and they have not been cut by half. The oil and gas industry is sitting on 7,000 approved permits to drill, where it hasn’t begun exploring or developing. Two-thirds of “acreage leased by [oil] industry lies idle” on public lands, according to the Department of the Interior. 

5) “I believe very much in our renewable capabilities; ethanol, wind, solar will be an important part of our energy mix.” Romney is actually against a one-year renewal of the wind production tax credit. The wind production tax credit has led to $14 billion of investment in 2011 and tens of thousands of American jobs. 

6) “And coal, coal production is not up; coal jobs are not up.” 1,500 coal jobs have been created under Obama. 

7) “And if we do that, if we do what I’m planning on doing, which is getting us energy independent, North America energy independence within eight years.” Romney would actually eliminate the fuel efficiency standards that are moving the United States towards energy independence, even though his campaign plan relies on these rules to meet his goals.  

8) “I will fight to create more energy in this country, to get America energy secure. And part of that is bringing in a pipeline of oil from Canada.” Even with generous assumptions, the impact of the pipeline on oil prices is unclear and may raise prices in midwest states. After all, a lot of that refined tar sands crude will be sold on the international market. 

9) “The proof of whether a [energy] strategy is working or not is what the price is that you’re paying at the pump. If you’re paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then, the strategy is working. But you’re paying more.” Gas prices are certainly high, but oil is a global commodity, and the president has virtually no control over them. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, Romney’s proposal to increase domestic oil production would not have much impact on volatility. 

10) “And I will not — I will not under any circumstances, reduce the share that’s being paid by the highest income taxpayers. And I will not, under any circumstances increase taxes on the middle-class.” As the Tax Policy Center concluded, Romney’s plan can’t both exempt middle class families from tax cuts and remain revenue neutral. “He’s promised all these things and he can’t do them all. In order for him to cover the cost of his tax cut without adding to the deficit, he’d have to find a way to raise taxes on middle income people or people making less than $200,000 a year,” the Center found. 

11) “But your rate comes down and the burden also comes down on you for one more reason, and that is every middle-income taxpayer no longer will pay any tax on interest, dividends or capital gains. No tax on your savings. That makes life a lot easier.” This would actually help very few Americans. Nearly three-fourths of households that make $200,000 or less annually would get literally nothing from Romney’s tax cut, due to the simple fact that most of those households have no capital gains income. To be exact, 73.9 percent of the households upon which Romney “focused” his tax cut will see zero benefit from it. 

12) “A recent study has shown the people in the middle-class will see $4,000.00 per year in higher taxes as a result of the spending and borrowing of this administration.” Romney is pointing to this study from the American Enterprise Institute. It actually found that rather than raise taxes to pay down the debt, the Obama administration’s policies — those contained directly in his budget — would reduce the share of taxes that go toward servicing the debt by $1,289.89 per taxpayer in the $100,000 to $200,000 range. 

13) “Fifty-four percent of America’s workers work in businesses that are taxed as individuals. So when you bring those rates down, those small businesses are able to keep more money and hire more people.” Far less than half of the people affected by the expiration of the upper income tax cuts get any of their income at all from a small businesses. And those people could very well be receiving speaking fees or book royalties, which qualify as “small business income” but don’t have a direct impact on job creation. It’s actually hard to find a small business who think that they will be hurt if the marginal tax rate on income earned above $250,000 per year is increased. 

14) “I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘Can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women. I was proud of the fact that after I staffed my Cabinet and my senior staff, that the University of New York in Albany did a survey of all 50 states, and concluded that mine had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America.” Romney did not ask women groups for candidates. Instead, prior to his election, a “bipartisan group of women in Massachusetts formed MassGAP to address the problem of few women in senior leadership positions in state government.” They “put together the binder full of women qualified for all the different cabinet positions, agency heads, and authorities and commissions” and presented it to Romney after he was elected. A UMass-Boston study found that “the percentage of senior-level appointed positions held by women actually declined throughout the Romney administration, from 30.0% prior to his taking office, to 29.7% in July 2004, to 27.6% near the end of his term in November 2006.” 

15) “I’m going to help women in America get good work by getting a stronger economy and by supporting women in the workforce.” Romney has been uncomfortably silent on the issue of pay equity. He has refused to say whether he’d support the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would allow women to sue for equal pay, and named four of the justices who voted to roll back equal pay in that Supreme Court decision as his models for any of his appointments to the federal bench. 

16) “I’d just note that I don’t believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether they can use contraceptives or not. And I don’t believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care of not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives.” But back in March, Romney expressed strong support for the so-called Blunt amendment, which that would allow employers to deny contraception coverage to women. Romney also wants to defund Planned Parenthood, where 76 percent of the patients seek low-cost birth control options. Defunding the organization would make it much harder for those women to obtain contraceptives. 

17) “So when you say that I wanted to take the auto industry bankrupt, you actually did. And — and I think it’s important to know that that was a process that was necessary to get those companies back on their feet, so they could start hiring more people. That was precisely what I recommend and ultimately what happened.” This is false. As Buisnessweek explains: Romney “opposed any use of taxpayer dollars to bail out the automakers, advice that President George W. Bush and Obama ignored. GM and Chrysler went through managed bankruptcies after Bush, at the end of his presidency, and later Obama provided federal funds.” “Without federal funds, GM and Chyrsler would not have survived. As former Bush aide Tony Fratto explained, “It wasn’t just that there wasn’t credit available; a lot of private equity had cash, they just weren’t giving it away.” 

18) “He said that by now middle-income families would have a reduction in their health insurance premiums by $2,500 a year. It’s gone up by $2,500 a year.” Premiums have increased, though at a lower rate than before. And while the Affordable Care Act’s most important cost contentment strategies have yet to be implemented, the law is already lowering costs. 16 million seniors have received preventive benefits without deductibles or co-pays and are saving at least $3.9 billion on prescription drugs. Millions of young adults now have insurance coverage and are staying on their parent’s health care plan, insurers that spend too many premium dollars on administrative spending have refunded consumers, and states have successfully rejected dramatic premium increases. 

19) “He keeps saying, ‘Look, I’ve created 5 million jobs.’ That’s after losing 5 million jobs. The entire record is such that the unemployment has not been reduced in this country.” Job creation is net positive since Obama took office in the middle of the worst recession since the great depression. Economists estimate that up to 3 million jobs were created by the stimulus alone. 

20) “The kids of those that came here illegally, those kids, I think, should have a pathway to become a permanent resident of the United States and military service, for instance, is one way they would have that kind of pathway to become a permanent resident.” But Romney has promised to end President Obama’s deferred action directive, which saves some young undocumented immigrants from deportation, though he would not take away visas from people who had already received them. He has also promised to veto the DREAM Act. 

21) “Now, when the president ran for office, he said that he’d put in place, in his first year, a piece of legislation — he’d file a bill in his first year that would reform our — our immigration system… He didn’t do it. He had a Democrat House and Democrat Senate, supermajority in both houses.” Senate Republicans repeatedly prevented Obama’s immigration reform efforts. The GOP actually blocked the DREAM Act from securing 60 votes to pass cloture, denying hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants a path to legal status if they enrolled in college or joined the military. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) even said on the Senate floor that young people lobbying his office had wasted their time. 

22) “Any investments I have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust. And I understand they do include investments outside the United States, including in — in Chinese companies.” Romney’s blind trust is not very blind, and includes investments in a company owned by Romney’s son. 

23) “It was a terrorist attack and it took a long time for that to be told to the American people.” Obama called the Libya incident an act of “terror” the very next day. “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for,” he said. “Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.” 

24) “Consider the distance between ourselves and — and Israel, the president said that — that he was going to put daylight between us and Israel.” The Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, told CNN, “President Obama is doing … more than anything that I can remember in the past [in regard to our security].” 

25) “The president’s policies throughout the Middle East began with an apology tour and — and — and pursue a strategy of leading from behind, and this strategy is unraveling before our very eyes.” Obama never embarked on an “apology tour.” 

26) “We, of course, don’t want to have automatic weapons, and that’s already illegal in this country to have automatic weapons.” Automatic weapons are legal in this country. 

27) “The — the greatest failure we’ve had with regards to — to gun violence in some respects is what — what is known as Fast and Furious. Which was a program under this administration, and how it worked exactly I think we don’t know precisely, where thousands of automatic, and AK-47 type weapons were — were given to people that ultimately gave them to — to drug lords.” The Justice Department’s inspector general “issued a scathing critique of federal officials for their handling of the botched gun-trafficking case,” but “exonerated Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., whom many Republicans have blamed for the scandal.” 

28) “What I will do as president is make sure it’s more attractive to come to America again.” Romney’s plan to move the country to a territorial tax system would let corporations do business and make profits overseas without ever being taxed on it in the U.S. This would encourage American companies to invest abroad, potentially costing the country up to 800,000 jobs. 

29) “Canada’s tax rate on companies is now 15 percent. Ours is 35 percent. So if you’re starting a business, where would you rather start it? We have to be competitive if we’re going to create more jobs here.” The U.S. is raising historically low amounts of revenue from the corporate income tax, and it already has the second lowest effective corporate tax rate in the world. U.S. corporations are taxed less than their foreign rivals, and the U.S. effective corporate tax rate is low compared to other developed economies. 

30) “And there’s no question but that Obamacare has been an extraordinary deterrent to enterprises of all kinds hiring people.” Under the law, only companies with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine — that’s just 2.6 percent of businesses. If anything, expanding health care coverage to more Americans will actually create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. 

31) “He said he would have by now put forward a plan to reform Medicare and Social Security, because he pointed out they’re on the road to bankruptcy.” The possibility of Medicare going bankrupt is — and historically has been — greatly exaggerated. In fact, if no changes are made, Medicare would still be able to meet 88 percent of its obligations in 2085. Social Security is fully funded for another two decades and could pay 75 percent of its benefits thereafter. There is also an easy way to ensure the program’s long-term solvency without large changes or cuts to benefits.

The red bold are mine.  Reading through this makes me wonder even more how Republican leadership can support a man so devoid of honesty.  Also ready knew his chief anti-Obama spokesman, John Sununu, had trouble with the truth but I am seeing it from people I have admired over the years.

Obama won the debate hands down -- you want to read how much, please visit the Pink Flamingo Blog where the owner shows Obama has gotten that Western Swagger after last night!

Not a Good Week for Romney: Romney Flips to Anti Choice (Again); Told to Quit Using Those Killed in Libya in Speeches, and Biden Schools Ryan on the Facts

Does this mean Romney is back to having to shore up his hard right base again?   Never have seen anything like this where the candidate makes a statement and then his consultants/press people do clean up afterwards.  
Which Romney is going to show up for the debate this week is what a lot of people want to know?  Bet Obama is prepared this time for anything that Romney has to say.  Really hard to handle a debate when your opponent has done a 180 and lies so much during the debate.  Biden did a great job of handling Ryan and his lies for the Romney camp.  Does Ryan know that he has shot his credibility completely by being the VP candidate who lies almost as much as Romney?
What is with all the lies from the Romney camp?  People I used to admire like Gillespie are now out there spinning and or outright lying for Romney on where he stands on the issues.  Seems they cannot let the candidate speak what he believes (if he believes anything) if it is counter to what the hard right wants.
The Romney/Ryan camp has no class, ethics, or  integrity but has plenty of gall to use some of the stump speech stories like these to push their campaign forward:

• The mother of Glen Doherty, a Navy SEAL who was one of four Americans killed in the Sept. 11 attack in Libya, told a Boston TV station that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney shouldn't politicize her son's death.  

In the same speech, Romney went on to describe how Doherty was actually in a different building across town from the consulate, but went there to help once he heard about the attack. 

"This is the American way," Romney said. We go where there's trouble. We go where we're needed. And right now we're needed. Right now the American people need us."  (my emphasis)

• Much buzz re Ryan telling a (canned) car crash story in a debate with a man whose first wife & young daughter died in just such a crash.

• The father of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed in the attack in Benghazi last month, said his son’s death shouldn’t be politicized in the presidential campaign.  “It would really be abhorrent to make this into a campaign issue,” Jan Stevens, 77, said in a telephone interview from his home in Loomis, California, as he prepares for a memorial service for his son next week.

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, has criticized President Barack Obama for not providing adequate security in Libya, saying the administration has left the country exposed to a deadly terrorist attack. The ambassador’s father, a lawyer, said politicians should await the findings of a formal investigation before making accusations or judgments.  

“The security matters are being adequately investigated,” Stevens said. “We don’t pretend to be experts in security. It has to be objectively examined. That’s where it belongs. It does not belong in the campaign arena.” Stevens said he has been getting briefings from the State Department on the progress of the investigation. 

It was bad enough when Romney compared his Mormon mission in France to those serving in the military during Vietnam after getting a deferment from the Mormon Church.   Lot of bullets flying from the Viet Cong in France don't you know. (sarcasm)  Then he compared his sons Mormon missions and working in his campaign to serving in the military which is an insult to everyone who serves in the miitary.

Now he was using the Navy Seal he met who he couldn't remember 20 minutes after he met him at an event as four times Romney introduced himself according to what Doherty told his friend.  Saying Romney 'teared' up was a ruse IMHO because he couldn't remember meeting him at the time of the event.  Nothing compares though to what Romney said comparing his campaign to the two security people who gave their lives to help save the Ambassador and the embassy:

"This is the American way," Romney said. We go where there's trouble. We go where we're needed. And right now we're needed. Right now the American people need us."  

Rachael Maddow has it right about the Romney comments:

Rachel Maddow Wednesday night took issue with Romney's ham-fisted effort to compare Doherty's sacrifice with his own run for office. "Part of the problem is, here, Mr. Romney equating his running for office with the bravery Mr. Doherty had displayed trying to save lives in the armed attack in Benghazi," she said.

Maddow noted that this is hardly the first time Romney has tried to profit politically from the Libya attacks, recalling his bungled response to the Obama Administration's handling of the attack, while it was still going on.

"Since before the attack was even over in Benghazi," Maddow said. "the Romney campaign has tried and tried and tried to make some political hay out of it, to take political advantage of the fatal attack on the American consulate in Libya. It started before the attack was over, before American deaths had been confirmed there. It has continued with Mr. Romney's efforts to loop into his campaign now one of the Americans killed in that attack, as a sort of unwilling political surrogate after he's died." 

A lot of us have also objected to House Republicans led by Issa holding a hearing on Libya before the final investigation is complete.  It seems to a lot of people the House GOP was hoping to cast the Administration in a bad light.  Yet the Republicans including Paul Ryan voted against funds for increased security at the Embassies around the world.

One Republican, Congressman Jason Chaffez (R-UT) interrupted testimony to point out that the photo contained the location of CIA base on the map.  Chaffez couldn't keep his mouth shut as he decided to grandstand and in the process revealed classified information.  Minutes after Chaffetz’s outburst, committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) ordered the photo be taken down.

“Too bad he didn’t think of that before putting the CIA on C-SPAN,” Milbank said.

Milbank is 100% correct.  IMHO Issa should have held a closed hearing but that wouldn't have benefited the Romney camp so it was on CPAN.

Then to add to Romney's bad week, Joe Biden schooled Paul Ryan at the debate on Thursday night after Ryan kept lying and trying to repeat the lies of Romney.  It was awesome to see Biden in action.  GOP complained about his laughing but what is a candidate to do when his opponent is telling Whoppers right and left.  The funniest thing I saw was comments about how Biden picked on a kid -- Ryan is a long time Congressman in his 40's not some kid even if he acted like he was.  Do you want him a heartbeat away from being President?

This group of Republicans deserve to lose big in this election with their obstructionist tactics along with investigations by the House on issues they believe will hurt the President the most instead of what hurts the Country.  Who made these leadership assignments on Committees -- Boehner or Cantor?

Paul Ryans Tells at Least 24 Myths (Lies) in 40 Minutes (Think Progress Fact Check)

Noticed after the debate that Fox News and CNN seemed to be more interested in the fact that Joe Biden grinned and laughed at the Ryan lies rather then the fact Biden schooled Ryan on the truth.  Most people would laugh at the Whoppers being told by Ryan if they were in Biden's place as some of them were so incredulous.  My favorite is that the US would have the smallest Navy ships since before WWI if the sequestering cuts go through.  Obviously that received the highest rating of four pants on fire.  Are Romney/Ryan and the Romney advisers that stupid not to realize how big some of our carriers are today.  At least we know why Romney wanted 19 more destroyers, etc.  Does he not understand the mission of today's Navy?  Where is he going to find the men and women to man these ships?   Cannot believe anyone would compare today's Navy to before WWI.    

Ryan bringing up a canned car crash he uses on the stump against a man (Biden) who lost his first wife and young daughter in a car crash shows the lack of class from the Romney camp.  That was actually brought up on Twitter during the discussion of the OU beatdown of TX game.  Showed that someone was really irritated at Ryan.  How can the advisers not tell Ryan to lose that part of his speech.  I used to think that Ryan was very smart, but not anymore as Ryan will say anything the Romney staff tells him to say as this illustrates:

What could have possessed the Romney campaign to allow its No. 2 to recite a canned story about an auto accident—in a debate with a man who lost his wife and daughter to such a tragedy? Michael Daly on a moment even Palin could have avoided.

Fact Checkers were busy once again with Ryan spewing out lies right and left.  Romney/Ryan can tout their religion all they want but are morally bankrupt with all their lies.  Don't understand candidates lying at a debate when their lies can be so easily fact checked.  When your only path to winning is to lie, you are scum in my book.

Think Progress has done a very good job of Fact Checking with the links below:

Think Progress Fact Check from the Vice Presidential Debate Thursday Night:

Paul Ryan spoke for 40 of the 90 minutes during Thursday night’s vice presidential debate and managed to tell at least 24 myths during that time:

1) “It took the president two weeks to acknowledge that [the Libya attack] was a terrorist attack.” Obama used the word “terrorism” to describe the killing of Americans the very next day at the Rose Garden. “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for,” Obama said in a Rose Garden statement on September 12. 

2) “The administration was blocking us every step of the way. Only because we had strong bipartisan support for these tough [Iran] sanctions were we able to overrule their objections and put them in spite of the administration.” Even the Israeli President has effusively praised President Obama’s leadership on getting American and international sanctions on Iran, which have significantly slowed Iran’s progress. 

3) “Medicare and Social Security are going bankrupt. These are indisputable facts.” [T]he possibility of Medicare going bankrupt is — and historically has been — greatly exaggerated. In fact, if no changes are made, Medicare would still be able to meet 88 percent of its obligations in 2085. Social Security is fully funded for another two decades and could pay 75 percent of its benefits thereafter. There is also an easy way to ensure the program’s long-term solvency without large changes or cuts to benefits. 

4) “The vice president was in charge of overseeing this. $90 billion in green pork to campaign contributors and special interest groups.” Multiple reviews, including an independent review of all Department Of Energy loan programs by Herb Allison –- finance chair for McCain for President 2008 –- have found no “pork” in the stimulus’ funding of green projects, concluding that the loans were not steered to friends or family, as Ryan claims. 

5) “Was it a good idea to spend taxpayer dollars on electric cars in Finland, or on windmills in China?” As PolitiFact has pointed out, the money for electric cars in Finland did not come from the stimulus. Rather, it originated with the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, which predated the Obama administration. The claim about “windmills in China” is also inaccurate. 

6) “When they see us putting – when they see us putting daylight between ourselves and our allies in Israel, that gives them encouragement.” The Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, told CNN, “President Obama is doing … more than anything that I can remember in the past [in regard to our security].” 

7) “You see, if you reform these programs for my generation, people 54 and below, you can guarantee they don’t change for people in or near retirement.” Here is how the Romney/Ryan Medicare plan will affect current seniors: 1) by repealing Obamacare, the 16 million seniors receiving preventive benefits without deductibles or co-pays and are saving $3.9 billion on prescription drugs will see a cost increase, 2) “premium support” will increase premiums for existing beneficiaries as private insurers lure healthier seniors out of the traditional Medicare program, 3) Romney/Ryan would also lower Medicaid spending significantly beginning next year, shifting federal spending to states and beneficiaries, and increasing costs for the 9 million Medicare recipients who are dependent on Medicaid. 

8) “Obamacare takes $716 billion from Medicare to spend on Obamacare.” Ryan is claiming that Obamacare siphons off $716 billion from Medicare, to the detriment of Medicare beneficiaries. In actuality, that money is saved primarily through reducing over-payments to insurance companies under Medicare Advantage, cutting waste fraud and abuse, and eliminating inefficiencies in the system. Ryan’s budget plan keeps those same cuts, but directs them toward tax cuts for the rich and deficit reduction. 

9) “And then they put this new Obamacare board in charge of cutting Medicare each and every year in ways that will lead to denied care for current seniors.” The Board, or IPAB is tasked with making binding recommendations to Congress for lowering health care spending, should Medicare costs exceed a target growth rate. Congress can accept the savings proposal or implement its own ideas through a super majority. The panel’s plan will modify payments to providers but it cannot “include any recommendation to ration health care, raise revenues or Medicare beneficiary premiums…increase Medicare beneficiary cost-sharing (including deductibles, coinsurance, and co- payments), or otherwise restrict benefits or modify eligibility criteria” (Section 3403 of the ACA). Relying on health care experts rather than politicians to control health care costs has previously attracted bipartisan support and even Ryan himself proposed two IPAB-like structures in a 2009 health plan. 

10) “7.4 million seniors are projected to lose their current Medicare Advantage coverage they have. That’s a $3,200 benefit cut.” Enrollment is actually projected to increase by 11 percent in Medicare Advantage (MA) in 2013. Since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, Medicare Advantage premiums have decreased an average of 10 percent and enrollment in these plans has increased 28 percent.

11) “This [Medicare premium support] plan that’s bipartisan. It’s a plan I put together with a prominent Democrat senator from Oregon.” Wyden not only voted against Ryan’s budget, he also called the idea that he supported it “nonsense.” 

12) “Eight out of 10 businesses, they file their taxes as individuals, not as corporations.” Far less than half of the people affected by the expiration of the upper income tax cuts get any of their income at all from a small businesses. And those people could very well be receiving speaking fees or book royalties, which qualify as “small business income” but don’t have a direct impact on job creation. It’s actually hard to find a small business who think that they will be hurt if the marginal tax rate on income earned above $250,000 per year is increased. 

13) “[Unemployment is rising] all around America.” In August, the unemployment rate dropped from a year before in 325 of 372 metro areas surveyed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

14) “The average tax rate on businesses in the industrialized world is 25 percent, and the president wants the top effective tax rate on successful small businesses to go above 40 percent.” The U.S. is raising historically low amounts of revenue from the corporate income tax, and it already has the second lowest effective corporate tax rate in the world. U.S. corporations are taxed less than their foreign rivals, and the U.S. effective corporate tax rate is low compared to other developed economies. 

15) “He’ll keep saying this $5 trillion plan, I suppose. It’s been discredited by six other studies.” The studies Ryan cites actually further prove that Romney/Ryan would, in fact, have to raise taxes on the middle class if he were to keep his promise not to lose revenue with his tax rate reduction. 

16) “You can – you can cut tax rates by 20 percent and still preserve these important preferences for middle-class taxpayer. It is mathematically possible. It’s been done before. It’s precisely what we’re proposing.” If Romney/Ryan hope to provide tax relief to the middle class, then their $5 trillion tax cut would add to the deficit. There are not enough deductions in the tax code that primarily benefit rich people to make his math work. As the Tax Policy Center concluded, Romney’s plan can’t both exempt middle class families from tax cuts and remain revenue neutral. “He’s promised all these things and he can’t do them all. In order for him to cover the cost of his tax cut without adding to the deficit, he’d have to find a way to raise taxes on middle income people or people making less than $200,000 a year,” the Center found. 

17) “So they proposed a $478 billion cut to defense to begin with. Now we have another $500 billion cut to defense that’s lurking on the horizon. They insisted upon that cut being involved in the debt negotiations, and so we have a $1 trillion cut.” Ryan has frequently gotten in hot water for criticizing President Obama for the very same defense cuts that he voted for in 2011. 

18) “If these cuts go through, our Navy will be the smallest – the smallest it has been since before World War I.” PolitiFact rated this claim as “Pants on Fire,” noting that “a wide range of experts told us it’s wrong to assume that a decline in the number of ships or aircraft automatically means a weaker military.” 

19) “Look at what they’re doing through Obamacare with respect to assaulting the religious liberties of this country. They’re infringing upon our first freedom, the freedom of religion, by infringing on Catholic charities, Catholic churches, Catholic hospitals.” Religious institutions haven’t been forced to “violate their conscience” by paying for contraception. Houses of worship and other religious nonprofits that primarily employ and serve people of the same faith will be exempt from offering birth control. 

20) “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Try telling that to the 20 million people who are projected to lose their health insurance if Obamacare goes through or the 7-point million – 7.4 million seniors who are going to lose it.” The Affordable Care Act would actually expand health care coverage to 30 million Americans and all seniors will keep their guranteed Medicare benefits, despite Ryan’s fear mongering. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that very few people will have to enroll in new coverage. 

21) “We should not have called Bashar Assad a reformer when he was turning his Russian-provided guns on his own people.”In March 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted that “many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.” However, she did not endorse their view.
22) “When Barack Obama was elected, they had enough fissile material — nuclear material to make one bomb. Now they have enough for five.” This is misleading and unproven. Iran now has enough fissile material, but has not yet enriched to the necessary level for a weapon. The Institute for Science and International Security says “it would take Iran more than two months to produce that amount if it started with 20%-grade uranium, and ‘several months’ to make enough for a bomb using low-enriched uranium. That would give the world community enough time to detect the operation and organize a response, ISIS noted in June.” 

23) “[Iran is] racing toward a nuclear weapon.” Israeli and American intelligence officials aren’t so sure. 

24) “We don’t want to do is give our allies reason to trust us less [by announcing a withdrawal timeline for Afghanistan].” It’s unclear how our allies would trust us less since they too agreed to the timeline. As Biden pointed outed, “That’s a bizarre statement. .. Forty-nine of our allies — hear me — 49 of our allies signed on to this position.”

Paul Ryan Confirms Romney/Ryan True Hard Right Stance on Abortion in Debate

The National Republican Committee (NRC) platform resembles some of the ones in our states where the far right has already taken over.  Gone are the days of President GW Bush along with his common sense on abortion where he always had the three exceptions:  rape, incest, and life of the mother.  Some of the hard right do not even agree to the life of the Mother being an exception.  Personally know hard right members  who believe in NO exceptions no matter what.

The Republican Party platform also includes a constitutional amendment to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Many “pro-life” women, including Republicans, don’t think that abortion should be denied to a rape survivor. These are decisions that are best left to women and their families and doctors. 

In case anyone forgets, not only did Paul Ryan work with Todd Akin on the redefinition of rape, but he has sponsored or co-sponsored over 38 anti-abortion bills since going to Congress:

 Paul Ryan worked with Republican Todd Akin to sponsor legislation that would have redefined rape as “forcible rape” and limited abortion coverage for rape victims. According to the Washington Post, “[a] Republican bill seeking to permanently cut off federal funding for abortions has angered women’s groups that say it alters the definition of rape, permitting coverage for the procedure only in cases in which the rape is considered ‘forcible.’ The most well-known provision that would become permanent under the bill is the Hyde Amendment, which prevents some federally funded health-care programs from covering abortions.” [HR 3 Co-Sponsored 1/20/11, Vote #292, 5/4/11; Washington Post, 2/1/11]

One of those bills the VP candidate sponsored would have made Romney's sons criminals:

Like other, similar bills, it grants fertilized eggs the same rights as adult humans, and would make in vitro fertilization and some forms of contraception the legal equivalents of murder.

Another bill he sponsored says all you need to know about his true beliefs on the life of the mother:

Cosponsor of a measure that would allow hospitals to deny women access to an abortions even if their life is in immediate danger.

Then there is this interview with Ryan where he calls rape a method of conception:

In an August 23 interview with WJHL-TV’s Josh Smith, Paul Ryan called rape a method of conception: 

SMITH: Abortion, now. Something we’re talking about. And I think our viewers would love to know exactly where you stand, specifically when—you’re pro-life and Catholic…

RYAN: Oh, yeah. Yeah. 

SMITH: …but specifically where you stand when it comes to rape, and when it comes to the issue of should it be legal for a woman to be able to get an abortion if she’s raped. 

RYAN: I’m very proud of my pro-life record, and I’ve always adopted the idea that—the position that—the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life. [Ryan Interview, WJHL (Tri-Cities, TN/VA), 8/23/12] 

Romney/Ryan cannot be trusted when it comes to women's rights from contraceptives to abortions.  That is a fact that the Conservative Media/Republican Spokesmen ignore with their lies and spin which is becoming more and more outrageous as are the Romney/Ryan lies and spin.  There are many articles about the debate last night but I wanted to concentrate as a woman on the abortion issue after Romney tried to move to the middle on abortion last week followed by his staff bringing him back to the hard right along with the pro-life religious right leaders to clarify what Romney meant.  Romney speaks to an audience -- staff runs out to say what he really meant and this guy wants to be President?  Ryan confirmed last night during the debate the true stance of Romney/Ryan and the Republican Party on abortion.  

From Michelle Goldberg, The Daily Beast

In the last week, as Mitt Romney has cultivated a new, more moderate image, it looked like he was having some success catching up to President Obama among female voters. Neither reproductive rights nor equal pay figured in the first presidential debate, which almost everyone agrees that Romney won. When it was over, Romney continued his lurch to the center. Contradicting everything he said in the primary, he told an Iowa newspaper that he knew of “no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.” While his spokeswoman walked it back, conservatives, happy that Romney finally seemed to be winning, didn’t demand any loud mea culpas. A person paying only sporadic attention to the campaign probably wouldn’t realize that Romney has pledged to work toward a wide-ranging abortion ban. 

Nevertheless, the question worked perfectly for Joe Biden. In general, Americans are ambivalent about abortion, but they don’t want to make it illegal. By speaking in religious terms, Biden was able to combine his personal opposition to abortion with a strongly pro-choice stance. In his own life, he says, he accepts Catholic doctrine. “But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others. Unlike my friend here, the congressman, I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that—women they can’t control their body. It’s a decision between them and their doctor.” 

Ryan, by contrast, reminded the country that he opposes abortion in all circumstances, and that Romney intends to severely restrict it. “[I]f you believe that life begins at conception … That’s a principle,” he said. “The policy of a Romney administration is to oppose abortion with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.” When Raddatz asked him if abortion-rights supporters should fear a Romney administration, he sort of harrumphed, and then responded, “We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people through their elected representatives in reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process should make this determination.” In other words, they want to overturn Roe.

From Hrafnkell Haraldsson, Politicususa:

What I take away from the Biden-Ryan debate last night is this: Team Obama is willing to stand up for women and to make their position unequivocally clear. Moreover, tested time and again, they stand by it.

What you get from Team Romney is all over the place. Romney is busy clarifying clarifications, Tuesday saying he knows of no abortion legislation that is part of his agenda, and on Wednesday announcing that he will defund Planned Parenthood. 

Ryan, for his part, when asked by moderator Martha Raddatz, “I want to go back to the abortion question here. If the Romney-Ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe that abortion should remain legal be worried?” 

Ryan answered:

“We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people, through their elected representatives and reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process, should make this determination.”

Unelected judge? We are not talking about unelected judges making decisions. We are talking about women making decisions. About their own bodies. About their own health.  

Compare and contrast that again with what Biden said:  

"do not believe that — that we have a right to tell other people that women, they — they can’t control their body. It’s a decision between them and their doctor, in my view.”

Team Obama wants to leave women in control of their bodies. Team Romney wants to leave elected representatives in control of women’s bodies. 

Romney can dance all over the spectrum trying to act like a sane, moderate candidate, but he has sold his soul to America’s religious extremists on the issue of abortion and contraception.
What Americans need to remember is that in Team Romney we have a conservative Mormon and a conservative Catholic allied to conservative Protestants, none of whom are much interested in what the U.S. Constitution says about anything.

 Sarah Jones from Politicususa:

Congressman Paul Ryan outed the Romney/Ryan position on abortion last night during the vice presidential debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky. American women found out that Paul Ryan wants to ban abortion, and doesn’t really think that exceptions should be made since “life begins at conception.” This means that all life is precious (except for live children, the elderly, our troops, and people on death row). 

RYAN (emphasis mine): 

"Now, you want to ask about why I’m pro-life. It’s not simply because of my Catholic faith. That’s a factor of course. But it’s also because of reason and science… All I’m saying is that if you believe life begins at conception that therefore doesn’t change the definition of life. The policy of a Romney administration is to oppose abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.” 

Ryan gave an uncomfortable nod to the far right, saying that he and Romney don’t believe “unelected judges” should be able to make those decisions. He also suggested that elected officials should be the ones in charge of Row V Wade, raising the alarm bell that a Romney/Ryan administration intends to implement a form of the Personhood Amendment, which did not make exceptions for rape and incest when Ryan introduced his version. 

Watch here: 

Ryan’s belief that life begins at conception means the Romney/Ryan administration would oppose abortion except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother, but that’s not the whole story, because Ryan has a history of working to restrict access even in the case of rape and incest. 

In 2011, Ryan co-sponsored the Sanctity of Human Life Act, a Personhood Bill that defined life as beginning at conception. This is important because it uses the same words the public heard from Paul Ryan last night — “life begins at conception”. What does that mean policy wise? The Personhood Amendment does not make exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother and it can render some birth conrol illegal:

Birth control is, of course, the best method of stopping actual abortions from taking place. Romney has said he wanted to defund Planned Parenthood, which not only offers many health related services beyond abortions, but also provides birth control to low-income women. Abortions don’t decrease when they are illegal, but women do die from illegal abortions.

As a woman who grew up as a teenager during the days without Roe V Wade where women had to travel far distances to get an abortion or get back alley abortions in the local community where some ended up dying, I do not want to go back to those days.  I have said for years it is not my business to tell another woman what she should do when it comes to abortion because I don't walk in their shoes.  It should remain safe and legal for those who believe they have no other choice.  It should never be used for birth control and believe that the vast majority of women in this country do not believe in partial birth abortion as they consider it a heinous act.  It would be great if abortions were rare but you cannot ask someone who has been raped or a victim of incest to carry that child IMHO.  

What I am the most tired of is a group of white males in the Republican Party out campaigning to take away a women's right to choose.  It is between the woman and God not some group of white male chauvinists. I am also sick and tired of the 'my way or no way' group who want to push their ideas on the rest of us along with their religion and their free speech while expecting the rest of us to sit down, shut up, and go along.  

Been fighting the hard right for years within the Republican Party and will continue that fight, but not in my state because it is a lost cause.  Several years ago at our State Convention, there was a plank in the platform that teachers in the public schools would be required to teach the Bible.  When I asked which Bible was told there was only one.  Go in any bookstore that sells Bibles and you see a wide array of Bibles.  I told them it was a slippery slope and was called names as I was considered  to be a non-Christian.  

That little dust up opened my eyes in 2010 and have not attended another Republican event because the hard right have taken over here since the 2010 elections.  Will no longer contribute to the State GOP or the National GOP until they return to center right.  If common sense people like Jeb Bush and Jon Huntsman cannot move the GOP back more to center right after this election, then it is a lost cause and many of us will be part of the exodus of the center right Republicans from the GOP which has been ongoing for sometime.

Romney Gets Aggressive and Lies to Win Debate

These are 27 Myths also known as lies but it doesn't tell the whole story because in those 38 minutes Romney repeated some of the same lies.  The Romney aggressive style might have played well with the white male pundits but most women throughout America don't like that aggressive, school yard bully style out of men.  It came across to a lot of us that Romney was being so aggressive to cover up the lies.

Think Progress and other Fact Checkers had a field day last night because Romney with his flip flopping and lying kept them busy.  One study he cited was from a study that the Romney camp paid for but that was not revealed.  Funny how the light of day is shining on the fact that Romney lied to win the debate.  How is that a win when what you say is a lie?

Did you see the focus group from Fox News?  Mostly white males with a few white women thrown in and mostly older -- is this what Fox News considers the cross section of America?

Where are the young people, minorities, more women?  This was a white male dominated focus group and this is what Fox News used to tell us how Romney is winning voters.  They are no more a news channel then Letterman when you use a Focus Group like this to sell your candidate Romney.  Anyone who doesn't think that Fox News is in the tank for Romney just look at the picture.

Thanks to Think Progress for detailing the 'myths' of Romney with sourced material.

At Last Night’s Debate: Romney Told 27 Myths In 38 MinutesBy Igor Volsky on Oct 4, 2012 at 9:08 am 

Pundits from both sides of the aisle have lauded Mitt Romney’s strong debate performance, praising his preparedness and ability to challenge President Obama’s policies and accomplishments. But Romney only accomplished this goal by repeatedly misleading viewers. He spoke for 38 minutes of the 90 minute debate and told at least 27 myths: 

• 1) “[G]et us energy independent, North American energy independent. That creates about 4 million jobs”. Romney’s plan for “energy independence” actually relies heavily on a study that assumes the U.S. continues with fuel efficiency standards set by the Obama administration. For instance, he uses Citigroup research based off the assumption that “‘the United States will continue with strict fuel economy standards that will lower its oil demand.” Since he promises to undo the Obama administration’s new fuel efficiency standards, he would cut oil consumption savings of 2 million barrels per day by 2025.
• 2) “I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut. I don’t have a tax cut of a scale that you’re talking about.” A Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s proposal for a 20 percent across-the-board tax cut in all federal income tax rates, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, eliminating the estate tax and other tax reductions, would reduce federal revenue $480 billion in 2015. This amount to $5 trillion over the decade.
• 3) “My view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class. But I’m not going to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people.” If Romney hopes to provide tax relief to the middle class, then his $5 trillion tax cut would add to the deficit. There are not enough deductions in the tax corde that primarily benefit rich people to make his math work.
• 4) “My — my number-one principal is, there will be no tax cut that adds to the deficit. I want to underline that: no tax cut that adds to the deficit.” As the Tax Policy Center concluded, Romney’s plan can’t both exempt middle class families from tax cuts and remain revenue neutral. “He’s promised all these things and he can’t do them all. In order for him to cover the cost of his tax cut without adding to the deficit, he’d have to find a way to raise taxes on middle income people or people making less than $200,000 a year,” the Center found.
• 5) “I will not under any circumstances raise taxes on middle-income families. I will lower taxes on middle-income families. Now, you cite a study. There are six other studies that looked at the study you describe and say it’s completely wrong.” The studies Romney cites actually further prove that Romney would, in fact, have to raise taxes on the middle class if he were to keep his promise not to lose revenue with his tax rate reduction.
• 6) “I saw a study that came out today that said you’re going to raise taxes by $3,000 to $4,000 on middle-income families.” Romney is pointing to this study from the American Enterprise Institute. It actually found that rather than raise taxes to pay down the debt, the Obama administration’s policies — those contained directly in his budget — would reduce the share of taxes that go toward servicing the debt by $1,289.89 per taxpayer in the $100,000 to $200,000 range.
• 7) “And the reason is because small business pays that individual rate; 54 percent of America’s workers work in businesses that are taxed not at the corporate tax rate, but at the individual tax rate….97 percent of the businesses are not — not taxed at the 35 percent tax rate, they’re taxed at a lower rate. But those businesses that are in the last 3 percent of businesses happen to employ half — half of all the people who work in small business.” Far less than half of the people affected by the expiration of the upper income tax cuts get any of their income at all from a small businesses. And those people could very well be receiving speaking fees or book royalties, which qualify as “small business income” but don’t have a direct impact on job creation. It’s actually hard to find a small business who think that they will be hurt if the marginal tax rate on income earned above $250,000 per year is increased.
• 8) “Mr. President, all of the increase in natural gas and oil has happened on private land, not on government land. On government land, your administration has cut the number of permits and licenses in half.” Oil production from federal lands is higher, not lower: Production from federal lands is up slightly in 2011 when compared to 2007. And the oil and gas industry is sitting on 7,000 approved permits to drill, that it hasn’t begun exploring or developing.
• 9) “The president’s put it in place as much public debt — almost as much debt held by the public as all prior presidents combined.” This is not even close to being true. When Obama took office, the national debt stood at $10.626 trillion. Now the national debt is over $16 trillion. That $5.374 trillion increase is nowhere near as much debt as all the other presidents combined.
• 10) “That’s why the National Federation of Independent Businesses said your plan will kill 700,000 jobs. I don’t want to kill jobs in this environment.” That study, produced by a right-wing advocacy organization, doesn’t analyze what Obama has actually proposed.
• 11) “What we do have right now is a setting where I’d like to bring money from overseas back to this country.” Romney’s plan to shift the country to a territorial tax system would allow corporations to do business and make profits overseas without ever being taxed on it in the United States. This encourages American companies to invest abroad and could cost the country up to 800,000 jobs.
• 12) “I would like to take the Medicaid dollars that go to states and say to a state, you’re going to get what you got last year, plus inflation, plus 1 percent, and then you’re going to manage your care for your poor in the way you think best.” Sending federal Medicaid funding to the states in the form of a block grant woud significantly reduce federal spending for Medicaid because the grant would not keep up with projected health care costs. A CBO estimate of a very similar proposal from Paul Ryan found that federal spending would be “35 percent lower in 2022 and 49 percent lower in 2030 than current projected federal spending” and as a result “states would face significant challenges in achieving sufficient cost savings through efficiencies to mitigate the loss of federal funding.” “To maintain current service levels in the Medicaid program, states would probably need to consider additional changes, such as reducing their spending on other programs or raising additional revenues,” the CBO found.
• 13) “I want to take that $716 billion you’ve cut and put it back into Medicare…. But the idea of cutting $716 billion from Medicare to be able to balance the additional cost of Obamacare is, in my opinion, a mistake. There’s that number again. Romney is claiming that Obamacare siphons off $716 billion from Medicare, to the detriment of beneficiaries. In actuality, that money is saved primarily through reducing over-payments to insurance companies under Medicare Advantage, not payments to beneficiaries. Paul Ryan’s budget plan keeps those same cuts, but directs them toward tax cuts for the rich and deficit reduction.
• 14) “What I support is no change for current retirees and near-retirees to Medicare.” Here is how Romney’s Medicare plan will affect current seniors: 1) by repealing Obamacare, the 16 million seniors receiving preventive benefits without deductibles or co-pays and are saving $3.9 billion on prescription drugs will see a cost increase, 2) “premium support” will increase premiums for existing beneficiaries as private insurers lure healthier seniors out of the traditional Medicare program, 3) Romney/Ryan would also lower Medicaid spending significantly beginning next year, shifting federal spending to states and beneficiaries, and increasing costs for the 9 million Medicare recipients who are dependent on Medicaid.
• 15) “Number two is for people coming along that are young, what I do to make sure that we can keep Medicare in place for them is to allow them either to choose the current Medicare program or a private plan. Their choice. They get to choose — and they’ll have at least two plans that will be entirely at no cost to them.” The Medicare program changes for everyone, even people who choose to remain in the traditional fee-for-service. Rather than relying on a guaranteed benefit, all beneficiaries will receive a premium support credit of $7,500 on average in 2023 to purchase coverage in traditional Medicare or private insurance. But that amount will only grow at a rate of GDP plus 1.5 percentage points and will not keep up with health care costs. So while the federal government will spend less on the program, seniors will pay more in premiums.
• 16) “And, by the way the idea came not even from Paul Ryan or — or Senator Wyden, who’s the co-author of the bill with — with Paul Ryan in the Senate, but also it came from Bill — Bill Clinton’s chief of staff.” Romney has rejected the Ryan/Wyden approach — which does not cap the growth of the “premium support” subsidy. Bill Clinton and his commission also voted down these changes to the Medicare program.
• 17) “Well, I would repeal and replace it. We’re not going to get rid of all regulation. You have to have regulation. And there are some parts of Dodd-Frank that make all the sense in the world.” Romney has previously called for full repeal of Dodd-Frank, a law whose specific purpose is to regulate banks. MF Global’s use of customer funds to pay for its own trading losses is just one bit of proof that the financial industry isn’t responsible enough to protect consumers without regulation.
• 18) “But I wouldn’t designate five banks as too big to fail and give them a blank check. That’s one of the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank… We need to get rid of that provision because it’s killing regional and small banks. They’re getting hurt.” The law merely says that the biggest, systemically risky banks need to abide by more stringent regulations. If those banks fail, they will be unwound by a new process in the Dodd-Frank law that protects taxpayers from having to pony up for a bailout.
• 19) “And, unfortunately, when — when — when you look at Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office has said it will cost $2,500 a year more than traditional insurance. So it’s adding to cost.” Obamacare will actually provide millions of families with tax credits to make health care more affordable.
• 20) “[I]t puts in place an unelected board that’s going to tell people ultimately what kind of treatments they can have. I don’t like that idea.” The Board, or IPAB is tasked with making binding recommendations to Congress for lowering health care spending, should Medicare costs exceed a target growth rate. Congress can accept the savings proposal or implement its own ideas through a super majority. The panel’s plan will modify payments to providers but it cannot “include any recommendation to ration health care, raise revenues or Medicare beneficiary premiums…increase Medicare beneficiary cost-sharing (including deductibles, coinsurance, and co- payments), or otherwise restrict benefits or modify eligibility criteria” (Section 3403 of the ACA). Relying on health care experts rather than politicians to control health care costs has previously attracted bipartisan support and even Ryan himself proposed two IPAB-like structures in a 2009 health plan.
• 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.
• 25) “In one year, you provided $90 billion in breaks to the green energy world. Now, I like green energy as well, but that’s about 50 years’ worth of what oil and gas receives.” The $90 billion was given out over several years and included loans, loan guarantees and grants through the American Recovery Act. $23 billion of the $90 billion “went toward “clean coal,” energy-efficiency upgrades, updating the electricity grid and environmental clean-up, largely for old nuclear weapons sites.”
• 26) “I think about half of [the green firms Obama invested in], of the ones have been invested in have gone out of business. A number of them happened to be owned by people who were contributors to your campaigns.” As of late last year, only “three out of the 26 recipients of 1705 loan guarantees have filed for bankruptcy, with losses estimated at just over $600 million.”
• 27) “If the president’s reelected you’ll see dramatic cuts to our military.”Romney is referring to the sequester, which his running mate Paul Ryan supported. Obama opposes the military cuts and has asked Congress to formulate a balanced approach that would avoid the trigger. 

This debate was very poorly handled by the moderator Lehrer but that is what we have come to expect from him after going through the GOP Primary debates where Romney was allowed to be the school yard bully with his aggressive style and interrupting the other candidates.  Kept wondering how many times that Obama counted to 100.  If this debate swayed voters then they will be voting for an accomplished liar in Mitt Romney.  Cannot wait to start seeing ads comparing what Romney said outside the debates with the lies he told in the debates.

This reminded me of 2004 in the Bush/Kerry debates where in the first debate GW was thrown off his game by Kerry who lied, flip flopped, and became aggressive.  What is it with MA candidates and their flip flopping and lying.  Moderator didn't do much then either.  In last night's debate there were a total lack of questions and the debate format left Romney free to bully and bluster out as many words as possible like he knew what was coming but then Lehrer has never my favorite moderator.  He lets debates get out of hand and in this instance as usual favored the challenger.  He should be retired along with the group who sets up these debates when they leave out other candidates like Former NM Governor Gary Jones and Former Rep Virgil Goode both running from recognize parties.  This type of debate was going to favor the challenger as he had over 20 debates in the last year while Obama has been doing his job as President.

One thing I have learned from this election and posting on various sites is that most people from the left are nicer to all posters versus the nastiness of the right with attacks on anyone who disagrees with them.  Some of the most vile posters are from the Romney camp who reflect that hate attitude which permeates the GOP today.  Now the RNC is out with their lies saying that Obama had the smirk but it was Romney with the big smirk not Obama.  For years I have fought the Democrats when they say Republicans lie all the time but I am beginning to rethink after this campaign and the lies we are seeing from Republicans.

My bottom line is when you have to win by lying, it is no win at all!  How many people want an aggressive liar with a smirk dealing with foreign leaders?  Not me -- I will take the calm, cool, collected Obama to represent the United States around the world.