I had a friend last night text me during our coverage who was upset that he heard people using the word “lie” about Paul Ryan’s speech. He’s not a political junkie, nor would he have any reason to not believe what Paul Ryan said. Then he saw dozens of headlines this morning. He later said, “well, maybe it was the right word.” Here is a rundown of some of the headlines that have come from Ryan’s speech.
Let’s start with the painfully non-partisan Associated Press: Fact Check: Ryan ignores parts of his own record
Reporters Calvin Woodward and Jack Gillum summarize the speech this way:
The Republican National Convention is drawing to a close with some factually slippery statements from its presidential ticket.
Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times was more forgiving:
If his vigorous support for shrinking the size and role of government has left the party exposed to withering attacks from Mr. Obama and the Democrats, it did not seem to cause concern. Rather, Mr. Ryan ran headlong into the fire he expects to draw.
Henry Payne of the Detroit News sides with Ryan: Ryan, Obama and the Promise of Janesville
Under Obamanomics, the government picks winners and losers. Obama promised Janesville would be a winner even as his economic policies guaranteed it would always be a loser. Indeed, Obama’s whole 2008 Janesville speech is a sobering road map for the job-killing policies he has put in place as president.
Alex Seitz-Wald of Salon.Com goes there: Paul Ryan, the definitive fact check
…here is a comprehensive guide of every single lie, misrepresentation or omission from the speech, in the order they were delivered:
GM plant — Ryan: blamed Obama for the closing of GM plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wis. Truth: One of the biggest whoppers of the night; the plant closed before Obama was even sworn into office. His position also contradicts the Republicans’ position of opposing President Obama’s auto rescue.
Stimulus — Ryan: “The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal.” Truth: The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the stimulus created 3.3 million jobs. Four out of five economists agree. Ryan himself wrote letters requesting stimulus money, then lied about it.
Medicare — Ryan: “Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.” Truth: As we’vepointed out many times, Obamacare doesn’t raid Medicare and Ryan’s plan would do a lot more to ruin Medicare. One of the biggest lies of the campaign. Obamacare — Ryan: “You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover…” Truth: Politifact called the “government takeover” of healthcare meme their “lie of the year” in 2010. Not Surprisingly, so does ThinkProgress.Org: The 6 Worst Lies in Paul Ryan’s Speech His speech was riddled with false claims, so much so that even Fox Newswrote, “To anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.” And here is TheDailyCaller given to you without comment: In another crowd-pleasing line, the boyish Wisconsin congressman went on to suggest that Obama won’t be able to count on the young people who helped propel him to the presidency in 2008 this time around.
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