Liberal, Irreverent

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

FactCheck GOP NH Debate: Incorrect, Misl

From FactCheck.org:



In the first New Hampshire debate among 2012 presidential hopefuls, we

found a number of incorrect, misleading or shaky factual claims:



Pawlenty was wrong when he boasted that he was "one of the few

governors" to respond to a Bush request to send guardsmen to the

southern border. In fact, all 50 states participated in that border

operation.



Romney claimed that "we didn't raise taxes in Massachusetts" to pay

for his health care law. In fact, his successor imposed a $1-a-pack

tax increase on cigarettes to pay for the new law.



Santorum claimed a Medicare advisory board created by the new federal

health care law will result in a rationing of care for seniors. The

law specifically says the board “shall not include any recommendation

to ration health care.”



Santorum was wrong when he said the Obama administration is "against

any kind of exploration offshore or in Alaska." The administration has

approved 296 new permits for new offshore oil wells since taking

office, and it is considering granting the first permits in Alaska

since 2004.



Bachmann claimed the Congressional Budget Office "has said that

Obamacare will kill 800,000 jobs." That's a distortion. CBO said some

Americans would work less or leave their jobs if they can get health

insurance outside the workplace.



Pawlenty said that "[if] Brazil can have 5 percent growth, then the

United States of America can have 5 percent growth," showing his

economic plan is not unreasonable. But the fact is, World Bank figures

show Brazil has failed to achieve 5 percent growth for 23 of the past

30 years.



Gingrich again tried to rewrite history by claiming that his words

"right-wing social engineering" were "totally taken out of context."

In fact, he called Paul Ryan's plan "too big a jump" and "radical"

change as well.

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