Factual Errors in Paul Ryan's Convention Speech

This blog is reluctant to play political favorites during an election.  The last post I made on dishonest politicians was evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.  Neither party has a lock on absolute honesty.

However, whenever mistakes are made in political speeches, it is important that they be pointed out so that politicians are held accountable for their remarks.  It doesn't matter which party to which they belong.

When Paul Ryan gave his speech during the August, 2012 Republican convention, he made several factual errors or, in some cases, painted a somewhat dishonest picture of his views vs. the policies of his opponents.  These errors were pointed out in the Yahoo News article "FACT CHECK: Ryan takes factual shortcuts in speech."  What is especially surprising is that his speech writers and the fact checkers for the Republican Party did not catch these errors before he went on national television.

Factual Distortions in the Paul Ryan Speech

Ryan:  President Obama told the residents of Janesville, Wisconsin that their GM plant could be saved.

Truth:  The GM plant was already closed weeks before Obama took office.  He never made such a promise to the people in Janesville. In addition, Ryan actually voted for an auto bailout under President Bush, but criticized bailing out the auto industry once Obama was President.

Ryan:  Obama stole $716 billion from Medicare.

Truth:  Ryan's plan would take more money from Medicare.  Obama's plan doesn't affect Medicare recipients; it affects hospitals and other medical providers with the goal of making them more fiscally responsible.  Ryan's voucher plan for senior health insurance would affect Medicare recipients directly.

Ryan:  Obama didn't follow the recommendations of the bipartisan debt commission.

Truth:  It is true that Obama did not follow the recommendations; however, Ryan was on the commission and he voted against the recommendations that they made.  Neither Ryan nor Obama agreed with the suggestions.

Ryan:  Obama was responsible for Standard & Poors downgrading of the U.S. Credit Rating

Truth:  Standard & Poors made a public statement that the reason for the downgrade was because the Republicans in Congress continued to resist any measure to raise revenues.  They were very clear and specific about their reason for the downgrade, and they did not attribute the decision to any Obama policies.

I prefer not to make any additional comments on any of these factual errors and will let others decide whether or not they are important.  In addition, I promise to point out any factual errors that are made during the Democratic convention, if they are brought to my attention.

Let's try to keep politicians honest and politics clean.  We need to made decisions based on the facts, not distortions of the truth.  It can be very difficult to learn the facts, but this blog will make every effort to try.

You may also want to read these non-partisan articles:

The Collapse of Lehman Brothers
Politics and Lies
The Government Will Not Pay Your Utility Bills
Misinformation about Affordable Healthcare Act

You are reading from the blog:  http://lies-and-liars.blogspot.com

Photo of President Obama and Paul Ryan courtesy of www.wikipedia.com/commons