Religion, Politicians, and Dishonesty

Have you checked out the Fact Checking websites that are available on the internet?  I was recently planning a blog post about the different lies that are being told in the presidential election, as well as the state and local elections.  As I began to dig into the confusing world of political lies, I was simply overwhelmed.  There were far too many of them to cover in a blog post.

Then, a rather disturbing thought occured to me.  Most of these politicians claim to be members of a religious group. In addition, the majority of their followers are people of faith, often people who are deeply devoted to their religious beliefs.

Somehow the idea that we so easily accept political lies was a deeply disturbing thought to me.  How can people of faith be so nonchalant when their favorite political candidate is caught in an obvious lie?  I am not talking about candidates who have earnestly tried to fulfill a campaign promise, but have failed due to lack of cooperation from others.  I am talking about candidates who brazenly lie about their opponents in television ads, or who say one thing to their supporters in private and something entirely different when they are being interviewed on television.

I am not so naive as to think that everyone always tells the truth.  In fact, as I have mentioned before on this blog, most people tell a number of lies every week.  Many of these lies are exaggerations or they are told because people want to avoid embarrassment.  However, when I hear our local politicians completely distort the record of their opponent, or when I hear them deny their own guilt even when they have been caught in a crime, I am extremely disappointed.  Just last week the Los Angeles County Assessor was arrested for taking campaign contributions from wealthy donors in return for unreasonably lowering the assessed values of their properties after he was elected.  About ten years ago, an Orange County judge was caught with child pornography and he continued to run for re-election, despite the fact that he was under house arrest, pending his trial. I have heard of many other politians who have committed crimes that were just as outrageous!  I'm sure that you know about political lies that are being told in your own communities.

I think that we people of faith should hold our politicians accountable.  Regardless of the political outcome, we should expect our candidates to make the same statements regardless of who is listening ... their supporters or the general public.  We should demand that they reveal the truth about their finances and their personal lives.  We should insist that they answer the questions they are asked, and not try to avoid the issues.  We need to hold our politicians to a standard of integrity that is at least as high as the general public. 

I understand that many people who have loyalty to a political party will vote for candidates based solely on their party affiliation.  However, I hope that most people will one day begin to look beyond party politics and make personal integrity one of the most important things they consider when choosing a candidate.

You may also be interested in reading:

The Facts About the Obama vs Romney Debate
Fact Checking Bill Clinton's Convention Speech
Factual Errors in Paul Ryan's Convention Speech
Politics and Lies

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

Photo of religious symbols courtesy of www.en.wikipendia.com/commons

The Facts about the Obama vs Romney Debate

The 2012 election appears as if it is going to be close.  In fact, as you can see on the attached electoral map, the decision may actually be made by undecided voters in the states of Florida, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, Ohio and Iowa.

Because the election is so close, it drives me crazy when I hear the candidates say one thing in television interviews and something else when they are debating each other before a national audience.  It also bothers me when I hear them exaggerate their numbers or make statements that are clearly intended as lies.

Fact Checking Six Statements in the Obama Romney Debate

The website PolitiFact. com is a Pulitzer Prize winning news site that investigated the claims made in the October 3 presidential debate between President Obama and Governor Romney.  Here is a rundown of some the factual errors that were made during the debate.

"Under Governor Romney's definition, Donald Trump is a small business." - Not true

"Up to 20 million people will lose their insurance as Obamacare goes into effect" - Not true

"Romney's Medicare plan was estimated to cost the average senior about $6,000 a year." - Half true

"Romney's plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut." - Half true

"Obama put in place a board that can tell people ... what treatments they're going to receive."  - Mostly false

"Romney would turn Medicare into a voucher program" - Mostly true

Fact Checking Numbers in the Obama Romney Debate

The Washington Post had their own Fact Checkers working overtime during and after the debate.  They explained some of the discrepancies in numbers that were thrown around by the two candidates.  Here is what they discovered.

"Governor Romney's ... economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut." (Obama)
"I don't have a $5 trillion tax cut." (Romney)

Obviously one of them was not being completely honest.  According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, Romney's proposal to cut the tax rates by 20 percent and eliminate estate tax and the alternative minimum tax would cut tax revenue by $500 billion in 2015 and about $5 trillion over a period of 10 years.

"We take some of the money that we're saving as we wind down two wars." (Obama)

This is a budget trick on the part of both parties.  The Bush administration never appropriately accounted for war expenses, and the Obama administration is projecting future savings far into the future, which inflates the potential savings.

"I want to close loopholes that are giving incentives for companies that are shipping jobs overseas." (Obama)

"I have no idea what you're talking about." (Romney)

Perhaps Romney didn't know about it, but there actually are tax deductions that companies can take for moving their operations overseas.

There were other exaggerations and mistatements made during the debate, but I wanted to focus specifically on the ones that involved money.  In addition, the point of this post is to make it obvious that you simply cannot believe all the rhetoric you hear from political candidates.  You have to look up all the facts yourself, and then decide which candidate has the plan that is most likely to be implemented and that will help you and your family have the most desirable quality of life.

Don't vote on the basis of sound bites in television ads and debates.  Check the facts and gather as much information as possible on every issue.  Be skeptical if you wanted to be a well-educated voter.

You may also be interested in reading:

Fact Checking Bill Clinton's Convention Speech
Factual Errors in Paul Ryan's Convention Speech
Politics and Lies
The Collapse of Lehman Brothers
Misinformation about Affordable Healthcare Act

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

Photo courtesy of www.en.wikipedia.com/commons