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Facts Matter and Mitt Romney Didn’t Deliver Them

While Mitt Romney’s rhetoric may have sounded polished tonight, it just wasn’t true. On issue after issue, Romney avoided giving specifics and, in several instances, told flat-out falsehoods.

It’s no surprise why – the more Americans learn about Mitt Romney’s plans to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, to eliminate Wall Street reforms that protect middle class families from the abuses that caused the recession, and to repeal Obamacare with no plans to help individuals with pre-existing conditions, the less likely they are to support him.

Facts matter and Mitt Romney is unwilling to give them to the American people.

What People Are Saying:

CNN’s David Gergen: “Romney was just sort of flat out lying.”

Los Angeles Times: “The Romney campaign has refused to say which loopholes it would close, and Romney did not clear up the question Wednesday.”

Bloomberg News: “Romney’s tax plan can’t add up.”

CNBC Fact Check: “Romney again tonight did not say specifically how he would pay for his proposed across the board tax cut.”

The Washington Post: “Mitt Romney needs to spend a little more time with his budget reports.”

Los Angeles Times: “Fact check: Romney repeats erroneous claims on healthcare”:

Chicago Sun-Times: “If, however, you score Wednesday’s debate on substance — accurate facts and honest arithmetic — Obama more than held his own.”

Fact Check‏@factcheckdotorg Romney says he will pay for $5T tax cut without raising deficit or raising taxes on middle class. Experts say that’s not possible….

Rachel Weiner ‏@rachelweinerwp  Fact Checker: Romney says “six other studies” have found his plan can be revenue neutral, but he’s wrong about that. http://wapo.st/UGjQeh

Matt Yglesias ‏@mattyglesias Romney’s tax plan is basically 2+2=5.

Los Angeles Times ‏@latimes  Fact check: Romney’s tax claims challenged by nonpartisan report: http://lat.ms/RBZyUT (via @LisaMascaroinDC)

PolitiFact ‏@politifact We looked at whether five studies back up Romney’s tax plan. Mostly False. Our review: http://ow.ly/ecKPd  #debate

PolitiFact @politifact  Reputable study found Romney’s tax plan can’t reduce overall rates AND raise same revenues. Our check: http://ow.ly/ecpR4  #debate

PolitiFact @politifact  Is Romney plan for future Medicare a voucher system? Mostly True. http://ow.ly/ecMuu  #debate

Fact Check‏@factcheckdotorg Romney said Obama “cut” Medicare by $716B but cuts in the future growth of spending prolong life of Medicare. http://ow.ly/ecMJ8

PolitiFact @politifact  From the archives: Rick Santorum said Romney adviser admits Romneycare was blueprint for Obamacare. Mostly True. http://ow.ly/ecNPm

PolitiFact ‏@politifact Obamacare is a government takeover of health care? That was the 2010 Lie of the Year. http://ow.ly/ecO9V  #debate

Michael Crowley ‏@CrowleyTIME Romney closes with pretty dishonest warning about defense cuts

Jonathan Cohn ‏@CitizenCohn Sigh. Romney not telling the truth here. Pre-existing conditions NOT covered under his plan http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/107049/romney-pre-existing-condition-obamacare-repeal-gregory-meet-the-press …

Ezra Klein ‏@ezraklein Around 89 million Americans would likely be left out of Romney’s “preexisting conditions plan,” such as it is. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/10/who-would-be-left-out-of-romneys-preexisting-conditions-plan-about-89-million-americans/ …

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Editorial: Romney wins on style, Obama on facts

Los Angeles Times: Fact Check: Romney’s tax claims challenged by non-partisan report

Bloomberg: Romney Tax Plan Needs Growth to Add Up: Reality Check

Washington Post:  Romney off on deficits

Los Angeles Times: Fact check: Romney repeats erroneous claims on healthcare

Talking Points Memo: Romney Backs Away From Own Tax Plan

Romney & Ryan: Reverse Recovery for the American People

Georgia – Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate illustrates the profound and stark differences between the presidential nominees in the upcoming November election.

“The Ryan choice highlights future attacks on seniors, students, the middle class and veterans. Romney and Ryan have both advocated the privatization of Social Security,” said DPG Chairman Mike Berlon. “They are also fanatical about changing Medicare to a voucher-style program, with the value of each voucher decreasing over time. This would leave a bigger and bigger gap for our seniors to pay out of their own pocket.”

Privatizing Social Security and changing Medicare to a voucher system are positions that the Democratic Party strongly opposes. “Protecting our seniors is a priority, not a mere option – which is what Ryan and Romney’s plans suggest,” said Berlon.

Another stark difference between the presidential candidates is tax policy, where Ryan’s 2010 budget plan raised taxes on the middle class while cutting taxes for the wealthy. Tax deductions like the mortgage interest deduction and health premiums are cut or eliminated under the Ryan plan.

Under Romney’s plan, more than a million middle class Georgia families would face a tax increase. The average tax increase for families with children would be $2,000. Yet while the middle class pays more, the richest Americans would get another $250,000 tax break each.

“Democrats don’t believe that millionaires should get additional tax breaks while middle class taxes go up,” said Berlon. “Why are we asking teachers and factory workers to pay more in taxes? They’re the ones that have been hurt the most by the Bush recession, especially here in Georgia.”

Other critical differences include:

  • Ryan’s budget would slash income security programs for the poor by 16%.
  • Transportation would be cut by 25%.
  • Investment in education, training and other social services would be cut by 33%.
  • Substantially cut Pell grants that would affect more than 250,000 students.

Ryan’s tax plan is similar to Mitt Romney’s in that middle-class families could pay thousands of dollars more a year in taxes to fund tax cuts for millionaires, all while losing the security of Medicare and Social Security. In addition, funding for students through Pell grants would be cut dramatically.  “At a time when education is so critical to our national fabric, why would we cut funding for education for those who need it most?” questioned Berlon.

“We need sensible solutions,” concluded Berlon. “Democrats know that Ryan and Romney’s plan would reverse America’s recovery. We can’t balance the federal budget on the backs of our middle-class. Romney’s choice here shows how out of touch he is with real working families. ”

Chairman Mike Berlon: Republicans compare women to ‘caterpillars’

Georgia – Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Mike Berlon released the following statement in response to today’s remarks by RNC Chair Reince Priebus:

“The Republican Party is showing little regard for women’s issues. Just today, RNC Chair Reince Priebus said, ‘if the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars, and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we’d have problems with caterpillars,’

“In Georgia, a Republican Representative compared women giving birth to his experiences in delivering cows and pigs, and Democratic State Senators were compelled to walk out of the Senate in protest of these damaging policies to women’s health.

“Republicans have been fighting tirelessly to implement policies that are antiquated on women’s health.  Their leading candidate, Mitt Romney, supports the Blunt-Rubio amendment that would give any employer the ability to deny their employees coverage for health care services like contraception based on the employer’s own beliefs.

“Women are aware of these attempts to undermine their health care, and Republicans don’t like the attention. Instead of having a serious debate on these issues, they mock them by comparing women to barnyard animals or insects.

“Chairman Priebus may try and borrow the Romney campaign’s Etch A Sketch to erase the past few months of GOP attacks on women, but women have a clear message for Republicans: they will remember in November.”

 

Democratic Party of Georgia’s Statement on Release of Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns

Georgia – Today, after years of resistance, Mitt Romney has released limited information about his finances.  In response, Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Mike Berlon released the following statement:

“Mitt Romney has spent years refusing to release his tax returns – and though he finally agreed to do so today, he offered just one full year of returns.   During the vetting process to become John McCain’s running mate, Romney released 23 years of tax returns. Why doesn’t Mitt Romney believe that Americans should see the full picture?

“This decision flies in the face of precedent set by previous presidential candidates – Romney’s father released 12 years of returns, President George W. Bush released returns back to 1991, and President Obama released eight years of tax returns during the 2008 campaign.

“Today, Romney failed to release sufficient information for the American people to be able to evaluate his investments, see exactly how he acquired his mass fortune during his time as a corporate raider for Bain Capital, and determine whether he has any financial conflicts that could cloud his judgment.  For instance, he closed a Swiss investment account only because an advisor was worried it might cause political problems should it stay open.  And Romney has made a fortune using offshore investments, from Swiss bank accounts to investments in the Caymans to Bermuda to Luxembourg to Ireland – all famous tax havens that cost American taxpayers about $100 billion a year in lost revenue.  But today’s returns don’t show how much in U.S. taxes Romney is avoiding by keeping his money in these foreign accounts – what else is he hiding from voters?

“Clearly, Romney doesn’t want us to know what releasing multiple full years of tax returns would reveal: he doesn’t believe we all have a responsibility to do our fair share, and he wants to continue to exploit the loopholes, special deductions and other gimmicks that he and other extraordinarily wealthy Americans use to pay a lower tax rate than working and middle-class families.

“With these priorities, it’s no surprise that Romney’s tax plan would cut his own 2013 taxes by nearly half.  That’s where Romney stands – and that’s exactly why he still refused to fully come clean with the American people today.”

Chairman Mike Berlon Calls on Mitt Romney to Prioritize Economic Policies that Help Georgia’s Middle-Class Families

Georgia – On the heels of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s fundraising visit to Georgia today, Chairman Mike Berlon called on Romney to reverse his misguided support for economic policies that attempt to balance our economic recovery solely on the backs of the middle class without asking the wealthiest and special interests to pitch in and pay their fair share – including his opposition to a payroll tax cut that will put more money in the pockets of Georgia’s middle-class families.

“Mitt Romney has been inconsistent on many issues, but one thing he has continued to support wholeheartedly is more tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations at the expense of the middle class, students and seniors.  Mr. Romney’s economic plans would be a disaster for Georgia’s working families.  His opposition to the President’s American Jobs Act, which would cut taxes for 180,000 Georgia small businesses and give the typical Georgia household a tax cut of $1,330 – economic relief that Romney callously referred to as “temporary little band-aids” – is appalling

“The President’s jobs plan would put folks back to work in Georgia by supporting roughly 13,600 jobs rebuilding the state’s infrastructure and 11,800 jobs modernizing Georgia’s classrooms, in addition to saving the jobs of up to 12,800 educators across the state.

“Mitt Romney’s policies are wrong for Georgia and wrong for America.  Moreover, his inability to support one consistent position for longer than a day – except, of course, his longstanding advocacy for policies that give more handouts to millionaires, billionaires, special interests and large corporations – is not the type of leadership Americans want or need.  So, while Mr. Romney is here today collecting large checks from his core constituency, the ultra-wealthy, I encourage Georgia voters to remember where Mitt Romney’s priorities truly lie – with his rich donors.”