It didn’t take long after the Ryan speech for the Obama team to start firing off emails claiming Ryan is the worst liar this planet has ever seen. But do the fact checkers need to be fact checked? Well, the team over at TheBlaze did what the mainstream media refuses to do and actually look at the facts, not the Obama talking points!
Watch the speech below:
Now, what were some of the attacks on Ryan's speech? And, more importantly, what were some of the responses?
Get the full list of 12 BOGUS charges here!
Charge #3: Ryan is wrong about the stimulus, which actually “created or saved 3.3 million jobs.”Explanation: From Ryan’s speech: “What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn’t just spent and wasted – it was borrowed, spent, and wasted.”
In response, ThinkProgress cites a study by the CBO saying that the stimulus “created or saved” 3.3 million jobs.
So is it true? Not unless you think the highest possible estimate is always the right one. The CBOestimated that the stimulus could have saved up to 3.3 million jobs. In other words, “creating or saving” 3.3 million jobs is the absolute upper limit on what the stimulus could have done. The lowest estimate is 500,000 jobs created or saved. Both numbers are probably inaccurate, but to accept the 3.3 million jobs number requires an extreme degree of optimism.
Charge #4: Paul Ryan supported the stimulus in 2002!
Explanation: ThinkProgress links to a video from the Chris Hayes show showing Paul Ryan speaking on behalf of a 2002 stimulus bill that President Bush signed into law. This is supposed to prove that Ryan is a hypocrite when it comes to stimulus spending.
So is it true? To begin with, it’s irrelevant. Ryan was speaking against the Obama stimulus specifically in his speech. He didn’t rail against the concept of stimulus spending, period. Moreover, there is a lot of daylight between supporting a $42 billion stimulus measure – most of which is in tax relief – and supporting an $831 billion bill that is loaded with giveaways for favored groups/industries. It’s true that Ryan supports the idea of stimulus in principle, but when it comes to stimuli as big as the one Obama wrote? Not a chance.
Charge #5: Ryan’s attacks on Obamacare also hit Romneycare.
Explanation: Ryan said in his speech, “Obamacare comes to more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country.” ThinkProgress asks, “What about Massachusetts? The two laws are very similar.”
So is it true? Yes, what about Massachusetts? And more to the point, what about what Ryan actually said? Romneycare isn’t 2,000 pages. It doesn’t include any new taxes. It doesn’t include the infamous Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Romney vetoed large chunks of regulation that were originally in the bill. Yes, it has a mandate, but that mandate is a lot less expansive. In other words, Romneycare comes to less than two thousand pages, with very few rules, one mandate, no taxes, some fees and some fines. What about Massachusetts? ThinkProgress probably doesn’t want an answer to that question.