Sunday, September 9, 2012

“The vice president knowingly and deliberately leveled false and discredited attacks. This is further proof that the Obama Campaign is unable and unwilling to talk honestly or substantively about the most important issues driving the country.”

Biden dares: ‘Fact check me,’ Romney campaign obliges - Joseph Weber/FOX

Vice President Biden is doubling down on watchdog groups and others who are saying he made misleading remarks in a speech earlier this week regarding the Romney-Ryan rescue plan for Medicare – daring reporters to “fact check me.”...

The Romney Campaign took up the challenge within hours....

"In an attempt to distract from President Obama’s failed record, including unemployment remaining over 8 percent, labor force participation falling to three-decade lows, and our national debt passing $16 trillion, Vice President Biden is once again advancing fabricated and disproven attacks on Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan"

...The Romney campaign also on Saturday released a statement with fact-checks on statements Biden made relating to Romney's tax and Medicare plans, and claims from Biden that Romney shipped jobs overseas.

Biden and President Obama made other statements in their convention speeches on such topics as unemployment and Medicare that fact-checkers said also appear to be inaccurate or at least misleading.

Among the questionable remarks were Biden's argument that "after the worst job loss since the Great Depression we created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months" – a frequent response by the Obama campaign when questioned about the slow economic recovery.

The Associated Press and others point out that statement is misleading because it counts jobs from the recession's lowest point to where employment began to grow again – excluding jobs lost earlier in Obama's term and masking that overall unemployment has increased over that period.

"Overall, roughly 7.5 million jobs were lost during the recession that began in December 2007 and ended officially in June 2009," according to the wire service.
The Associated Press also points out that Obama said in his speech that he wants to use money saved by ending the wars to build highways, schools and bridges.

However, the wars were largely financed by borrowing "so there is no ready pile of cash to be diverted to anything else," the wire service writes.

The group FactCheck.org listed eight instances in which either Biden or Obama "spun" facts during their speeches Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C. - More, at the link...