Thursday, August 30, 2012

#LyinRyan

The title to this posting is preceded by #. The symbol # is used in the twitter world and is called a "hashtag". When one posts on twitter with the # symbol preceding a run of words (ex: #GOPComedy, #RNC2012) then that "hashtag can be followed as a continuous list of twitter posts containing that particular "hashtag", therefore you can follow a particular event/happening tied to that "hashtag".

Well, last night after the much anticipated speech by republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, the "hashtag" #LyinRyan was trending (meaning it was quite a popular hashtag & being used a lot during a certain time frame) big time on Twitter.

Not long after the speech, which contained obvious falsehoods, fabrications and outright lies, the country and the media were fact checking Ryan's speech for it's accuracy or lack thereof.

The main opinion is that Ryan's speech was chock full of lies, untruths & fabrications, which you can find in these media links below.

First up Fox News, which even dips it's toes into factual fantasies had to chime in on the Ryan speech

..........to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/30/paul-ryans-speech-in-three-words/#ixzz253VNwnqo

From PoliticusUSA

Paul Ryan took the stage in Tampa and peppered his speech with lies, falsehoods distortions and exaggerations.

http://www.politicususa.com/5-biggest-lies-paul-ryans-rnc-acceptance-speech.html

From USA TODAY

Paul Ryan's acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained several false claims and misleading statements.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-08-30/paul-ryan-fact-check-republican-convention/57432326/1

From the NY Times opinion page

An army of fact-checkers swarmed around Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech last night, and the verdict was swift and unanimous: lies, omissions, a sweeping rewrite of recent history.

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/beyond-factual-dishonesty/?ref=opinion

From FACTCheck.org

Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained several false claims and misleading statements. Delegates cheered as the vice presidential nominee:
  • Accused President Obama’s health care law of funneling money away from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” In fact, Medicare’s chief actuary says the law “substantially improves” the system’s finances, and Ryan himself has embraced the same savings.
  • Accused Obama of doing “exactly nothing” about recommendations of a bipartisan deficit commission — which Ryan himself helped scuttle.
  • Claimed the American people were “cut out” of stimulus spending. Actually, more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went for tax relief for workers.
  • Faulted Obama for failing to deliver a 2008 campaign promise to keep a Wisconsin plant open. It closed less than a month before Obama took office.
  • Blamed Obama for the loss of a AAA credit rating for the U.S. Actually, Standard & Poor’s blamed the downgrade on the uncompromising stands of both Republicans and Democrats.
http://factcheck.org/2012/08/ryans-vp-spin/

Friday, August 3, 2012

Reid vs Romney the Tax Return Standoff

Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called out Mitt Romney on the Senate floor the other day with a claim that "Romney paid no taxes....."

As we all know, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has released on one year of past tax returns, and is adamant that, the one tax return will be the only one Romney releases. During past presidential runs in the modern era, most every candidate has released multiple years of tax returns in a good faith effort to expose the financials of those who are seeking the country's highest office. This is not done under the rule of law, it is done as a means of transparency.

Here in 2012, we have Mitt Romney, who admittedly is worth multiple millions and has financial interests inside the United States and outside the United States. Fine and dandy, he isn't the only person of wealth who has his finances in off shore accounts.

The above is all legal and Romney has violated no laws or election rules, so why the caterwauling about Romney's tax returns? Why the indignation from some that Harry Reid has "crossed the line", with some even making the accusation that Reid has determined Romney to be some sort of FELON!

Here's the reality:

1) The American people are due the simple respect of seeing Mitt Romney's taxes over a number of years

2) Harry Reid simply said Romney paid no taxes.

3) Romney has made claims that his tax returns might be able to clear up.

The bottom line is if there is nothing in Romney's Tax returns that shows illegalities then produce them and put this issue to rest.

As a side not to those who have taken great offense to Harry Reid, claiming Reid has called Romney GUILTY before any evidence/proof has been produced..........let's not forget that for 3 years, there has been a constant crescendo coming from the right about President Obama's birth certificate, which has been made public many times, even the "long form".

Again, if Romney has nothing to hide, produce multiple years to tax returns and all this goes away........but as long as Mitt Romney balks at releasing the returns, the questions will always remain and the question of: "What is Mitt Romney hiding?" will be on peoples minds.