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The Top 13 Lies in Modern Republican Convention
Bill Scher
Jonathan Cohn asked if Paul Ryan's address was "The Most Dishonest Convention Speech ... Ever?" Now that Mitt Romney had his turn, I decided to answer the question.
After reviewing presidential and vice-presidential nominee acceptance speeches throughout the era of the modern Republican Party, back to 1980, I present to you: the Top 13 Republican Convention Speech Lies.
To make this list, the candidate had to deliver a stone-cold, unequivocal, shameless brazen lie. Being misleading but technically true, or using disingenuous qualifiers wasn't good enough.
For example, Vice-President Dick Cheney does not make the cut for saying in 2004 that "we dealt with a gathering threat and removed the regime of Saddam Hussein" shortly after saying "the president made clear that the terrorists would be dealt with". Sure, he's suggesting a false connection between 9/11 and Iraq, but he didn't explicitly state the lie--at least, not on the convention stage.
With that in mind, here we go.
13. Bush 2000: The Gore Invented The Internet Lie
12. Bush 1992: The Clinton Will Raise Your Taxes Lie
11. McCain 2008: The Original ObamaCare Lie
10. Palin 2008: Bridge To Nowhere? Who Me?
9. Bush 2000: The Not Ready For Duty Lie
8. Romney 2012: The Apology Tour Lie
7. Reagan 1984: The Social Security Tax Lie
In the summer of 1984, Reagan's re-election campaign got a little shaky after Democratic nominee Walter Mondale said at his convention: "Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did."
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wait-Dont-Canada-Stay-Fight/dp/1594863962"]As I wrote in my book "Wait! Don't Move To Canada!,"[/ame] this gambit caught the Reagan team off guard: "[The campaign] couldn't get its story straight whether it was promising no tax hikes in the second term no matter what, or leaving the door open a crack for a change in course." Mondale cut Reagan's lead by 6 points in one poll and took the lead in another.
Reagan had to respond. And he did by lying.
Now that by itself would not meet our strict lying standards. Misleading perhaps, not outright prevarication.
But then Reagan went on to say "they received some relief in 1983, when our across-the-board tax cut was fully in place." That is false. As Paul Krugman pointed out back in 2004, Reagan's income tax cuts for "many middle- and low-income families" were negated by Reagan's own Social Security payroll tax increase. And his was regressive, not progressive.
5. Bush 2004: The Weapons Inspectors Lie
4. Ryan 2012: The They Stole Your Medicare Lie
3. Cheney 2004: The Kerry Won't Kill Terrorists Lie
2. Ryan 2012: The Obama Did Nothing On Debt Lie
1. Romney 2012: The Middle Class Taxes Lie
Bill Scher
Jonathan Cohn asked if Paul Ryan's address was "The Most Dishonest Convention Speech ... Ever?" Now that Mitt Romney had his turn, I decided to answer the question.
After reviewing presidential and vice-presidential nominee acceptance speeches throughout the era of the modern Republican Party, back to 1980, I present to you: the Top 13 Republican Convention Speech Lies.
To make this list, the candidate had to deliver a stone-cold, unequivocal, shameless brazen lie. Being misleading but technically true, or using disingenuous qualifiers wasn't good enough.
For example, Vice-President Dick Cheney does not make the cut for saying in 2004 that "we dealt with a gathering threat and removed the regime of Saddam Hussein" shortly after saying "the president made clear that the terrorists would be dealt with". Sure, he's suggesting a false connection between 9/11 and Iraq, but he didn't explicitly state the lie--at least, not on the convention stage.
With that in mind, here we go.
13. Bush 2000: The Gore Invented The Internet Lie
12. Bush 1992: The Clinton Will Raise Your Taxes Lie
11. McCain 2008: The Original ObamaCare Lie
10. Palin 2008: Bridge To Nowhere? Who Me?
9. Bush 2000: The Not Ready For Duty Lie
8. Romney 2012: The Apology Tour Lie
7. Reagan 1984: The Social Security Tax Lie
In the summer of 1984, Reagan's re-election campaign got a little shaky after Democratic nominee Walter Mondale said at his convention: "Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did."
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wait-Dont-Canada-Stay-Fight/dp/1594863962"]As I wrote in my book "Wait! Don't Move To Canada!,"[/ame] this gambit caught the Reagan team off guard: "[The campaign] couldn't get its story straight whether it was promising no tax hikes in the second term no matter what, or leaving the door open a crack for a change in course." Mondale cut Reagan's lead by 6 points in one poll and took the lead in another.
Reagan had to respond. And he did by lying.
Some who spoke so loudly in San Francisco of fairness were among those who brought about the biggest single, individual tax increase in our history in 1977, calling for a series of increases in the Social Security payroll tax and in the amount of pay subject to that tax. The bill they passed called for two additional increases between now and 1990, increases that bear down hardest on those at the lower income levels.
The Census Bureau confirms that, because of the tax laws we inherited, the number of households at or below the poverty level paying Federal income tax more than doubled between 1980 and 1982. Well, they received some relief in 1983, when our across-the-board tax cut was fully in place. And they'll get more help when indexing goes into effect this January.
But his description of the "amount of pay subject" to the 1977 tax referred to an increase of the payroll tax cap, subjecting more wealthy income to Social Security taxes and making the overall system more progressive.The Census Bureau confirms that, because of the tax laws we inherited, the number of households at or below the poverty level paying Federal income tax more than doubled between 1980 and 1982. Well, they received some relief in 1983, when our across-the-board tax cut was fully in place. And they'll get more help when indexing goes into effect this January.
Now that by itself would not meet our strict lying standards. Misleading perhaps, not outright prevarication.
But then Reagan went on to say "they received some relief in 1983, when our across-the-board tax cut was fully in place." That is false. As Paul Krugman pointed out back in 2004, Reagan's income tax cuts for "many middle- and low-income families" were negated by Reagan's own Social Security payroll tax increase. And his was regressive, not progressive.
... the Social Security Reform Act of 1983 [included] an increase in the payroll tax that pays for Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance. For many middle- and low-income families, this tax increase more than undid any gains from Mr. Reagan's income tax cuts. In 1980, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, middle-income families with children paid 8.2 percent of their income in income taxes, and 9.5 percent in payroll taxes. By 1988 the income tax share was down to 6.6 percent -- but the payroll tax share was up to 11.8 percent, and the combined burden was up, not down.
6. Ryan 2012: The GM Plant Lie
5. Bush 2004: The Weapons Inspectors Lie
4. Ryan 2012: The They Stole Your Medicare Lie
3. Cheney 2004: The Kerry Won't Kill Terrorists Lie
2. Ryan 2012: The Obama Did Nothing On Debt Lie
1. Romney 2012: The Middle Class Taxes Lie
