In announcing his presidential candidacy, Sen. Ted Cruz painted a bleak picture of “economic stagnation” and “record numbers” of small-business failures. He’s off base on both counts.
Issues: economy
FactChecking CPAC
Obama Fudges Facts in Philly
Biden’s Twist on U.S. Economy
Pipeline Primer
Obama’s Numbers
Bill Clinton: Give Me a Break
A new Romney ad would have viewers believe that former President Bill Clinton was commenting on President Obama’s handling of the economy when he said, “Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.” That’s false. Clinton’s 2008 comment was aimed at Obama’s portrayal of Hillary Clinton as supporting Iraq war policies.
The ad comes on the heels of Clinton’s rousing endorsement of Obama during the Democratic National Convention, a speech more people considered to be the highlight of the Democratic convention than Obama’s own speech.
Republican Retreads from Tampa
TAMPA, Fla. — On the first day of the Republican convention — marked by a delegate vote making former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the party’s official nominee for president — we’re already hearing a lot of exaggerated, misleading or downright false claims that we’ve heard before.
The theme of the day centered on repeated misrepresentations of a quote from President Obama. From the various speakers we also heard:
A misleading statistic about women’s job losses that has grown so stale it is now wholly false.
Distorting Obama’s Economic Plan, Ryan’s Medicare Plan
Both sides are playing loose with the facts in a couple of new TV ads. As FactCheck.org Deputy Director Eugene Kiely explains on WCBS radio, a pro-Romney super PAC takes President Obama’s comment about his second-term economic plan out of context, and an Obama TV ad provides false information about Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan.
Read more about both ads in our Aug. 13 item “Pro-Romney Super PAC Twists Obama’s Words” and our Aug. 14 item,
Pro-Romney Super PAC Twists Obama’s Words
A pro-Romney TV ad shows President Obama saying, “we tried our plan and it worked.” That twists his words way out of context. He was referring to his proposal to cut the deficit using both tax increases and spending cuts, like President Clinton. Obama wasn’t talking about past job creation efforts, as the ad would have viewers believe.
Restore Our Future, a super PAC founded by former Mitt Romney campaign staffers, went up with its new ad on Aug.