Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Fact Checkers Come And Go And Sometimes Are Far Gone

President Barack Obama's campaign is running this ad highlighting his opponent's track record at Bain in which he would push jobs overseas and reap the profits.



One of these truthier-than-thou fact check group, with the unoriginal name of FactCheckers, took umbrage with Obama's ads and described them as making unsubstantiated claims.

Team Obama sent them a courteous six-page letter explaining why their complaints were what truly was unsubstantiated.

Well, just like PolitiFact, FactCheckers doesn't like being second guessed or corrected, so they came out with a second article, but were now not calling Obama's claims as unsubstantiated, but outright false.

The basis for their claim to having more truthiness is their claim that Romney wasn't really in charge of Bain in 1999, before the time the events in Obama's commercial occurred. They said he was at first an absentee executive and then a silent investor. Their basis for this claim? Romney said so.

Well. that clears that up! Romney wouldn't lie about something like this would he?

Here's what the Fact Checkers are using as their "proof":
Here’s what Romney has said:

Mitt Romney Public Financial Disclosure Report, Aug. 11, 2011: Mr. Romney retired from Bain Capital on February 11, 1999 to head the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Since February 11, 1999, Mr. Romney has not had any active role with any Bain Capital entity and has not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way.

Romney’s signature appears on the line that states: “I certify that statements I have made on this form and all attached schedules are true, complete and correct to the best of my knowledge.”
They follow this up with a Bain spokesman iterating the claim.

But then there is this from BizJournals (note the date of the article, August 23, 2001):
W. Mitt Romney is quitting Boston-based Bain Capital, the $13 billion investment firm he started with $35 million in 1984. The son of a former governor and himself a presidential candidate is going into politics in either Massachusetts or Utah after he completes work helping organize next year's Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Romney, 54, is giving up his 100 percent control of Bain Capital to 26 managing directors. The firm has made 170 venture and buyout investments in companies like pizza delivery chain Domino's Pizza Inc., brokerage Datek Online Holdings Corp. and retailers Staples Inc. and the Sports Authority Inc.
Both of these claims cannot be true, since they directly contradict each other. So was Romney lying in 1999 or was he lying in 2001?

For Romney's sake, he'd better have been lying in 2001. For if he was lying in 1999, on official government forms, he would be in deep trouble, per the same Fact Checkers who are defending him:
Making false statements to the federal government is a serious crime (under 18 USC 1001) carrying possible fines and up to five years in federal prison....
Hmmm, maybe we won't need Scott Walker to take Romney down when he gets perpwalked later this year. It looks like Romney should be doing his own perpwalk.

For a full debunking of FactCheckers bunk, I would refer the gentle reader to karoli's article, for which I give her a tip of the crown, for my article.

5 comments:

  1. http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/08/investigating-mitt-romney-offshore-accounts

    ReplyDelete
  2. Romney Left Bain Later Than He Says, Documents Show
    By Nick Baumann Mon Jul. 2, 2012

    http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/romney-bain-about-when-romney-left-firm-documents-show

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Romney Boathouse Is A Lot Nicer Than That Dump You Live In

    http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2012/07/02/the-romney-boathouse-is-a-lot-nicer-than-that-dump-you-live-in/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mystery Bermuda-based company and other undisclosed Romney assets hint at larger wealth
    By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, July 4, 9:52 AM

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mystery-bermuda-based-company-and-other-undisclosed-romney-assets-hint-of-larger-wealth/2012/07/04/gJQAbU1SMW_print.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wish they would wait just a little bit longer to come out with stuff like this. The GOP still has the option of taking someone else as their candidate until the convention is done.

    ReplyDelete