FACT CHECK: Boehner/Cantor Budget OpEd With 8 Major Falsehoods

http://dccc.org/blog/entry/fact_check_boehner_cantor_budget_oped_with_8_major_falsehoods/

In today's USA Today, House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Leader Eric Cantor wrote a joint OpEd riddled with falsehoods and misleading information. In just 732 words, they make eight false claims or misleading arguments about the recent S&P downgrade, the Republican budget, the Republican jobs record, and their rigidity and extremism in the recent debt limit debate.

FACT CHECK

FALSE CLAIM #1: “Time and again, we have reached out to President Obama in the hope that he would finally be ready to do what is needed to solve our debt crisis and tackle America's job crisis.” They even claim, “The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake for Washington to continue ducking the toughest choices.”

TRUTH: House Republicans have been “ducking the toughest choices” by repeatedly walking out of deficit reduction negotiations.

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FALSE CLAIM #2: “Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade our creditworthiness is a clarion call to get America's fiscal house in order.”

TRUTH: Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade was a repudiation of the House Republican’s decision to gamble with the country’s economy.

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FALSE CLAIM #3: “This spring, the House passed a budget that would cut spending by trillions of dollars and encourage private-sector job creation through economic growth”

TRUTH: In reality, the House Republicans voted overwhelmingly for a plan that could result in 1.7 million fewer jobs

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FALSE CLAIM #4: House Republicans support closing tax loopholes

TRUTH: House Republicans have repeatedly voted against eliminating tax loopholes for Big Oil and companies that ship American jobs overseas. [S 627, Vote #676, 7/29/11; H Res 245, Vote #293, 5/5/11; HJRes 44, Vote #153, 3/1/11; H Res 38, Vote #19, 1/25/11; HR 1586, Vote #518, 8/10/10; HR 5982, Vote #514, 7/30/10]

FALSE CLAIM #5: “Our budget [House Republican/Ryan Budget] also included real reforms that preserve and strengthen our insolvent entitlement programs”

TRUTH: The House Republican budget would end Medicare.

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FALSE CLAIM #6: President Obama “and his allies demanded tax increases on families and small businesses, tax increases that would destroy jobs.”

TRUTH: President Obama and congressional Democrats have repeatedly called for ending special tax breaks for oil companies, millionaires and billionaires, corporate jet owners and corporations that ship jobs overseas.

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ALSE CLAIM #7: “Ratification of a balanced-budget amendment would provide greater certainty about our nation's fiscal trajectory over the long haul, helping private sector small-business people — who are being overwhelmed with uncertainty from Washington — to plan, invest and get back to creating jobs. That is the type of commitment to fiscal responsibility that S&P and other rating services are looking for.”

TRUTH: John Chambers, the head of Standard & Poor’s sovereign ratings division said that passing a balance budget amendment would do more harm than good.

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FALSE CLAIM #8: “The American people understand that Washington can't keep spending money it doesn't have. They want to see less government — not more taxes.”

TRUTH: The American people would like to see the public deficit reduced by eliminating tax subsidies for Big Oil, companies that ship jobs overseas, and huge tax breaks for millionaires.

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