Debate Fact Check: US Presidential Candidates Pervert the Truth
Saturday, September 10, 2011
, Posted by JED at 12:45:00 AM
Debate fact check shows that Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry were not completely truthful when talking about their job-creation records as Governor, reports the AP.
As unemployment continues to hold steady in the United States, it has been pushed to the forefront of discussion for potential presidential nominees.
The AP has put together a fact check, shedding light on some of the claims made in the debate:
Rick Perry said: "Ninety-five percent of all the jobs that we've created have been above minimum wage."
Facts: The figures Perry pointed to represented all workers, not just the new jobs. That does not account for low-wage jobs that may be above the minimum wage. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, 51 percent of all Texas workers make less than $33,000 a year. Only 30 percent make more than $50,000 a year. Nationally, Texas ranked 34th in median household income from 2007 to 2009.
About 9.5 percent of Texas hourly workers, excluding those who are paid salaries, earn the minimum wage or less, tying Mississippi for the highest percentage in the nation.
Mitt Romney said: "At the end of four years, we had our unemployment rate down to 4.7 percent. That's a record I think the president would like to see. As a matter of fact, we created more jobs in Massachusetts than this president has created in the entire country."
Facts: Romney started from a much better position than President Barack Obama did. Unemployment was only 5.6 percent when Romney took office in 2003, meaning it came down by less than 1 percentage point when he left office in 2007. Obama inherited a national unemployment rate of 7.8 percent.
The Republican presidential debate was held Wednesday night, September 7.
- Source
Are you kidding me? You call this being "untruthful" The only thing clearly deceiving here is the title of this "Fact" check article. It says they perverted the truth; then you read it and find out the candidates were quoting accurate facts. I'm sure someone will say they didn't tell the entire story, but these guys have 60 seconds to respond and make their case to the people of why they should be the nominee. They are telling the truth and putting it in the most positive light as they should. They aren't writing a book. Fact is Obama's stimulus packages did nothing to stem the tide of unemployment like he promised; in fact, it has only gotten much worse. Why doesn't the AP check that fact?
To be absolutely clear, Romney told the truth and the AP isn't happy about the truth. Perry does need some work on his debate skills though; Obama will eat him alive in a debate right now just like John McCain's pitiful last debate in the general election.