As I am wont to do, these are my Top 10 favorite Bush lies from last night’s debate.
Whopper #1: “[T]hree-quarters of al Queda leaders have been brought to justice.”
Bush can say this every day for the rest of the campaign — and he very well might — but it won’t make it true. As an official with the 9/11 Commission said, this is a number “pulled out of somebody’s orifice.”
Whopper #2: “I do not think I ever said I am worried about Osama bin Laden. That is an exaggeration.”
One of Bush’s biggest mistakes ever.
Whopper #3: “Let me talk to the workers: You’ve got more money in your pocket as a result of the tax relief we passed and he opposed.”
I’m not sure which “workers” Bush was talking to, but the median household income has fallen since Bush became president. That means less money in people’s pockets, not more.
Whopper #4: “He talks about middle-class tax cuts. That’s exactly where the tax cuts went. Most of the tax cuts went to low- and middle-income Americans.”
You’ve got to be kidding me. Did Bush not think we’d notice how absurdly false this was?
Whopper #5: “[Kerry] has introduced 300 some bills and passed five.”
This was one of those rare instances in which Bush’s campaign debunked Bush’s rhetoric. The Bush campaign’s own “Breaking Debate Fact” e-mailed during the debate says that Kerry was the lead sponsor of 31 bills, 122 amendments, and 28 resolutions that passed the Senate. Note to BC04: you probably shouldn’t have sent that one out to the press. Reporters sometimes read their emails.
Whopper #6: “[Kerry] voted to increase taxes 98 times.”
Still blatantly untrue.
Whopper #7: “In our first debate he proposed America pass a global test. In order to defend ourselves, we’d have to get international approval.”
Whopper #8: “I did think we ought to extend the assault weapons ban, and was told the fact that the bill was never going to move, because Republicans and Democrats were against the assault weapon ban, people of both parties.”
That’s ridiculous. The Senate passed the reauthorization with bi-partisan support and Speaker Hastert’s office admitted that the ban would be extended in the House if Bush put any effort behind it.
Whopper #9: “At home, we’ll do everything we can to protect the homeland. I signed the homeland security bill to better align our assets and resources. My opponent voted against it.”
This one should probably count as two lies, but let’s consolidate. First, Bush opposed the homeland security bill, but flip-flopped when it was politically convenient. Second, Kerry voted for it, not against it.
Whopper #10: “Actually, Mitch McConnell had a minimum-wage plan that I supported that would have increased the minimum wage.”
At best, this is wildly misleading. Bush has said he’d back an increase, only if states could opt out. The AP described this as a condition that would make the increase “meaningless.”
And, come to think of it, if a Republican senator had a minimum-wage plan with the support of a Republican White House with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, why, prey tell, has the minimum wage not gone up?