News article:

In his speech accepting the Republican nomination for president, Mitt Romney repeated a charge he’s made before: that Obama has traveled the world apologizing for America. 
  
  
  
 "I will begin my presidency with a jobs tour. President Obama began with an apology tour. America, he said, had dictated to other nations. No, Mr. President, America has freed other nations from dictators," Romney said. 
  
  
  
 We first fact-checked this claim back in 2010, when Romney published a book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. 
  
  
  
 Obama’s apology tour, Romney wrote, "is his way of signaling to foreign countries and foreign leaders that their dislike for America is something he understands and that is, at least in part, understandable. There are anti-American fires burning all across the globe; President Obama's words are like kindling to them." 
  
  
  
 "In his first nine months in office, President Obama has issued apologies and criticisms of America in speeches in France, England, Turkey, and Cairo; at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and the United Nations in New York City. He has apologized for what he deems to be American arrogance, dismissiveness, and derision; for dictating solutions, for acting unilaterally, and for acting without regard for others; for treating other countries as mere proxies, for unjustly interfering in the internal affairs of other nations, and for feeding anti-Muslim sentiments; for committing torture, for dragging our feet on global warming and for selectively promoting democracy." 
  
  
  
 It’s a common theme for some anti-Obama websites and commentators. But is it accurate? 
  
  
  
 Obama’s early travels and remarks 
  
  
  
 We looked at the seven separate speeches Romney mentioned in his book as apologies. (We've compiled those passages in a separate document.) 
  
  
  
 At times, Obama uses an on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand formulation that he tends to employ right before he talks about two sides coming together. 
  
  
  
 At a town hall meeting in France in 2009, for example, Obama encouraged Europe to work with the United States, and admitted that the United States "has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." But he immediately said that Europe has been guilty of a "casual" and "insidious" anti-Americanism. 
  
  
  
 At a major address to the United Nations, Obama said, "I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. And this has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for collective inaction." 
  
  
  
 At a speech in Cairo on relations between the U.S. and the Islamic world, Obama got very close to regretting decades-old U.S. actions in Iran. But then he immediately countered with criticism of Iran. He did not make a formal expression of regret, but suggested both countries simply "move forward." 
  
  
  
 Looking back at those 2009 speeches, we noticed that Obama was most conciliatory when discussing torture and detention at the U.S. military installation at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Typically, Obama would say that the U.S. must always stay true to its ideals, and that's why Obama "unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States, and I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next year." 
  
  
  
 Apologies -- or diplomatic language? 
  
  
  
 In 2010, we quizzed several experts about whether Obama had apologized. Here’s a brief recap of what they had to say (read more here): 
  
  
  
 • Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy analyst with the the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Obama was definitely apologizing. He co-wrote an analysis on the topic: "Barack Obama's Top 10 Apologies: How the President Has Humiliated a Superpower." 
  
  
  
 "Apologizing for your own country projects an image of weakness before both allies and enemies," Gardiner said. "It sends a very clear signal that the U.S. is to blame for some major developments on the world stage. This can be used to the advantage of those who wish to undermine American global leadership." 
  
  
  
 • John Murphy, a communications professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studies presidential rhetoric and political language. He said Obama used conciliatory language for diplomatic purposes, not apologizing. 
  
  
  
 "It's much more a sense of establishing of reciprocity," Murphy said. "Each side says, okay, we haven't done great, but we have a new president and we're going to make a fresh start and move forward. I don't think that's an apology." 
  
  
  
 • Lauren Bloom, an attorney and business consultant, wrote the book, The Art of the Apology, advising businesses and individuals on when to apologize and how to do it. 
  
  
  
 She said Obama's words fell short of an apology, mostly because he didn't use the words "sorry" or "regret." "I think to make an effective apology, the words 'I'm sorry' or 'we're sorry' always have to be there," Bloom said. 
  
  
  
 Obama's remarks were really non-apologies, and they're not good in business or personal relationships, Bloom said. The one area where they can be useful: international diplomacy. 
  
  
  
 "Gov. Romney is trying to appeal to the inner John Wayne of his readers, and that has a certain emotional appeal," Bloom said. "For the rest of us, a level assessment of less-than-perfect human behavior is perfectly reasonable." 
  
  
  
 • We spoke with Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, a professor who tracked international human rights issues via the website Political Apologies and Reparations. Many of the apologies in the database relate to genocide or slavery. 
  
  
  
 "To say the United States will not torture is not an apology, it is a statement of intent," Howard-Hassman said. "A complete apology has to acknowledge something was wrong, accept responsibility, express sorrow or regret and promise not to repeat it." 
  
  
  
 Obama's Cairo address in particular was a means of reaching out to the Islamic world, not an acknowledgement of wrongdoing, she said. 
  
  
  
 "Whether he's apologizing or not, he's saying 'I respect your society and I respect your customs.' Maybe that's what Romney considers an apology, that gesture of respect," she said. "But a gesture of respect is not an apology." 
  
  
  
 Actual apologies 
  
  
  
 In the years since we first looked into this matter, Obama or someone in his administration has formally apologized for U.S. actions. In 2012, Obama apologized for the accidental burning of copies of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Obama sent the apology in a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Officials hoped the formal apology would quell violent reactions against U.S. troops in Afghanistan. 
  
  
  
 A few months later, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized to Pakistan for a Nov. 26, 2011, incident involving the death of Pakistani troops. The apology was made as part of an effort to re-open supply routes to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. 
  
  
  
 We should note that these apologies came toward the end of Obama’s first term, while Romney said Obama "began" his presidency with an apology tour. 
  
  
  
 Our ruling 
  
  
  
 Romney said Obama began his presidency "with an apology tour." 
  
  
  
 But a review of Obama’s foreign travels and remarks during his early presidency showed no evidence to support such a blunt and disparaging claim. (In later years, we found two formal apologies, but they were not at the start of his presidency and not part of a tour.) 
  
  
  
 While Obama's speeches contained some criticisms of past U.S. actions, he typically combined those passages with praise for the United States and its ideals, and he frequently mentioned how other countries had erred as well. We found not a single, full-throated apology in the bunch. 
  
  
  
 Calling those remarks "an apology tour" is a ridiculous charge. So we rate his statement Pants on Fire. ||||| 141 days ago 
  
 (CNN) – Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney criticized planned cuts to the U.S. defense budget Thursday night, accusing President Barack Obama of weakening future American power. 
  
 "His trillion-dollar cuts to our military will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, and also put our security at greater risk," the former Massachusetts governor said in his acceptance speech to the GOP national convention in Tampa, Florida. The line was met with boos by the delegates in the convention hall. ||||| Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
  
 Representative Paul D. Ryan used his convention speech on Wednesday to fault President Obama for failing to act on a deficit-reduction plan that he himself had helped kill. He chided Democrats for seeking $716 billion in Medicare cuts that he too had sought. And he lamented the nation’s credit rating — which was downgraded after a debt-ceiling standoff that he and other House Republicans helped instigate. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 And Mitt Romney, in his acceptance speech on Thursday night, asserted that President Obama’s policies had “not helped create jobs” and that Mr. Obama had gone on an “apology tour” for America. He also warned that the president’s Medicare cuts would “hurt today’s seniors,” claims that have already been labeled false or misleading. 
  
 The two speeches — peppered with statements that were incorrect or incomplete — seemed to signal the arrival of a new kind of presidential campaign, one in which concerns about fact-checking have been largely set aside. 
  
 In recent weeks, the Romney campaign has broadcast television advertisements leveling the widely debunked assertion that Mr. Obama had gutted the work requirements for welfare recipients. The Obama campaign, for its part, ran a deceptive ad saying that Mitt Romney had “backed a bill that outlaws all abortion, even in case of rape and incest,” although he currently supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk. 
  
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 The growing number of misrepresentations appear to reflect a calculation in both parties that shame is overrated, and that no independent arbiters command the stature or the platform to hold the campaigns to account in the increasingly polarized and balkanized media firmament. Any unmasking of the lies or distortions, the thinking goes, rarely seeps into the public consciousness. 
  
 But an interesting question unfolding is whether there is a tipping point at which a candidate becomes so associated with falsehoods that it becomes part of his public persona — which hampered Vice President Al Gore during his run for president in 2000, when his misstatements on the campaign trail were used to stoke the perception that he could not be trusted in general. 
  
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 In the case of Mr. Ryan’s speech, the jury is still out. It was received rapturously by the Republican Party faithful, but his many questionable assertions ensured that much of the analysis on Thursday focused on his accuracy more than his acumen. 
  
 The Obama campaign fanned the flames with a Web video mocking Mr. Ryan, showing anchors from CNN and Fox News questioning some of his statements. And Stephanie Cutter, the president’s deputy campaign manager, was blunt. “There’s no delicate way to say this: last night Paul Ryan lied, repeatedly, knowingly and brazenly,” she said. 
  
 Here are some of the misleading section of their convention speeches: 
  
 Deficit Commission 
  
 One of Mr. Ryan’s most pointed attacks on Mr. Obama was on the deficit. “He created a new bipartisan debt commission,” Mr. Ryan noted. “They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing.” 
  
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
  
 Left unsaid: Mr. Ryan served on that commission himself, and his opposition to its final proposals helped seal its fate. The panel, known as the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission, made a number of recommendations that Mr. Ryan ultimately opposed on the grounds that they would have raised some taxes while failing to cut enough from health programs. His dismissal of the plan was seen as a significant blow to its chances of success, since it soured other House Republicans on it. 
  
 Credit Rating 
  
 In his attack on the president’s time in office, Mr. Ryan said: “It began with a perfect AAA credit rating for the United States. It ends with the downgraded America.” 
  
 When Standard & Poor’s lowered the nation’s credit rating, it was in large part because of the standoff last year over the debt ceiling — which needed to be raised so the government could borrow money to pay for spending that Congress had already approved. The White House had asked Congress to simply raise the debt ceiling; Mr. Ryan and House Republicans balked at doing so without reaching a deal on significant spending cuts. The ensuing standoff took the nation to the brink of default. 
  
 In its statement explaining the downgrade, Standard & Poor’s wrote that “the political brinkmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policy making becoming less stable, less effective and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy.” 
  
 Medicare 
  
 Mr. Ryan spoke out forcefully against the “$716 billion funneled out of Medicare by President Obama,” without noting that his own past budget plans had counted on the same savings. And he pledged to protect Medicare without explaining how the Romney-Ryan plan would change it. Mr. Romney said that the Medicare cuts would “hurt today’s seniors.” In fact, the savings would come not from trimming benefits for current recipients, but from cutting the projected growth in reimbursements to hospitals and insurers over the next decade. The Medicare debate is shaping up as central to the election: Democrats say that the Romney-Ryan plan to reshape Medicare would force future beneficiaries to pay more for their health care, while Republicans fault Mr. Obama for cutting $716 billion in its projected growth. 
  
 Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan have proposed limiting the government’s open-ended financial commitment to Medicare. Under their plan, the government would contribute a fixed amount on behalf of each beneficiary, and future beneficiaries could use that money to buy private insurance or to help pay for coverage under the traditional Medicare program. It would apply only to people currently under 55. 
  
 Mr. Ryan’s earlier plans called for capping the rate at which Medicare spending would grow — which analysts from groups including the Kaiser Family Foundation found would lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for future beneficiaries. The Romney campaign now says that their plan would work differently from Mr. Ryan’s original proposal, and would have the flexibility to raise the proposed cap on spending if it does not keep up with costs. 
  
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 The $716 billion cut to Medicare that Mr. Obama made will reduce payments to health maintenance organizations and hospitals and other health care providers. Mr. Ryan initially counted on the same savings in his budget plans. 
  
 G.M.’s Janesville Plant 
  
 Mr. Ryan appeared to criticize Mr. Obama for the closing of a General Motors plant in Mr. Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wis. — a decision made before the president was elected and before his bailout of the auto industry, which was credited with saving a number of other factories. He noted that Mr. Obama had visited the plant in 2008 and said, “I believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another hundred years.” 
  
 “Well, as it turned out,” Mr. Ryan said, “that plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day.” 
  
 As a candidate, Mr. Obama did give an economic policy speech at the Janesville plant in February 2008. The decision to close the plant was made several months later — as can be seen by a June 2008 letter from Mr. Ryan urging G.M. to reconsider. 
  
 It took some time for the plant to shut down, and some work continued there after Mr. Obama was sworn in as president. 
  
 The Ryan campaign said Thursday that the issue was not when the plant stopped production, but the fact that it has not reopened — and pointed to accounts of an Obama campaign statement from the fall of 2008 in which he said, “I will lead an effort to retool plants like the G.M. facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America." 
  
 While Mr. Obama bailed out the auto industry, saving jobs, and included money in the stimulus for “green” energy jobs, the Janesville plant did not benefit from his moves. 
  
 The Apology Tour 
  
 In his floor speech, Mr. Romney repeated his widely debunked charge that Mr. Obama had gone on an “apology tour” on America’s behalf — an accusation he feels so strongly about that he laid out his own worldview in a 2010 book he titled “No Apology.” 
  
 But independent fact checkers have called the accusation a distortion, and it is hard to find evidence that Mr. Obama ever said he was sorry for the United States. Even in his speeches after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. Obama offered a strong defense of American policies, including the war in Afghanistan, which was growing increasingly unpopular in the rest of the world. ||||| TAMPA, Fla. — In a speech heavy on anecdotal history but short on policy details, Mitt Romney avoided major falsehoods in making his case to the American public while accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. 
  
 Even a key Democratic strategist, Bill Burton, a former press secretary for President Obama, tweeted shortly after the speech ended: “Romney actually avoided almost all of the lies from Ryan’s speech.” That was a reference to Rep. Paul Ryan’s address the night before, which we found to contain a number of false and misleading claims. 
  
 In Romney’s case, we found a few bits of exaggeration and puffery. He exaggerated the loss in family income that has occurred under Obama, for example, including 13 months of losses that actually occurred before the president took office. And he made a back-handed accusation that Obama has raised taxes on middle-class taxpayers, when in fact the president has lobbied for and signed several temporary reductions. 
  
 Likewise, we found some misleading claims from convention speakers who preceded Romney on the final day of the GOP convention. For example, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich repeated the bogus claim that Obama has “gutted” the welfare overhaul law, when all he has done is allow states to seek flexibility to experiment with applying the law’s work requirement. 
  
 And we even caught a mistake by actor/director Clint Eastwood, who put in a surprise appearance but wasn’t fully briefed on the proper way to spin statistics about unemployment. 
  
 Note to Readers Our deputy managing editor, Robert Farley, is on the scene in Tampa at the convention center. This story was written with the help of the entire staff, based in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Next week, we will dispatch our managing editor, Lori Robertson, to Charlotte, N.C., for the Democratic convention. We intend to vet the major speeches at both conventions for factual accuracy, applying the same standards to both. 
  
 Middle Class ‘Crushed’ 
  
 One section in particular drew our attention. Romney declared that “this Obama economy has crushed the middle class,” and rattled off some horrible-sounding statistics. But we found some of them to be exaggerated or in need of added context. 
  
 Romney: In the richest country in the history of the world, this Obama economy has crushed the middle class. Family income has fallen by $4,000, but health insurance premiums are higher, food prices are higher, utility bills are higher, and gasoline prices have doubled. Today more Americans wake up in poverty than ever before. Nearly one out of six Americans is living in poverty. Look around you. These are not strangers. These are our brothers and sisters, our fellow Americans. 
  
 Family income: Family income has not fallen by $4,000 under Obama, as Romney implied. That figure comes from a study by Sentier Research, and while most of the drop occurred after the president took office in January 2009, some of it (the study didn’t say exactly how much) occurred in the 13 months before that. 
  
 The study measured the drop in family income starting in December 2007, when the recession officially started, and ending in June 2012. The study noted that income has fallen more since the economic recovery officially began (in June 2009) than during the recession itself. 
  
 Poverty: It’s true that “more Americans wake up in poverty than ever before,” as Romney said. But it’s also true that there are more Americans, period. 
  
 The poverty rate — that is, the percentage of all Americans in poverty — is nowhere near a record, even for the relatively brief historical period since 1959, when the government first started measuring poverty. 
  
 The raw number of individuals in poverty in 2010 was 46.2 million, according to the most recent Census figures. And the poverty rate went up that year to 15.1 percent — the highest since 1993. But as Census noted, that “was 7.3 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available.” Furthermore, Census noted that the number in poverty had increased for four consecutive years, so the rise started well before Obama took office. 
  
 Gasoline: Romney said “gasoline prices have doubled” since Obama took office. That’s correct, but only because gasoline prices were unusually depressed when Obama was inaugurated due to the recession and financial crisis. 
  
 The average price for regular gasoline was $3.78 last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a bit more than double the $1.84 average on the week Obama was sworn in. But the average exceeded $4 a gallon for seven weeks during the summer of 2008, and it has never reached $4 under Obama. 
  
 Premiums: Romney said that “health insurance premiums are higher” under Obama. But premiums have been going up for years. Experts say the federal health care law was responsible for only a small part of the recent hike in employer-based plans. 
  
 The average cost of an employer-sponsored family insurance plan went up 9 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s annual survey. Several independent experts told us that rising medical costs were still the main culprit. The health care law, they said, was responsible for 1 point to 3 points of that 9-point increase. 
  
 And the reason for that is improved coverage. Insurance companies are required under the law to include free preventive care, coverage for adult children up to age 26, coverage for children regardless of preexisting conditions, and an increase in annual limits. 
  
 Rising premiums are nothing new. Between 2001 and 2011, family premiums for employer-sponsored plans went up 113 percent. Year to year the size of the change in premiums has varied, but it has always been in one direction: up. 
  
 Food: Romney said “food prices are higher” under Obama, and that’s also true, though not by a lot. The index measuring the average consumer price of all food and beverages (including restaurant meals) stood just 6.2 percent higher last month than it was when Obama took office, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
  
 Another Middle-Class Falsehood 
  
 Romney said “unlike President Obama, I will not raise taxes on the middle class.” But Obama has not raised taxes on middle-income taxpayers, and, in fact, he has targeted tax cuts and credits to benefit them. 
  
 Among the president’s major tax cuts and credits: 
  
 Making Work Pay Tax Credit . For two years, 2009 and again in 2010, the stimulus law provided up to $400 to individuals earning up to $75,000, and up to $800 to couples earning up to $150,000. 
  
 . For two years, 2009 and again in 2010, the stimulus law provided up to $400 to individuals earning up to $75,000, and up to $800 to couples earning up to $150,000. Payroll tax cut . When the Making Work Pay credit expired, Obama successfully pushed Congress to cut the employee portion of the Social Security payroll tax in 2011 from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. The tax is applied to the first $110,100 of wages, and it resulted in an annual maximum savings of $2,200. The tax cut was extended through 2012. 
  
 . When the Making Work Pay credit expired, Obama successfully pushed Congress to cut the employee portion of the Social Security payroll tax in 2011 from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. The tax is applied to the first $110,100 of wages, and it resulted in an annual maximum savings of $2,200. The tax cut was extended through 2012. American Opportunity Tax Credit. Also part of the stimulus, this is a college tuition tax credit. It modified and expanded the existing Hope Credit. It was intended for two years, but was extended through 2012. The full credit of $2,500 is available for individuals earning $80,000 or less and families earning $160,000 or less. The Hope Credit maximum was $1,800 in 2008. 
  
 The Republican nominee did not explain what he meant by his remarks. But some Republicans have claimed that the president’s health care law amounts to a tax on the middle class, because it imposes a penalty on those who do not buy health insurance. But, as we have written before, those arguments are overstated. 
  
 The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 3 million taxpayers earning less than $120,000 will pay an average penalty of $667 by 2016. 
  
 Tax Exaggeration 
  
 Kerry Healey, who served as Romney’s lieutenant governor, boasted that Romney “cut taxes 19 times” as governor. But tax rates remained unchanged under Romney, and Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group, called his tax record “mixed,” because he raised hundreds of millions of dollars by increasing fees and closing loopholes in the corporate tax structure. 
  
 The Romney campaign’s list of 19 tax cuts includes some business tax cuts and a host of relatively minor cuts and credits — including a couple of two-day sales-tax holidays, which Club for Growth dismissed as “gimmicky.” The list also includes such things as a “fire safety tax deduction,” a “motion picture tax credit” and a “historic rehabilitation tax credit.” 
  
 In its white paper on Romney, Club for Growth singled out two tax cuts for praise: legislation he signed to prevent state residents from having to pay $275 million in retroactive capital gains taxes, and another bill that provided property tax relief for seniors. 
  
 But Club for Growth called his record “mixed” because of the new revenue he raised. As we have written before, Romney in his first year raised fees by more than $400 million, and generated another $150 million by closing loopholes. 
  
 Welfare Law ‘Gutted’ 
  
 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich dutifully repeated a meritless Romney claim, asserting that Obama “gutted” the 1990s’ welfare overhaul, and accusing him of “waiving” the law’s work requirement. 
  
 Gingrich: Tragically, President Obama gutted this achievement [welfare reform]. …Obama’s waiving of the work requirements in welfare reform is just one example of his direct repudiation of President Reagan’s values. 
  
 Gingrich didn’t elaborate or supply evidence of how Obama’s actions “gutted” the law. Gingrich would have been particularly qualified to do so — if there was substance to the accusation — since it was he who pushed the welfare bill through Congress when he was speaker and Bill Clinton was president. The fact is, Obama has simply allowed state governors to seek waivers from the law’s requirements if they can propose a more effective way to move people from welfare to work, and show that they can produce that result. Nothing has been waived yet. 
  
 And as we’ve noted, states have persistently fallen far short of achieving the law’s goal of putting at least half of recipients in jobs or job training. When Obama took office, only 29 percent of cash assistance recipients nationally were complying with the work requirement, and that had not changed as of the most recent figures. 
  
 Women-Filled Administration? 
  
 Jane Edmonds, former secretary of Massachusetts’ Department of Workforce Development, cherry-picked statistics to make Romney’s record on appointing women to government positions look better than it is. She wrongly said that the percentage of women in senior-level government jobs went up under Romney, but the figure actually declined slightly. 
  
 Edmonds: One area where he made a positive difference is in improving the representation of women in senior positions in Massachusetts State Government. Before Gov. Romney took office in 2003, women were significantly underrepresented among top roles in government, with 52 percent of the population but just 30 percent of the jobs. Over the next two and a half years, 42 percent of the new appointments made by Governor Romney were women. 
  
 Edmonds’ figures are correct, and they are touted on the website of MassGAP (Massachusetts Government Appointments Project), a bipartisan coalition of women’s groups created in 2002 to increase the number of women appointed to top government positions. As Edmonds said, women made up 52 percent of the state’s population, but in September 2002, they held only 30 percent of top government positions. And 42 percent of Romney’s appointments — 14 of 33 appointments — were women during his first two and a half years as governor. But then the percentage of women being appointed to these jobs slipped, according to a 2007 study by MassGAP and the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston. 
  
 Over Romney’s entire tenure as governor, the percentage of female appointments was 31 percent. And overall, the percentage of women in senior-level government positions declined slightly, to 27.6 percent, according to the study. 
  
 The study said the MassGAP effort showed “promising” impact with the high percentage of Romney’s early appointments, but the later appointments didn’t show “a continued commitment to the selection of women for high-level posts.” The gains for women between 2002 and 2006 “were elusive,” the study said. “[W]omen at the end of the Romney administration did not hold a higher percentage of senior-level positions than when he took office.” 
  
 Make My Mistake 
  
 And we don’t want to ignore Clint Eastwood — who, unlike Obama, was not invisible at the convention. 
  
 Eastwood mistakenly said that 23 million Americans are “unemployed.” Actually, the figure is a little more than half that — 12.8 million in July, according to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
  
 Eastwood didn’t phrase things as artfully as most other convention speakers. The often-used 23 million figure also includes 8.2 million who are employed in part-time jobs but say they are seeking full-time work, the so-called “under-employed.” And it also includes another 2.5 million who say they would like a job and would take one, but haven’t looked for one in the last four weeks. 
  
 We hate to nit-pick one of our favorite actor/directors, who is not all that used to the ways politicians inflate numbers without actually saying something false. (He could have said 23 million who “need work” or “are suffering from lack of jobs” and not been technically wrong.) 
  
 But then, Eastwood was mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., and so he knows something of politics. And other film stars have gone on to run for even higher office. To which we say: Go ahead, make our day. 
  
 — Robert Farley, with Eugene Kiely, Lori Robertson, Ben Finley and Brooks Jackson 
  
 Correction, Sept. 4: Our original story gave figures for the price of regular gasoline that were a few cents too high, both for the start of the Obama administration and for the week prior to the GOP convention. We also said incorrectly that the average price of regular gasoline had exceeded $4 per gallon for eight weeks, rather than seven, during 2008. The data to which we linked in that story were for an average for “all grades” of gasoline, not regular. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?
– Paul Ryan's campaign speech on Wednesday was almost universally decried for distortions and inaccuracies, and Mitt Romney told his share last night as well. "The two speeches … seemed to signal the arrival of a new kind of presidential campaign," Michael Cooper of the New York Times writes, "one in which concerns about fact-checking have been largely set aside." Obama isn't blameless either; a recent ad said Romney backed a bill to ban all abortion, no exceptions, even though Romney now supports rape and incest exceptions. The whoppers "appear to reflect a calculation in both parties that shame is overrated," Cooper concludes. Indeed, the Washington Post observes, the fact-checkers themselves are now under fire. After the Ryan outcry, conservative sites accused them of "spinning" facts, not checking them. "You might reasonably conclude that PolitiFact is biased," wrote one blogger, noting that the site more often found fault with conservatives. In a post on Romney's speech, FactCheck.org felt compelled to include a note promising that they'd be "applying the same standards" to Democrats' speeches. While we're here, distortions from Romney's speech pointed out by PolitiFact and others included… Romney said that family income had fallen $4,000 since Obama. The figure comes from a study that began in December 2007, well before Obama took office. He accused Obama of raising taxes on the middle class. Actually, Obama has fought for a number of middle class tax breaks, like the payroll tax holiday. He said Obama started his presidency "with an apology tour" around the globe. PolitiFact rated that "pants on fire," calling it "a ridiculous charge." For others check here, and here .
Nyhetsartikel: I sitt tal acceptera republikanernas nominering till president, Mitt Romney upprepade en anklagelse han gjort tidigare: att Obama har rest världen ber om ursäkt för Amerika. "Jag börjar mitt presidentskap med en jobbturné. President Obama började med en ursäktsturné. Han sade att Amerika hade dikterat för andra nationer. Nej, herr president, Amerika har befriat andra nationer från diktatorer", sade Romney. Vi kontrollerade detta påstående första gången 2010, när Romney publicerade en bok, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. Obamas ursäktsturné, skrev Romney, "är hans sätt att signalera till främmande länder och utländska ledare att deras ogillande för Amerika är något han förstår och det är, åtminstone delvis, förståeligt. Det brinner antiamerikanska bränder över hela världen; president Obamas ord är som att tända eld på dem." "Under sina första nio månader i ämbetet har president Obama framfört ursäkter och kritik mot Amerika i tal i Frankrike, England, Turkiet och Kairo; vid CIA:s högkvarter i Langley, Virginia, National Archives i Washington, D.C., och FN i New York. Han har bett om ursäkt för vad han anser vara amerikansk arrogans, avfärdande och hån, för dikterande lösningar, för att agera ensidigt och för att agera utan hänsyn till andra, för att behandla andra länder som blott och bart proxier, för att orättvist ha lagt sig i andra nationers inre angelägenheter, för att ha gett näring åt antimuslimska känslor, för att ha begått tortyr, för att ha släpat efter oss på den globala uppvärmningen och för att selektivt främja demokratin." Det är ett vanligt tema för några anti-Obama webbplatser och kommentatorer. Men är den korrekt? Obamas tidiga resor och kommentarer Vi tittade på de sju separata tal Romney nämnde i sin bok som ursäkter. (Vi har sammanställt dessa avsnitt i ett separat dokument.) Ibland använder Obama en on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand formulering som han tenderar att anställa precis innan han talar om att två sidor kommer samman. Vid ett rådhusmöte i Frankrike 2009 uppmuntrade exempelvis Obama Europa att arbeta med USA, och medgav att USA "har visat arrogans och varit avfärdande, till och med hånfullt." Men han sade genast att Europa har gjort sig skyldigt till en "casual" och " lömsk" antiamerikanism. Vid ett stort tal till FN sade Obama, "Jag tillträdde vid en tid då många runt om i världen hade kommit för att betrakta Amerika med skepticism och misstro. En del av detta berodde på missuppfattningar och felaktig information om mitt land. En del av detta berodde på motstånd mot specifik politik, och en övertygelse om att Amerika i vissa kritiska frågor har agerat ensidigt, utan hänsyn till andras intressen. Och detta har matat en nästan reflexiv antiamerikanism, som alltför ofta har tjänat som en ursäkt för kollektiv overksamhet." Vid ett tal i Kairo om relationerna mellan USA och den islamiska världen kom Obama mycket nära att ångra decennier gamla amerikanska aktioner i Iran. Men då kontrade han genast med kritik mot Iran. Han gjorde inte något formellt uttryck för ånger, utan föreslog båda länderna helt enkelt "gå framåt". När vi ser tillbaka på dessa tal från 2009 lade vi märke till att Obama var mest försonlig när vi diskuterade tortyr och kvarhållande vid USA:s militära installation i Guantanamo Bay på Kuba. Typiskt nog skulle Obama säga att USA alltid måste hålla sig till sina ideal, och det är därför Obama "oavsiktligt förbjöd USA att använda tortyr, och jag har beordrat fängelset i Guantanamo Bay stängt i början av nästa år." Ursäkta, eller diplomatiskt språk? 2010 frågade vi flera experter om Obama hade bett om ursäkt. Här är en kort sammanfattning av vad de hade att säga (läs mer här): • Nile Gardiner, en utrikespolitisk analytiker med den konservativa Heritage Foundation, sade Obama var definitivt ursäktande. Han var med och skrev en analys om ämnet: "Barack Obamas 10 bästa ursäkter: Hur presidenten har förödmjukat en supermakt." "Att be om ursäkt för sitt eget land ger en bild av svaghet inför både allierade och fiender", sade Gardiner. "Det sänder en mycket tydlig signal om att USA bär skulden för en del stora utvecklingar på världsscenen. Detta kan användas till fördel för dem som vill underminera det amerikanska globala ledarskapet." • John Murphy, professor i kommunikation vid University of Illinois vid Urbana-Champaign, studerar presidentretorik och politiskt språk. Han sade att Obama använde försonligt språk i diplomatiska syften, inte ursäktande. "Det är mycket mer en känsla av att etablera ömsesidighet", sade Murphy. "Varje sida säger, okej, vi har inte gjort bra, men vi har en ny president och vi ska göra en ny start och gå framåt. Jag tror inte att det är en ursäkt." • Lauren Bloom, en advokat och affärskonsult, skrev boken, The Art of the Apology, och gav råd till företag och enskilda om när de skulle be om ursäkt och hur de skulle göra det. Hon sade att Obamas ord inte räckte till för en ursäkt, mest för att han inte använde orden "förlåt" eller "beklaga". "Jag tror att för att göra en effektiv ursäkt, orden 'Jag är ledsen' eller 'vi är ledsna' alltid måste vara där," Bloom sade. Obamas kommentarer var verkligen icke-ursäkter, och de är inte bra i affärer eller personliga relationer, sade Bloom. Det enda område där de kan vara användbara: internationell diplomati. "Gov. Romney försöker vädja till sina läsares inre John Wayne, och det har en viss känslomässig dragningskraft," sade Bloom. "För resten av oss är en nivåbedömning av mindre-än-perfekt mänskligt beteende helt rimligt." • Vi talade med Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, en professor som spårade internationella människorättsfrågor via webbplatsen Political Apologies and Reparations. Många av ursäkterna i databasen gäller folkmord eller slaveri. "Att säga att USA inte kommer att tortera är inte en ursäkt, det är en avsiktsförklaring", sade Howard-Hassman. "En fullständig ursäkt måste erkänna att något var fel, acceptera ansvar, uttrycka sorg eller ånger och lova att inte upprepa det." I synnerhet var Obamas adress i Kairo ett sätt att nå ut till den islamiska världen, inte ett erkännande av orätta handlingar, sade hon. "Om han ber om ursäkt eller inte, så säger han: "Jag respekterar ert samhälle och jag respekterar era seder." Kanske är det vad Romney anser vara en ursäkt, den där gest av respekt," sade hon. "Men en gest av respekt är inte en ursäkt." Faktiska ursäkter Under de år som gått sedan vi först undersökte denna fråga har Obama eller någon i hans administration formellt bett om ursäkt för USA:s agerande. 2012 bad Obama om ursäkt för den oavsiktliga bränningen av kopior av Koranen, islams heliga bok. Obama skickade ursäkten i ett brev till den afghanske presidenten Hamid Karzai. Tjänstemän hoppades att den formella ursäkten skulle dämpa våldsamma reaktioner mot amerikanska trupper i Afghanistan. Några månader senare bad utrikesminister Hillary Clinton Pakistan om ursäkt för en 26 november 2011, incident som innebar att pakistanska trupper dog. Ursäkten gjordes som ett led i en insats för att återöppna försörjningsvägar till amerikanska trupper i Afghanistan. Vi bör notera att dessa ursäkter kom mot slutet av Obamas första mandatperiod, medan Romney sade Obama "började" sitt ordförandeskap med en ursäktsturné. Vår regerande Romney sa att Obama började sitt presidentskap "med en ursäktsturné." Men en genomgång av Obamas utländska resor och kommentarer under hans tidiga presidentskap visade inga bevis för att stödja ett så rakt och nedsättande påstående. (Under senare år fann vi två formella ursäkter, men de var inte i början av hans presidentskap och inte en del av en turné.) Medan Obamas tal innehöll en del kritik av tidigare amerikanska handlingar, kombinerade han typiskt dessa passager med beröm för USA och dess ideal, och han nämnde ofta hur andra länder hade felat också. Vi hittade inte en enda fullskalig ursäkt i gänget. Att kalla dessa anmärkningar "en ursäktsturné" är en löjlig anklagelse. Så vi betygsätter hans uttalande Pants on Fire. För 141 dagar sedan (CNN) – Republikansk presidentkandidat Mitt Romney kritiserade planerade nedskärningar av USA:s försvarsbudget torsdag kväll, anklagande president Barack Obama för att försvaga framtida amerikansk makt. "Hans biljoner dollar nedskärningar till vår militär kommer att eliminera hundratusentals jobb, och även sätta vår säkerhet på större risk," före detta Massachusetts guvernör sade i sitt accept tal till GOP nationella konventet i Tampa, Florida. Linjen möttes med boos av delegaterna i sammankomstsalen. Annons Fortsätt läsa huvudberättelsen Representanten Paul D. Ryan använde sitt konventtal på onsdag för att klandra president Obama för att ha misslyckats med att agera på en underskottsminskningsplan som han själv hade hjälpt till att döda. Han kritiserade demokrater för att ha sökt 716 miljarder dollar i Medicare nedskärningar som han också hade sökt. Och han beklagade nationens kreditbetyg — som nedgraderades efter ett skuldtaksstandoff som han och andra House Republicans hjälpte till att sätta igång. Och Mitt Romney hävdade i sitt accepttal på torsdag kväll att president Obamas politik hade "inte hjälpt till att skapa arbetstillfällen" och att Mr Obama hade gett sig ut på en "ursäktturné" för Amerika. Han varnade också för att presidentens Medicare nedskärningar skulle "skada dagens seniorer," påståenden som redan har märkts falska eller vilseledande. De två talen — fyllda av uttalanden som var felaktiga eller ofullständiga — tycktes signalera ankomsten av en ny sorts presidentkampanj, i vilken oron för faktakontrollen i stort sett har lagts åt sidan. Under de senaste veckorna har Romney-kampanjen sänt TV-reklam som utstrålar det allmänt avtrubbade påståendet att Obama hade rensat arbetskraven för socialbidragstagare. Obama kampanjen, å sin sida, körde en bedräglig annons som säger att Mitt Romney hade "stödt ett lagförslag som förbjuder all abort, även i händelse av våldtäkt och incest", även om han för närvarande stöder undantag i fall av våldtäkt, incest eller när livet för modern är i fara. Foto Det växande antalet förvrängningar verkar återspegla en beräkning hos båda parter som skam är överskattad, och att inga oberoende skiljedomare befaller resningen eller plattformen för att hålla kampanjerna till svars i det alltmer polariserade och balkaniserade medievalvet. Varje avslöjande av lögner eller förvrängningar, går tänkandet, sipprar sällan in i det allmänna medvetandet. Men en intressant fråga som dyker upp är om det finns en tipppunkt där en kandidat blir så förknippad med osanningar att den blir en del av hans offentliga persona – vilket hämmade vicepresident Al Gore under hans val till president år 2000, då hans felaktiga uttalanden på kampanjspåret användes för att underblåsa uppfattningen att han inte kunde lita på i allmänhet. Annons Fortsätt läsa huvudberättelsen I fallet med herr Ryans tal är juryn fortfarande ute. Det mottogs hänryckt av det republikanska partiet troget, men hans många tvivelaktiga påståenden säkerställde att mycket av analysen på torsdag fokuserade på hans noggrannhet mer än hans acumen. Obama-kampanjen fläktade lågorna med en webbvideo som hånade herr Ryan, och visade ankare från CNN och Fox News som ifrågasatte några av hans uttalanden. Och Stephanie Cutter, presidentens vice kampanjchef, var rakt på sak. "Det finns inget delikat sätt att säga detta: igår kväll Paul Ryan ljög, upprepade gånger, medvetet och fräckt," sade hon. Här är några av den vilseledande delen av deras konventstal: Underskottskommissionen En av herr Ryans mest spetsiga attacker mot herr Obama var på underskottet. "Han skapade en ny bipartisan skuld provision," Mr Ryan noterade. — De kommo tillbaka med en brådskande rapport. Han tackade dem, skickade dem på deras väg och sedan gjorde exakt ingenting.” Annons Fortsätt läsa huvudberättelsen Left osaid: Mr Ryan tjänstgjorde på det uppdraget själv, och hans motstånd mot dess slutliga förslag hjälpte försegla dess öde. Panelen, känd som Simpson-Bowles underskottskommission, gjorde ett antal rekommendationer som Mr Ryan slutligen motsatte sig med motiveringen att de skulle ha höjt vissa skatter samtidigt som de underlät att skära tillräckligt från hälsoprogram. Hans avskedande av planen sågs som ett betydande slag mot dess chanser till framgång, eftersom den sturerade andra House Republicans på den. Credit Rating I sitt angrepp på presidentens tid i ämbetet sade Ryan: ” Det började med en perfekt AAA - kreditvärdighet för USA. Det slutar med den nedgraderade Amerika. "När Standard & Poor sänka nationens kreditbetyg, var det i stor del på grund av dödläget förra året över skuldtaket - som behövde höjas så att regeringen kunde låna pengar för att betala för utgifter som kongressen redan hade godkänt. Vita huset hade bett kongressen att helt enkelt höja skuldtaket; Mr Ryan och House Republicans balled på att göra så utan att nå en överenskommelse om betydande utgiftsnedskärningar. Det efterföljande dödläget förde nationen till randen av försumlighet. I sitt uttalande som förklarar nedgraderingen skrev Standard & Poor’s att “de senaste månadernas politiska brinnskap framhäver vad vi ser som USA:s styrning och politik att bli mindre stabil, mindre effektiv och mindre förutsägbar än vad vi tidigare trodde. Den lagstadgade skuldtaket och hotet om fallissemang har blivit politiska förhandlingsmarker i debatten om skattepolitiken. "Medicare Mr Ryan talade kraftfullt mot "$ 716 miljarder trasslade ut ur Medicare av president Obama," utan att notera att hans egna tidigare budgetplaner hade räknat med samma besparingar. Och han lovade att skydda Medicare utan att förklara hur Romney-Ryan-planen skulle förändra det. Mr Romney sade att Medicare nedskärningar skulle "skada dagens seniorer." I själva verket skulle besparingarna komma inte från trimning fördelar för nuvarande mottagare, utan från att minska den beräknade tillväxten i ersättningar till sjukhus och försäkringsbolag under det kommande årtiondet. Den Medicare debatten formas som central i valet: Demokraterna säger att Romney-Ryan planen att omforma Medicare skulle tvinga framtida förmånstagare att betala mer för sin sjukvård, medan republikanerna fel Mr Obama för att skära $ 716 miljarder i sin beräknade tillväxt. Mr Romney och Mr Ryan har föreslagit att begränsa regeringens öppna finansiella engagemang för Medicare. Enligt deras plan skulle regeringen bidra med ett fast belopp för varje mottagares räkning, och framtida förmånstagare kunde använda dessa pengar för att köpa privata försäkringar eller för att hjälpa till att betala för täckning under det traditionella Medicare-programmet. Det skulle endast gälla personer som för närvarande är under 55. Mr Ryans tidigare planer uppmanade till att begränsa den takt med vilken Medicare utgifterna skulle växa - som analytiker från grupper inklusive Kaiser Family Foundation fann skulle leda till högre out-of-pocket kostnader för framtida stödmottagare. Romney-kampanjen säger nu att deras plan skulle fungera annorlunda än Ryans ursprungliga förslag, och skulle ha flexibilitet att höja det föreslagna utgiftstaket om det inte håller jämna steg med kostnaderna. Annons Fortsätt läsa huvudberättelsen Annons Fortsätt läsa huvudberättelsen Den $ 716 miljarder skuren till Medicare som Mr Obama gjorde kommer att minska betalningar till vården underhållsorganisationer och sjukhus och andra vårdgivare. Mr Ryan räknade till en början med samma besparingar i sina budgetplaner. G.M.:s Janesville Plant Mr Ryan verkade kritisera Mr Obama för stängningen av en General Motors fabrik i Mr Ryans hemstad Janesville, Wis. — ett beslut som fattades innan presidenten valdes och innan hans räddningsaktion av bilindustrin, vilket krediterades med att rädda ett antal andra fabriker. Han noterade att Mr Obama hade besökt anläggningen 2008 och sade, "Jag tror att om vår regering är där för att stödja dig, kommer denna anläggning att vara här i ytterligare hundra år." "Nåja, som det visade sig," Mr Ryan sade, "att anläggningen inte varade ett år till. Det är låst och tom än idag.” Som kandidat höll Mr Obama ett ekonomiskt politiskt tal på Janesville-fabriken i februari 2008. Beslutet att stänga anläggningen togs flera månader senare — vilket framgår av ett brev från juni 2008 från Ryan som uppmanade G.M. att ompröva. Det tog lite tid för anläggningen att stänga, och en del arbete fortsatte där efter att Mr Obama svors in som president. Ryan kampanjen sade torsdag att frågan inte var när anläggningen stoppade produktionen, men det faktum att det inte har öppnat igen - och pekade på redogörelser för en Obama kampanj uttalande från hösten 2008 där han sade, "Jag kommer att leda en ansträngning att omverktyg växter som G.M. anläggning i Janesville så att vi kan bygga morgondagens bränsleeffektiva bilar och skapa bra betalande jobb i Wisconsin och över hela Amerika." Medan Mr Obama löste ut bilindustrin, spara jobb, och inkluderade pengar i stimulansen för "gröna" energi jobb, Janesville anläggningen inte dra nytta av hans rörelser. The Apologic Tour I sitt tal upprepade Romney sin allmänt debunkade anklagelse att Mr Obama hade gått på en "ursäktturné" på Amerikas vägnar – en anklagelse han känner så starkt för att han lade fram sin egen världsbild i en bok från 2010 han titulerade "No Apology". Men oberoende faktakontrollanter har kallat anklagelsen en förvrängning, och det är svårt att hitta bevis för att Mr Obama någonsin sagt att han var ledsen för USA. Även i sina tal efter att ha vunnit Nobels fredspris erbjöd Obama ett starkt försvar av amerikansk politik, bland annat kriget i Afghanistan, som blev allt impopulärare i resten av världen. TAMPA, Fla. — I ett tal tungt om anekdotisk historia men kort om politiska detaljer undvek Mitt Romney stora osanningar i att framföra sin sak till den amerikanska allmänheten samtidigt som han accepterade presidentnomineringen vid republikanska nationalkonventet. Även en viktig demokratisk strateg, Bill Burton, en före detta pressekreterare för president Obama, twittrade strax efter talet slutade: “Romney faktiskt undvek nästan alla lögner från Ryans tal.” Det var en hänvisning till Rep Paul Ryan tal kvällen innan, som vi fann innehålla ett antal falska och vilseledande påståenden. I Romneys fall fann vi några överdrifter och överdrifter. Han överdrev den förlust i familjens inkomster som har inträffat under exempelvis Obama, inklusive 13 månaders förluster som faktiskt inträffade innan presidenten tillträdde. Han anklagade Obama för att ha höjt skatterna på medelklassens skattebetalare, när presidenten i själva verket har lobbat för och skrivit under flera tillfälliga sänkningar. På liknande sätt fann vi en del vilseledande påståenden från konventtalare som föregick Romney den sista dagen av GOP - konventet. Till exempel upprepade före detta House Speaker Newt Gingrich det falska påståendet att Obama har "utstött" lagen om social översyn, när allt han har gjort är att låta stater söka flexibilitet för att experimentera med att tillämpa lagens arbetskrav. Och vi fick till och med ett misstag av skådespelaren / regissören Clint Eastwood, som satte in en överraskning utseende men inte var helt informerade om det rätta sättet att spinna statistik om arbetslöshet. Note to Readers Vår vice chefredaktör, Robert Farley, är på plats i Tampa på sammankomstcentret. Denna historia skrevs med hjälp av hela personalen, baserad i Philadelphia och Washington, DC nästa vecka, kommer vi att skicka vår chefredaktör, Lori Robertson, till Charlotte, N.C., för demokraternas konvent. Vi har för avsikt att granska de stora talen vid båda konventionerna för att få fram faktagranskaren och tillämpa samma normer på båda. I synnerhet en del av medelklassen ”krossade” uppmärksammade oss. Romney förklarade att “den här Obama-ekonomin har krossat medelklassen”, och skramlade av några hemska-ljudande statistik. Men vi fann några av dem vara överdrivna eller i behov av ett ökat sammanhang. Romney: I det rikaste landet i världens historia har Obamas ekonomi krossat medelklassen. Familjeinkomsterna har sjunkit med 4 000 dollar, men sjukförsäkringspremierna är högre, livsmedelspriserna är högre, elräkningarna högre och bensinpriserna har fördubblats. I dag vaknar fler amerikaner upp i fattigdom än någonsin tidigare. Nästan en av sex amerikaner lever i fattigdom. Se dig omkring. Det här är inte främlingar. Det här är våra bröder och systrar, våra landsmän. Familjeinkomst: Familjeinkomsten har inte sjunkit med 4 000 dollar under Obama, som Romney antydde. Den siffran kommer från en studie av Sentier Research, och medan större delen av nedgången skedde efter att presidenten tillträdde i januari 2009, en del av det (studien sa inte exakt hur mycket) inträffade under de 13 månaderna innan. Studien mätte minskningen av familjens inkomster med början i december 2007, då lågkonjunkturen officiellt började, och avslutades i juni 2012. I studien konstaterades att inkomsterna minskat mer sedan den ekonomiska återhämtningen officiellt inleddes (i juni 2009) än under själva lågkonjunkturen. Fattigdom: Det är sant att “fler amerikaner vaknar upp i fattigdom än någonsin tidigare,” som Romney sade. Men det är också sant att det finns fler amerikaner, period. Fattigdomen — dvs. andelen amerikaner som lever i fattigdom — är inte alls i närheten av något rekord, inte ens för den relativt korta historiska perioden sedan 1959, då regeringen började mäta fattigdomen. Antalet fattiga personer uppgick 2010 till 46,2 miljoner, enligt de senaste folkräkningarna. Fattigdomen ökade det året till 15,1 procent — den högsta sedan 1993. Men som folkräkningen konstaterade, att "var 7,3 procentenheter lägre än fattigdomsgraden 1959, det första året för vilket fattigdomsuppskattningar finns tillgängliga." Vidare, Folkräkningen noterade att antalet fattiga hade ökat under fyra år i följd, så ökningen började långt innan Obama tillträdde. Bensin: Romney sade “bensinpriserna har fördubblats” sedan Obama tillträdde. Det stämmer, men bara för att bensinpriserna var ovanligt låga när Obama invigdes på grund av lågkonjunkturen och finanskrisen. Det genomsnittliga priset för vanlig bensin var $ 3,78 förra veckan, enligt den amerikanska Energy Information Administration, lite mer än dubbelt så mycket $ 1,84 genomsnitt på veckan Obama svors in. Men genomsnittet översteg $ 4 en gallon i sju veckor under sommaren 2008, och det har aldrig nått $ 4 under Obama. Premiums: Romney sade att "sjukförsäkring premier är högre" under Obama. Men premierna har gått upp i flera år. Experter säger att den federala hälso-och sjukvårdslagen var ansvarig för endast en liten del av den senaste tidens vandring i arbetsgivarbaserade planer. Den genomsnittliga kostnaden för en arbetsgivarfinansierad familjeförsäkring plan gick upp 9 procent från 2010 till 2011, enligt Kaiser Family Foundations årliga undersökning. Flera oberoende experter berättade för oss att de ökade sjukvårdskostnaderna fortfarande var den främsta boven. Hälso- och sjukvårdslagen, sade de, var ansvarig för 1 poäng till 3 poäng av den 9-poängshöjningen. Och anledningen till det är förbättrad täckning. Försäkringsbolagen är enligt lagen skyldiga att inkludera kostnadsfri förebyggande vård, täckning för vuxna barn upp till 26 år, täckning för barn oavsett tidigare förhållanden, och en höjning av årsgränserna. Stigande premier är inget nytt. Mellan 2001 och 2011 gick familjepremierna för arbetsgivarsponsrade planer upp 113 procent. År efter år har förändringen av premierna varierat, men den har alltid varit i en riktning: uppåt. Mat: Romney sade "livsmedelspriserna är högre" under Obama, och det är också sant, men inte av en hel del. Indexet mäter det genomsnittliga konsumentpriset på alla livsmedel och drycker (inklusive restaurang måltider) stod bara 6,2 procent högre förra månaden än det var när Obama tillträdde, enligt siffror från Bureau of Labor Statistics. En annan medelklass Falskhet Romney sade "till skillnad från president Obama, Jag kommer inte att höja skatter på medelklassen." Men Obama har inte höjt skatter på medelinkomst skattebetalare, och, i själva verket, han har riktat skattesänkningar och krediter för att gynna dem. Bland presidentens stora skattesänkningar och krediter: Att göra arbete betala skattekredit . Under två år, 2009 och igen 2010, gav stimulanslagen upp till 400 dollar till individer som tjänade upp till 75 000 dollar, och upp till 800 dollar till par som tjänade upp till 150 000 dollar. . Under två år, 2009 och igen 2010, gav stimulanslagen upp till 400 dollar till individer som tjänade upp till 75 000 dollar, och upp till 800 dollar till par som tjänade upp till 150 000 dollar. Löneskattesänkning. När Making Work Pay kredit löpte ut, Obama framgångsrikt pressade kongressen att minska den anställda delen av socialförsäkring löneskatt 2011 från 6,2 procent till 4,2 procent. Skatten tillämpas på de första $110,100 av lönerna, och det resulterade i en årlig maximal besparingar på $2200. Skattesänkningen förlängdes till och med 2012. . När Making Work Pay kredit löpte ut, Obama framgångsrikt pressade kongressen att minska den anställda delen av socialförsäkring löneskatt 2011 från 6,2 procent till 4,2 procent. Skatten tillämpas på de första $110,100 av lönerna, och det resulterade i en årlig maximal besparingar på $2200. Skattesänkningen förlängdes till och med 2012. Amerikanska Opportunity skattekredit. En del av stimulansen, det här är en collegeavgift. Den modifierade och utökade den befintliga Hope Credit. Den var avsedd för två år, men förlängdes till och med 2012. Den fullständiga krediten på $ 2.500 är tillgänglig för enskilda som tjänar $ 80.000 eller mindre och familjer tjänar $ 160.000 eller mindre. Hope Credit maximum var $1 800 år 2008. Republikanernas kandidat förklarade inte vad han menade med sina kommentarer. Men en del republikaner har hävdat att presidentens sjukvårdslag uppgår till en skatt på medelklassen, eftersom den utsätter dem som inte köper sjukförsäkring för ett straff. Men som vi har skrivit tidigare är dessa argument överdrivna. Kongressens icke partipolitiska budgetkontor beräknade att omkring 3 miljoner skattebetalare som tjänar mindre än 120 000 dollar kommer att betala ett genomsnittligt straff på 667 dollar till 2016. Skatteöverdrivning Kerry Healey, som tjänstgjorde som Romneys guvernörslöjtnant, skröt med att Romney "bearbetade skatterna 19 gånger" som guvernör. Men skattesatserna förblev oförändrade under Romney, och Club for Growth, en konservativ anti-skattegrupp, kallade hans skatterekord "blandat", eftersom han höjde hundratals miljoner dollar genom att öka avgifter och täppa kryphål i bolagsskattestrukturen. Romney kampanjen lista över 19 skattesänkningar innehåller vissa skattesänkningar företag och en mängd relativt mindre nedskärningar och krediter - inklusive ett par två dagars försäljnings-skattesemestrar, som Club for Growth avfärdas som "gimmicky." Listan innehåller också sådana saker som en "brandsäkerhet skatteavdrag", en "motion bild skattekredit" och en "historisk rehabilitering skattekredit." I sin vitbok om Romney, Club for Growth pekade ut två skattesänkningar för beröm: lagstiftning han undertecknat för att förhindra statliga invånare från att behöva betala $ 275 miljoner i retroaktiva kapitalvinstskatter, och en annan räkning som gav egendom skattelättnad för seniorer. Men Club for Growth kallade sin skiva "mixad" på grund av de nya intäkter han samlat in. Som vi har skrivit tidigare höjde Romney under sitt första år avgifterna med mer än 400 miljoner dollar, och genererade ytterligare 150 miljoner dollar genom att täppa till kryphål. Welfare Law Gutted Tidigare House Speaker Newt Gingrich upprepade plikttroget ett förtjänstlöst Romney-anspråk, och hävdade att Obama "utmanade" 1990-talets välfärdsöversyn, och anklagade honom för att "efterskänka" lagens arbetskrav. Gingrich: Tragiskt nog rensade president Obama denna prestation [välfärdsreform]. ...Obamas upphävande av kraven på arbete i välfärdsreformen är bara ett exempel på hans direkta avståndstagande från president Reagans värderingar. Gingrich utarbetade inte eller tillhandahöll bevis för hur Obamas handlingar “tog bort” lagen. Gingrich skulle ha varit särskilt kvalificerad att göra det — om det fanns innehåll i anklagelsen — eftersom det var han som drev välfärdspropositionen genom kongressen när han var talare och Bill Clinton var president. Faktum är att Obama helt enkelt har tillåtit delstatsguvernörer att söka undantag från lagens krav om de kan föreslå ett mer effektivt sätt att flytta människor från välfärd till arbete, och visa att de kan producera det resultatet. Inget har avståtts än. Och som vi har noterat, stater har ihärdigt fallit långt ifrån att uppnå lagens mål att sätta minst hälften av mottagarna i jobb eller utbildning. När Obama tillträdde var det bara 29 procent av mottagarna av kontanthjälp som nationellt uppfyllde arbetskraven, och det hade inte ändrats från och med de senaste siffrorna. Kvinnoförvaltnin? Jane Edmonds, tidigare sekreterare vid Massachusetts avdelning för arbetsutveckling, har valt ut statistik för att få Romneys rekord när det gäller att utse kvinnor till regeringsposter att se bättre ut än det är. Hon sade felaktigt att andelen kvinnor i regeringsjobb på hög nivå gick upp under Romney, men siffran minskade faktiskt något. Edmonds: Ett område där han gjorde en positiv skillnad är att förbättra representationen av kvinnor på höga poster i Massachusetts delstatsregering. Före Gov. Romney tillträdde 2003, kvinnor var betydligt underrepresenterade bland topproller i regeringen, med 52 procent av befolkningen men bara 30 procent av jobben. Under de följande två och ett halvt åren var 42 procent av de nya utnämningar som gjordes av guvernör Romney kvinnor. Edmonds siffror är korrekta, och de visas på MassGAP:s webbplats (Massachusetts Government Appointments Project), en tvåpartskoalition av kvinnogrupper som skapades 2002 för att öka antalet kvinnor som utsågs till toppregeringsposter. Som Edmonds sade utgjorde kvinnorna 52 procent av delstatens befolkning, men i september 2002 innehade de bara 30 procent av de främsta regeringsposterna. Och 42 procent av Romneys förordnanden — 14 av 33 förordnanden — var kvinnor under hans första två och ett halvt år som guvernör. Men sedan minskade andelen kvinnor som blev utnämnda till dessa arbeten, enligt en studie från 2007 av MassGAP och Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy vid University of Massachusetts Boston. Under Romneys hela mandatperiod som guvernör var andelen kvinnliga utnämningar 31 procent. Och totalt sett minskade andelen kvinnor i regeringspositioner på högre nivå något, till 27,6 procent, enligt studien. Studien sade MassGAP ansträngning visade “lovande” effekt med den höga andelen av Romney tidiga utnämningar, men de senare utnämningar visade inte “en fortsatt engagemang för valet av kvinnor för hög nivå poster.” Vinsterna för kvinnor mellan 2002 och 2006 “var svårfångade”, säger studien. “[Kvinnor]omen i slutet av Romney administrationen höll inte en högre andel högre positioner än när han tillträdde.” Gör mitt misstag Och vi vill inte ignorera Clint Eastwood – som, till skillnad från Obama, inte var osynlig på konventet. Eastwood sade felaktigt att 23 miljoner amerikaner är "arbetslösa". Faktum är att siffran är lite mer än hälften så stor — 12,8 miljoner i juli, enligt de senaste siffrorna från Bureau of Labor Statistics. Eastwood uttryckte inte saker lika konstfullt som de flesta andra konventtalare. Den ofta använda 23 miljoner siffran inkluderar också 8,2 miljoner som är anställda i deltidsarbete men säger att de söker heltidsarbete, den så kallade "under-anställde". Och det inkluderar också ytterligare 2,5 miljoner som säger att de vill ha ett jobb och skulle ta ett, men inte har letat efter en de senaste fyra veckorna. Vi hatar att nit-plocka en av våra favorit skådespelare/regissörer, som inte är allt som är vant vid hur politiker blåsa siffror utan att faktiskt säga något falskt. (Han kunde ha sagt 23 miljoner som “behover arbete” eller “har brist på jobb” och inte hade tekniskt fel.) Men sen var Eastwood borgmästare i Carmel, Calif, och så vet han något om politik. Och andra filmstjärnor har fortsatt att ställa upp i ännu högre ämbete. Till detta säger vi: Gör det, gör vår dag. — Robert Farley, tillsammans med Eugene Kiely, Lori Robertson, Ben Finley och Brooks Jackson Correction, 4 september: Vår ursprungliga berättelse gav siffror för priset på vanlig bensin som var några öre för hög, både för Obamaadministrationens start och för veckan före GOP-konventet. Vi sade också felaktigt att genomsnittspriset på vanlig bensin hade överstigit 4 dollar per gallon i åtta veckor, snarare än sju, under 2008. De uppgifter som vi kopplade in i den historien var för ett genomsnitt för ”alla grader” av bensin, inte vanlig. Vad är en kortare version av ovanstående artikel?
News article: In his speech accepting Republican nomination for president, Mitt Romney repeated an accusation he made before: that Obama has traveled the world apologizes for America. "I start my presidency with a job tour. President Obama started with an apology tour. He said America had dictated to other nations. No, Mr. President, America has freed other nations from dictators," Romney said. We first checked this claim in 2010, when Romney published a book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. Obama's apology tour, Romney wrote, "is his way of signaling to foreign countries and foreign leaders that their disapproval of America is something he understands and that is, at least in part, understandable. There are anti-American fires all over the world; President Obama's words are like setting them on fire." "In his first nine months in office, President Obama has made excuses and criticisms of America in speeches in France, England, Turkey and Cairo; at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, National Archives in Washington, D.C., and the United Nations in New York City. He has apologized for what he considers American arrogance, dismissiveness, and mockery, for dictated solutions, for acting unilaterally and for acting without regard to others, for treating other countries as mere proxies, for having unfairly interfered in the internal affairs of other nations, for feeding anti-Muslim sentiment, for committing torture, for trailing us on global warming and for selectively promoting democracy." It is a common theme for some anti-Obama websites and commentators. But is it correct? Obama's Early Travels and Comments We looked at the seven separate speeches Romney mentioned in his book as excuses. (We have compiled these sections into a separate document.) Sometimes Obama uses an on-the-one hand, on-the-other-hand formulation that he tends to employ just before talking about two sides coming together. For example, at a 2009 Council House meeting in France, Obama encouraged Europe to work with the United States, admitting that the United States "has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisory." But he immediately said that Europe has been guilty of a "casual" and "insidious" anti-Americanism. At a major speech to the UN, Obama said, "I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Some of this was due to misconceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a conviction that America has acted unilaterally on certain critical issues, disregarding the interests of others. And this has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which has all too often served as an excuse for collective inaction." At a speech in Cairo on relations between the United States and the Islamic world, Obama came very close to regret decades-old American actions in Iran. But then he immediately countered with criticism of Iran. He did not make any formal expression of regret, but suggested both countries simply "go forward". Looking back at these 2009 speeches, we noticed that Obama was most conciliatory when we discussed torture and detention at the U.S. military installation in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Typically, Obama would say that the United States must always stick to its ideals, and that's why Obama "intentionally forbade the United States from using torture, and I've ordered the prison in Guantanamo Bay closed at the beginning of next year." Excuse me, or diplomatic language? In 2010, we asked several experts if Obama had apologised. Here is a brief summary of what they had to say (read more here): • Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Obama was definitely apologizing. He co-wrote an analysis on the subject: "Barack Obama's 10 Best Apologies: How the President has humiliated a superpower." "Apologizing for one's own country gives a picture of weakness in front of both allies and enemies," Gardiner said. "It sends a very clear signal that the United States is to blame for some major developments on the world stage. This can be used to the benefit of those who want to undermine American global leadership." • John Murphy, professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studies presidential rhetoric and political language. He said Obama used conciliatory language for diplomatic purposes, not apology. "It's much more a sense of establishing reciprocity," Murphy said. "Every page says, okay, we haven't done well, but we have a new president and we're going to make a new start and move forward. I don't think that's an excuse." • Lauren Bloom, a lawyer and business consultant, wrote the book, The Art of the Apology, advising businesses and individuals about when to apologize and how to do so. She said Obama's words were not enough for an apology, mostly because he did not use the words "sorry" or "regret". "I think to make an effective apology, the words 'I'm sorry' or 'we're sorry' must always be there," Bloom said. Obama's comments were really non-excuses, and they're not good in business or personal relationships," said Bloom. The only area where they can be useful: international diplomacy. "Gov. Romney tries to appeal to his readers' inner John Wayne, and it has a certain emotional appeal," said Bloom. "For the rest of us, a level assessment of less-than-perfect human behavior is quite reasonable." • We spoke to Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, a professor who traced international human rights issues via the website Political Apologies and Repairs. Many of the excuses in the database relate to genocide or slavery. "To say that the United States will not torture is not an excuse, it is a declaration of intent," said Howard-Hassman. "A complete apology must admit that something was wrong, accept responsibility, express grief or regret and promise not to repeat it." In particular, Obama's address in Cairo was a way of reaching out to the Islamic world, not a recognition of wrongdoing," she said. "If he apologizes or not, he says, "I respect your community and I respect your customs." Maybe that's what Romney considers an apology, that gesture of respect," she said. "But a gesture of respect is not an excuse." Actual Apologies In the years since we first examined this issue, Obama or someone in his administration has formally apologized for U.S. actions. In 2012, Obama apologized for the accidental burning of copies of the Qur'an, the sacred book of Islam. Obama sent the apology in a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Officials hoped that the formal apology would dampen violent reactions to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. A few months later, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized to Pakistan for a November 26, 2011, incident involving the death of Pakistani troops. The apology was made as part of an effort to reopen supply routes to U.S. troops in Afghanistan. We should note that these excuses came towards the end of Obama's first term, while Romney said Obama "began" his presidency with an apology tour. Our reigning Romney said Obama began his presidency "with an apology tour." But a review of Obama's foreign travel and commentary during his early presidency showed no evidence to support such a blunt and derogatory claim. (In recent years we found two formal excuses, but they were not at the beginning of his presidency and not part of a tour.) While Obama's speech contained some criticism of previous American actions, he typically combined these passages with praise for the United States and its ideals, and he often mentioned how other countries had erred as well. We didn't find a full-scale excuse in the gang. Calling these remarks "an apology tour" is a ridiculous accusation. So we grade his statement Pants on Fire. 141 days ago (CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized planned cuts to the U.S. defense budget Thursday night, accusing President Barack Obama of weakening future U.S. power. "His trillion dollar cuts to our military will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, and also put our security at greater risk," former Massachusetts governor said in his acceptance speech to the GOP national convention in Tampa, Florida. The line was met with boos by the delegates in the assembly hall. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Representative Paul D. Ryan used his convention speech on Wednesday to blame President Obama for failing to act on a deficit reduction plan that he himself had helped kill. He criticized Democrats for seeking $716 billion in Medicare cuts that he had also sought. And he deplored the nation’s rating — downgraded after a debt - roof standoff that he and other House Republicans helped set in motion. And Mitt Romney claimed in his acceptance speech on Thursday night that President Obama's policy had "not helped create jobs" and that Mr. Obama had embarked on a "excusement tour" for America. He also warned that the President's Medicare cuts would "injure today's seniors," claims that have already been labeled false or misleading. The two speeches — filled with statements that were incorrect or incomplete — seemed to signal the arrival of a new kind of presidential campaign, in which concerns about fact control have been largely put aside. In recent weeks, the Romney campaign has aired television commercials exclaiming the generally blunted claim that Obama had cleared the work requirements for welfare recipients. The Obama campaign, for its part, ran a fraudulent ad saying Mitt Romney had "supported a bill banning any abortion, even in the event of rape and incest", although he currently supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger. Photo The growing number of distortions seems to reflect a calculation by both parties that shame is overestimated, and that no independent arbitrators command the rising or platform to hold the campaigns to account in the increasingly polarized and balkanized media vault. Any revelation of lies or distortions, thinking, seldom seeps into the general consciousness. But an interesting question that arises is whether there is a tipping point where a candidate becomes so associated with falsehoods that it becomes part of his public persona—which hampered Vice President Al Gore during his 2000 presidential election, when his erroneous statements on the campaign trail were used to fuel the notion that he could not trust in general. Advertisement Continue reading the main story In the case of Mr Ryan's speech, the jury is still out. It was raptured by the Republican Party faithfully, but his many questionable claims ensured that much of the analysis on Thursday focused on his accuracy more than his acumen. The Obama campaign fanned the flames with a web video mocking Mr Ryan, showing anchors from CNN and Fox News questioning some of his statements. And Stephanie Cutter, the president's deputy campaign manager, was straight to the point. "There's no delicate way to say this: last night Paul Ryan lied, repeatedly, consciously and brazenly," she said. Here are some of the misleading part of their convention speeches: Deficit Commission One of Mr Ryan's most pointed attacks on Mr Obama was on the deficit. "He created a new bipartisan debt commission," Mr Ryan noted. — they came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Left ossaid: Mr. Ryan served on that mission himself, and his opposition to its final proposal helped seal its fate. The panel, known as the Simpson-Bowle deficit commission, made a number of recommendations that Mr Ryan finally opposed on the grounds that they would have raised some taxes while failing to cut enough from health programs. His dismissal of the plan was seen as a significant blow to its chances of success, as it stured other House Republicans on it. Credit Rating In his attack on the president’s time in office, Ryan said: “It began with a perfect AAA credit rating for the United States. It ends with the downgraded America. "When Standard & Poor lower the nation's rating, it was largely due to the stalemate last year above the debt ceiling - which needed to be raised so that the government could borrow money to pay for expenses that Congress had already approved. The White House had asked Congress simply to raise the debt ceiling; Mr Ryan and House Republicans balled on doing so without reaching an agreement on significant spending cuts. The subsequent impasse brought the nation to the brink of negligence. In his statement explaining the downgrading, Standard & Poor’s wrote that “the political brilliance of recent months highlights what we see as US governance and policies to become less stable, less efficient and less predictable than we previously thought. The statutory debt cap and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate on fiscal policy. "Medicare Mr Ryan spoke forcefully against "$716 billion tangled out of Medicare by President Obama," without noting that his own previous financial perspectives had anticipated the same savings. And he promised to protect Medicare without explaining how the Romney-Ryan plan would change that. Mr. Romney said Medicare cuts would "injure today's seniors." In fact, the savings would come not from trimming benefits for current recipients, but from reducing the estimated growth in replacements to hospitals and insurance companies over the next decade. The Medicare debate is shaped as central to the election: Democrats say Romney-Ryan the plan to reshape Medicare would force future beneficiaries to pay more for their medical care, while Republicans wrong Mr. Obama to cut $716 billion in their projected growth. Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan have suggested limiting the government's open financial commitment to Medicare. According to their plan, the government would contribute a fixed amount on behalf of each recipient, and future beneficiaries could use this money to buy private insurance or to help pay for coverage under the traditional Medicare program. This would only apply to persons currently under 55. Mr Ryan's previous plans called for limiting the rate at which Medicare spending would grow - which analysts from groups including the Kaiser Family Foundation found would lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for future beneficiaries. The Romney campaign now says that their plan would work differently from Ryan's original proposal, and would have the flexibility to raise the proposed expenditure ceiling if it does not keep up with costs. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story The $716 billion cut to Medicare that Mr. Obama made will reduce payments to care maintenance organizations and hospitals and other health care providers. Mr Ryan initially counted the same savings in his financial perspectives. G.M.'s Janesville Plant Mr. Ryan appeared to criticize Mr. Obama for the closure of a General Motors factory in Mr. Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wis. — a decision made before the President was elected and before his rescue of the automotive industry, which was credited with saving a number of other factories. He noted that Mr. Obama had visited the facility in 2008 and said, "I think if our government is there to support you, this facility will be here for another hundred years." "Well, as it turned out," Mr. Ryan said, "that the facility did not last another year. It is locked and empty to this day.” As a candidate, Mr. Obama gave an economic political speech at the Janesville factory in February 2008. The decision to close the plant was made several months later — as evidenced by a June 2008 letter from Ryan calling on G.M. to reconsider. It took some time for the facility to close, and some work continued there after Mr. Obama was sworn in as president. The Ryan campaign said Thursday that the issue was not when the plant stopped production, but the fact that it has not reopened - and pointed to accounts of an Obama campaign statement from the fall of 2008 where he said, "I will lead an effort to retool plants such as G.M. plant in Janesville so we can build tomorrow's fuel efficient cars and create good paying jobs in Wisconsin and across America." While Mr. Obama bailed out the automotive industry, saving jobs, and included money in the stimulus for "green" energy jobs, the Janesville plant did not take advantage of his movements. The Apologic Tour In his speech, Romney repeated his generally debunked accusation that Mr. Obama had gone on a "excusal tour" on behalf of America – an accusation he feels so strongly for putting his own worldview forward in a 2010 book he titled "No Apology". However, independent fact controllers have called the charge a distortion, and it is difficult to find evidence that Mr. Obama ever said he was sorry for the United States. Also in his speeches after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Obama offered a strong defense of American politics, including the war in Afghanistan, which became increasingly unpopular in the rest of the world. TAMPA, Fla. — In a speech heavy on anecdotal history but short on political details, Mitt Romney avoided major falsehoods in presenting his case to the American public while accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. Also an important Democratic strategist, Bill Burton, a former press secretary for President Obama, tweeted shortly after the speech ended: “Romney actually avoided almost all the lies from Ryan’s speech.” It was a reference to Rep. Paul Ryan’s speech the night before, which we found contained a number of false and misleading claims. In Romney's case, we found some excesses and excesses. He exaggerated the loss of family income that has occurred during, for example, Obama, including 13 months of losses that actually occurred before the President took office. He accused Obama of raising taxes on middle class taxpayers, when the president has in fact lobbied for and signed several temporary cuts. Similarly, we found some misleading claims by convention speakers that preceded Romney on the last day of the GOP convention. For example, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich repeated the false claim that Obama has "exposed" the Social Review Act, when all he has done is allow states to seek flexibility to experiment with applying the law's labor requirements. And we even got a mistake from actor / director Clint Eastwood, who put in a surprise look but was not fully informed about the right way to spin statistics about unemployment. Note to Readers Our deputy editor-in-chief, Robert Farley, is in Tampa at the convention center. This story was written with the help of the entire staff, based in Philadelphia and Washington, DC next week, we will send our editor-in-chief, Lori Robertson, to Charlotte, N.C., for the Democratic convention. We intend to examine the major speeches at both conventions in order to obtain the fact-checker and apply the same standards to both. In particular, part of the middle class ‘crushed’ drew our attention. Romney explained that “this Obama economy has crushed the middle class”, and rattled by some terrible-sounding statistics. But we found some of them to be exaggerated or in need of an increased context. Romney: In the richest country in the history of the world, Obama's economy has crushed the middle class. Family income has fallen by $4,000, but health insurance premiums are higher, food prices are higher, electricity bills higher and petrol prices have doubled. Today, more Americans are waking up in poverty than ever before. Almost one in six Americans lives in poverty. Look around you. These aren't strangers. These are our brothers and sisters, our countrymen. Family income: Family income has not fallen by $4,000 under Obama, as Romney indicated. That figure comes from a study by Sentier Research, and while most of the decline occurred after the President took office in January 2009, part of it (the study did not say exactly how much) occurred in the 13 months before. The study measured the decrease in family income starting in December 2007, when the recession officially began, and ended in June 2012. The study found that revenue declined more since the official start of economic recovery (in June 2009) than in the recession itself. Poverty: It’s true that “more Americans wake up in poverty than ever before,” as Romney said. But it is also true that there are more Americans, period. Poverty — that is, the proportion of Americans living in poverty — is nowhere near a record, even for the relatively short historical period since 1959, when the government began measuring poverty. The number of poor people in 2010 was 46.2 million, according to recent censuses. Poverty increased that year to 15.1 percent — the highest since 1993. But as the census noted, "was 7.3 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available." Furthermore, the Census noted that the number of poor had increased over four consecutive years, so the increase began long before Obama took office. Gasoline: Romney said “gasoline prices have doubled” since Obama took office. That's right, but only because petrol prices were unusually low when Obama was inaugurated due to the recession and the financial crisis. The average price for regular gasoline was $3.78 last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a little more than twice as much $1.84 average on the week Obama was sworn in. But the average exceeded $4 a gallon in seven weeks during the summer of 2008, and it has never reached $4 under Obama. Premiums: Romney said that "health insurance premiums are higher" under Obama. But the premiums have gone up for years. Experts say the Federal Health Care Act was responsible for only a small portion of recent migration in employer-based plans. The average cost of an employer-funded family insurance plan went up 9 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to Kaiser Family Foundation's annual survey. Several independent experts told us that the increase in health care costs was still the main culprit. The health teams, they said, were responsible for 1 point to 3 points of the 9-point raise. And the reason for that is improved coverage. Insurance companies are required by law to include free preventive care, coverage for adult children up to 26 years old, coverage for children regardless of previous conditions, and an increase in annual limits. Rising premiums are nothing new. Between 2001 and 2011, the family premiums for employer-sponsored plans went up 113%. Year after year, the change in premiums has varied, but it has always been in one direction: upwards. Food: Romney said "food prices are higher" under Obama, and that's also true, but not by a lot. The index measures the average consumer price of all foods and beverages (including restaurant meals) stood only 6.2 percent higher last month than it was when Obama took office, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another middle class Falsety Romney said "unlike President Obama, I won't raise taxes on the middle class." But Obama hasn't raised taxes on middle income taxpayers, and, in fact, he has targeted tax cuts and credits to benefit them. Among the President's major tax cuts and credits: Making work pay tax credit . For two years, 2009 and again in 2010, the stimulus law gave up to $400 to individuals earning up to $75,000, and up to $800 to couples earning up to $150,000. . . . For two years, 2009 and again in 2010, the stimulus law gave up to $400 to individuals earning up to $75,000, and up to $800 to couples earning up to $150,000. Wage tax reduction. When Making Work Pay credit expired, Obama successfully pushed Congress to reduce the employee portion of social security payroll tax in 2011 from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. The tax is applied to the first $110,100 of wages, and it resulted in an annual maximum savings of $2,200. The tax reduction was extended until 2012. . When Making Work Pay credit expired, Obama successfully pushed Congress to reduce the employee portion of social security payroll tax in 2011 from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. The tax is applied to the first $110,100 of wages, and it resulted in an annual maximum savings of $2,200. The tax reduction was extended until 2012. American Opportunity Tax Credit. Part of the stimulus, this is a college fee. It modified and expanded the existing Hope Credit. It was intended for two years, but was extended until 2012. The full credit of $2,500 is available to individuals earning $80,000 or less and families earning $160,000 or less. Hope Credit maximum was $1,800 in 2008. The Republican candidate did not explain what he meant by his comments. But some Republicans have claimed that the president's medical law amounts to a tax on the middle class, as it imposes a penalty on those who do not buy health insurance. However, as we have written before, these arguments are exaggerated. The Congress' non-partisan budget office estimated that around $3 million taxpayers earning less than $120,000 will pay an average penalty of $667 by 2016. Tax exaggeration Kerry Healey, who served as Romney's lieutenant governor, boasted that Romney "processed the taxes 19 times" as governor. But tax rates remained unchanged under Romney, and Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group, called his tax record "mixed", because he raised hundreds of millions of dollars by increasing fees and closing loopholes in the corporate tax structure. The Romney campaign list of 19 tax cuts includes some tax cuts companies and a variety of relatively minor cuts and credits - including a couple of two-day sales-tax holidays, such as Club for Growth dismissed as "gimmicky." The list also includes such things as a "fire safety tax credit", a "motion picture tax credit" and a "historical rehabilitation tax credit." In his White Paper on Romney, Club for Growth, the list pointed out two tax cuts for praise: legislation he signed to prevent government residents from having to pay $275 million in retroactive capital gain taxes, and another bill that provided property tax relief for seniors. But Club for Growth called his record "mixed" due to the new revenue he collected. As we have written before, in his first year Romney raised fees by more than $400 million, generating an additional $150 million by closing loopholes. The Welfare Law Gutted Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich dutifully repeated a meritless Romney claim, claiming that Obama "challenged" the 1990s welfare review, accusing him of "leaving" the law's labor requirements. Gingrich: Tragically, President Obama cleared this achievement [welfare reform]. ...Obama's lifting of labour demands in welfare reform is just one example of his direct rejection of President Reagan's values. Gingrich did not elaborate or provide evidence of how Obama's actions “removed” the law. Gingrich would have been particularly qualified to do so — if there were content in the charge — because it was he who pushed the welfare bill through Congress when he was a speaker and Bill Clinton was president. In fact, Obama has simply allowed state governors to seek exceptions to the law's demands if they can propose a more effective way to move people from welfare to work, and show that they can produce that result. Nothing's been waived yet. And as we have noted, states have persistently fallen far from achieving the law's goal of putting at least half of the recipients in jobs or education. When Obama took office, only 29 percent of the recipients of cash relief were nationally meeting the labour requirements, and that had not changed from the latest figures. Women's stewardship? Jane Edmonds, former secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Labor Development, has selected statistics to make Romney's record in appointing women to government posts look better than it is. She incorrectly said that the proportion of women in high-level government jobs rose under Romney, but the figure actually decreased slightly. Edmonds: An area where he made a positive difference is improving the representation of women in high positions in the Massachusetts state government. Before Gov. Romney took office in 2003, women were significantly under-represented among top roles in government, with 52 percent of the population but only 30 percent of jobs. Over the next two and a half years, 42 percent of the new appointments made by Governor Romney were women. Edmond's numbers are correct, and they are displayed on the MassGAP website (Massachusetts Government Appointments Project), a two-party coalition of women's groups created in 2002 to increase the number of women appointed to top government posts. As Edmonds said, women made up 52 percent of the state's population, but in September 2002 they held only 30 percent of the top government positions. And 42 percent of Romney’s appointments — 14 out of 33 appointments — were women for his first two and a half years as governor. But then, according to a 2007 study by MassGAP and the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the proportion of women appointed to these jobs decreased. During Romney's entire term as governor, the percentage of female appointments was 31 percent. And overall, according to the study, the proportion of women in higher-level government positions decreased slightly to 27.6%. The study said MassGAP effort showed “promising” effect with the high percentage of Romney’s early appointments, but the latter appointments did not show “a continued commitment to the selection of women for high-level posts.” The profits for women between 2002 and 2006 “were elusive”, the study says. “[Women]omen at the end of the Romney administration did not hold a higher proportion of higher positions than when he took office.” Make my mistake and we do not want to ignore Clint Eastwood – who, unlike Obama, was not invisible at the convention. Eastwood incorrectly said that 23 million Americans are "unemployed." In fact, the figure is a little more than half as large — 12.8 million in July, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Eastwood did not express things as artfully as most other convention speakers. The often used 23 million figure also includes 8.2 million who are employed in part-time work but say they are looking for full-time work, the so-called "under-employed". And that also includes 2.5 million more who say they want a job and would take one, but have not been looking for one in the past four weeks. We hate to rivet-pick one of our favorite actors/directors, who is not all that is used to how politicians blow numbers without actually saying something false. (He could have said 23 million as “needs work” or “has lack of jobs” and was not technically wrong.) But then Eastwood was mayor of Carmel, Calif, and he knows something about politics. And other movie stars have continued to run for even higher office. To this we say: Do it, do our day. — Robert Farley, along with Eugene Kiely, Lori Robertson, Ben Finley and Brooks Jackson Correction, September 4: Our original story gave figures for the price of regular gasoline that was a few cents too high, both for the Obama administration's start and for the week before the GOP convention. We also incorrectly said that the average price of regular gasoline had exceeded $4 per gallon for eight weeks, rather than seven, in 2008. The data that we connected into that history was for an average of “all grades” of gasoline, not ordinary. What is a shorter version of the above article?
– Paul Ryans kampanjtal på onsdagen var nästan allmänt bedyrade för förvrängningar och felaktigheter, och Mitt Romney berättade sin andel i går kväll också. "De två talen ... verkade signalera ankomsten av en ny typ av presidentkampanj", Michael Cooper på New York Times skriver, "en där oron för faktakontroll till stor del har lagts åt sidan." Obama är inte heller klanderfritt; en annons nyligen sade Romney backade upp ett lagförslag om att förbjuda all abort, inga undantag, även om Romney nu stöder våldtäkt och incest undantag. Whopprarna "tycks spegla en beräkning i båda parter att skammen är överskattad", avslutar Cooper. Washington Post konstaterar att faktakontrollerna själva nu är under beskjutning. Efter Ryans skrik anklagade konservativa sajter dem för att "spinna" fakta, inte kontrollera dem. "Du kan rimligtvis dra slutsatsen att PolitiFact är partisk", skrev en bloggare och noterade att webbplatsen oftare fann fel hos konservativa. I ett inlägg på Romneys tal kände sig FactCheck.org tvungen att inkludera en not som lovade att de skulle "tillämpa samma standard" på demokraternas tal. Medan vi är här, förvrängningar från Romneys tal som PolitiFact och andra påpekade, sa Romney att familjens inkomster hade sjunkit 4000 dollar sedan Obama. Figuren kommer från en studie som påbörjades i december 2007, långt innan Obama tillträdde. Han anklagade Obama för att höja skatterna på medelklassen. Obama har faktiskt kämpat för ett antal skattebrott i medelklassen, som löneskattehelgen. Han sa att Obama startade sitt presidentskap "med en ursäktsturné" runt om i världen. PolitiFact sa att "byxor brinner" och kallade det "en löjlig laddning". För andra kolla här, och här.
“Paul Ryan’s campaign speech on Wednesday was almost universally renowned for distortions and inaccuracies, and Mitt Romney told his share last night as well. "The two speeches ... seemed to signal the arrival of a new type of presidential campaign," Michael Cooper of the New York Times writes, "one where concerns about fact-checking have largely been put aside." Obama is also not blameless; an ad recently said Romney backed a bill to ban all abortion, no exceptions, although Romney now supports rape and incest exceptions. The whoppers "seem to reflect a calculation in both parties that the shame is overrated," Cooper concludes. The Washington Post notes that the fact checks themselves are now under fire. After Ryan's screams, conservative sites accused them of "spinning" facts, not controlling them. "You can reasonably conclude that PolitiFact is biased," wrote a blogger and noted that the site more often found errors with conservatives. In a post on Romney's speech, FactCheck.org felt compelled to include a note promising that they would "apply the same standard" to the Democratic speech. While we are here, distortions from Romney's speeches as PolitiFact and others pointed out, Romney said that the family's income had dropped $4,000 since Obama. The figure comes from a study begun in December 2007, long before Obama took office. He accused Obama of raising taxes on the middle class. Obama has actually been fighting for a number of middle class tax crimes, like the payroll tax holiday. He said Obama started his presidency "with an apology tour" around the world. PolitiFact said "pants are burning" and called it "a ridiculous charge". For others, check this out, and here.