Posted on 08/11/2004 3:59:39 PM PDT by Sen Jack S. Fogbound
Media Fund Ad Misquotes Bush
Pro-Kerry group's ad claims "Bush says he's going to help companies outsource jobs." But Bush never said that.
08.11.2004
Summary
An ad released by the Media Fund Aug. 11 is targeted to Ohio, featuring Ohio residents criticizing the President for loss of jobs overseas. In it, one of them says, "When President Bush says he's going to help companies outsource jobs, it's infuriating."
Maybe it would be infuriating if Bush really had said that, but he didn't.
What Bush has actually said is this: "The best way to deal with job creation and outsourcing is to make sure our businesses are competitive here at home."
Analysis
This ad is just the latest in a steady drum-beat of Democratic attacks blaming Bush for job losses overseas. In this one, a man identified as Louis Russo, a Cleveland resident, says, "When President Bush says he's going to help companies outsource jobs, it's infuriating." The fact is, Bush never said that.
Media Fund Ad
"Ohio Outsourced"
Louis Russo: We were told immediately that we were gone, so there wasn't any warning.
Edward Lucas: Everything you worked for is gone.
Sherease Rankin: It saves them money. They can have people in other countries doing our jobs.
Louis Russo: When President Bush says he's going to help companies outsource jobs, it's infuriating.
Sherease Rankin: You can be stationed in India and take a phone call. No one has to know you're in India.
Edward Lucas: You can't give companies tax breaks to take American jobs away.
What Bush Really Said
Here's what the President has really said on the subject: Bush (Bay Shore, New York March 11, 2002): You hear talk about outsourcing -- I'm as concerned about outsourcing as the next person. But the way to deal with outsourcing is to make America a better place to do business, not a worse place . Raising taxes will make it harder to create jobs. Lawsuits make it harder to create jobs. We need an energy policy, so people can plan their businesses around a solid supply of energy. We need to be less dependent on foreign sources of energy if we want to make sure jobs stay here.
Bush (Washington, DC, March 16, 2004): You hear a lot of rhetoric in Washington about jobs and job creation and outsourcing. The best way to deal with job creation and outsourcing is to make sure our businesses are competitive here at home . The more competitive we are here at home, the better it is to do business at home, the more likely it is we'll keep jobs here at home. And association health plans is one such way.
Bush (Dayton, Ohio, May 4, 2004): We care about outsourcing in America. We want people working here. But the wrong policy would have been, let's go through economic isolationist policy, let's wall us off from the world . Instead, the right policy was to stimulate growth at home. . . . My point is, let us be confident about ourselves. Let's put the right policies in place that encourage growth at home.
We searched transcripts of Bush's public statements since taking office, and found none in which he said he wanted to help companies send jobs overseas. The Media Fund posted its own backup for the ad which cited not a single quote from the President.
Bush's top economic aides have indeed defended the ability of US companies to get work done overseas when that's cheaper than having it done in the US, arguing (as do most economists) that the increased efficiency the companies gain eventually produces a net gain in jobs in the US. Bush administration officials also oppose any new legal restrictions on outsourcing jobs overseas as a violation of free trade. But they aren't proposing new incentives to outsource jobs, as the phrase "says he's going to help" implies. So even Bush's aides didn't say what the ad says Bush did.
This ad simply misquotes him, falsely putting callous words in his mouth that he never uttered.
The Tax Break Issue
The ad also shows a man identified as Edward Lucas, a resident of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, as saying, " You can't give companies tax breaks to take American jobs away." He's referring to the way the US tax code gives some financial incentive to US companies to invest profits overseas rather than bring them back to the US to be taxed.
As we've explained before, Bush didn't put that into the tax code: it's been there as long as there has been a corporate income tax.
We've outlined the disagreement between Kerry and Bush on this issue in detail in an earlier article Economists generally agree that the tax incentive favoring overseas investment is a relatively minor problem that Kerry's proposal won't do much to fix.
Sources
"President Bush Discusses Job Training and the Economy in NY: Remarks by the President in a Conversation on the Economy," Bay Shore, New York, 11 March 2004.
"President Discusses Health Access," U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC, 16 March 2004.
"Remarks by the President at 'ask President Bush' Event," Hara Complex Dayton, Ohio, 4 May 2004.
The Media Fund, Factual Backup for "Ohio Outsourced" ad, www.makeamericaworkforus.com, accessed 11 Aug 2004.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please visit http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docid=236 to view this FactCheck article in full.
Where are the lawyers threatening TV station if they play this?
That's exactly what they imply. They know some voters will assume "it's Bush's fault" so the repeat it over & over.
bookmark bump
That was my first thought, but of course we know the answer.
There is no MSM, only leftists promoting their guy, the gloves are definitely off in the newsrooms.
The MSM may have to admit just once that the VRWC is right about sKerry lol
That's not a "misquote". That's "libel".
Just par for the course from the left wing.
If they get desperate enough, the Dems will run ads that include the old Bush quote: "I'm going to raise taxes on all the poor folks and the black folks -- and I'm going to send all that money to my rich buddies at Halliburton."
ROTFL
Did you here the latest? There's a group on the net called FThe Vote offering free sex for votes against Bush.
I wonder how they could be sure the takers aren't lying about who they'll vote for?
Rush is right they just keep getting loonier by the day. LOL
Oh no, you would get in trouble if you phrase it that way. It needs to be something like this..."It makes me furious when I hear that Bush will not leave the Leftists Childrens behinds alone!!"
Nevermind...
If DemocRATs didn't have ignorant voters to depend on, they would vanish.
Right ON! It simply amazes me when I see these DemoTalkingHeads get on the "news" and spout their spin with almost no qualms at all about ignoring what was actually being said. Like Bush says, "up" and the DemoTalkingHeads say, "Bush said, down and Kerry says up".
They must think if they say it and say it loud enough and often enough they will get enough ignorants to vote for them.
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