Posted on 01/23/2012 2:20:24 PM PST by Qbert
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) appeared on Fox News Sunday yesterday and argued that President Obamas policies have actually made our economy worse. Then he said it again. And again. All told, the House Republican repeated the claim five times in one interview (and in each instance, host Chris Wallace offered no pushback whatsoever).
For those who care about reality, Boehners claim isnt true. Since the president took office, every aspect of the American economy job creation, economic growth, manufacturing, the stock market, etc. has improved considerably. Repeating a lie five times doesnt make it true.
But what I find especially important about this is the extent to which Mitt Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee, disagrees with Boehner.
Consider this remarkable exchange between Romney and conservative radio-host Laura Ingraham late last week: (thanks to F.B. for the tip)
INGRAHAM: Youve also noted that there are signs of improvement on the horizon in the economy. How do you answer the presidents argument that the economy is getting better in a general election campaign if you yourself are saying its getting better?ROMNEY: Well, of course its getting better. The economy always gets better after a recession, there is always a recovery. [ ]
INGRAHAM: Isnt it a hard argument to make if youre saying, like, OK, he inherited this recession, he took a bunch of steps to try to turn the economy around, and now, were seeing more jobs, but vote against him anyway? Isnt that a hard argument to make? Is that a stark enough contrast?
ROMNEY: Have you got a better one, Laura? It just happens to be the truth.
I dont think its an exaggeration to say this may be the most important statement Romney has made since launching his 2012 presidential campaign. Think about it: the likely GOP nominee argued, on the air and on the record, that the economy is getting better under President Obama, and it happens to be the truth that Obama took steps to turn the economy around, resulting in more jobs for American workers.
If Laura Ingraham had asked a Democratic ally of the president the same question, she likely would have heard a similar answer.
Whats more, as I noted over a week ago, Romney keeps saying this. He told voters in South Carolina and New Hampshire that under Obama, the economy is getting better.
Romneys message, of course, comes with a catch: he believes the economy is improving, but he doesnt want the president to get credit for it. But as Ingraham noticed, thats an argument that will fail miserably.
A month into 2012, the Republican is effectively arguing, Sure, Obama inherited a deep recession. And sure, he took a bunch of steps to turn the economy around. And sure, were now seeing more jobs being created and more economic growth. But vote against him anyway.
This isnt just a tough sell; its an impossible one.
What planet does Romney live on? Counting the days until the lack of business activity completely kills my business. The only people I meet who are okay with this stagnation are Romney types with unlimited capital they can skate on.
Creative Editing Sucks
Full quote:
Mitt Romney on Laura Ingraham’s radio program: “Of course it’s getting better. The economy always gets better after the recession. There’s always a recovery. There’s never been a time anywhere in the world where an economy has never recovered. The question is how is recovered by virtue of something the president has done or has he delayed the recovery and made it more painful? And the latter, of course, is the truth.”
“The president’s policies have made the recession deeper and have made the recovery more tepid and more difficult on the American people. This is the worst recovery that we have seen from a recession since Hoover. And President Obama wants to take credit for things getting better, he’s in fact made things worse. He’s made this recovery take much longer, but, will our economy get better someday? Of course it will.”
When Laura Ingraham asks Romney if it is hard argument to make that ‘Obama is making the economy better, but vote for me,’ Romney says ‘Do you have a better one Laura?’
Newt has it right and true blood Americans know it.... it’s all about the Socialist transformation with Obama. Forget the window dressing they are trying to sell.
Sorry ...it was not a confused message...However He needs to beat it into people’s heads that Obama made things worse and that the American people will work around anything he puts in their way eventually
what a MORON!!!
On just what issues is Romney planning to run on against Obama? He’s just taken the economy off the table.
here is proof of the U.S. economic decline .
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2832195/posts
China was backward, a few decades ago, living like they did 1000 years ago. Now they make most of things we use including smart phones , computers and have all the technology,rising middle class etc. China did it by stealing the U.S. technology and stealing the U.S. market. Why do we keep allowing this? We could still turn the tables on China and so grow like they did. We have to stop what they are doing to us, and the only way is to restrict things coming in from china.let’s say the U.S. bans import of cell phones. You know then companies will have to build factories here ( like Japan did for Toyota etc) .And that will bring jobs, technology , manufacturing ability back to the U.S.. China is destroying the U.S.
here is proof of the U.S. decline .
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2832195/posts
U.S. lost at least 15 million jobs in the last 10 years due to China.We have no jobs just welfare , and debt.
McCain and Mitt don’t need to experiment with hallucinogenic substances, they obviously are tripping permanently on their own!
I’m half-expecting to see Ace and Mitt go on tour telling us how well Hussein is doing and how much he really cares about each and every one of us.
Only LOSERS praise Hussein and claim to be Republican.
You’d think they would have learned from Ace and Crist.
FUBO and ALL your mindless fans!
“I believe Obamas chances of reelection are inversely proportional to the price of a gallon of gas in the months leading up to election day.”
Worked well for the Hussein Heads in 2008...
“The economy has recovered.”
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Horsefeathers, if you had been sick in bed with a temperature of 104.4 and it dropped to 104.3 would you claim to have recovered?
Che stronzo!
(I’m not allowed to say that here in English. Google Translator will help if you don’t know the Italian meaning.)
Can Romney be this clueless that he doesn’t understand the small drop in unemployment is due to those who have given up looking no longer being counted in the Administration’s official figures.
Job creation during the Obama recession hasn’t even kept pace with population growth. If Romeny doesn’t understand the basic accounting concepts involved in calculating unemployment that tells me he was probably a “Political hire” for his private sector jobs.
the planet kolob that is where mormons come from,that is where dark skinned people will turn white and be a delightful people if they join the mormon church and are good.this is in the book of mormon,look it up do like glen beck says find out for yourself
That isn't how recessions and expansions are measured. The recession is over. $685B in GDP output lost has been recovered ($690B). Sure, we still have high unemployment and the housing market is in a slump (albeit just a cooling off from the outrageous highs) but expansions are the tool to creating new jobs and new wealth. The point is that this expansion is anemic due to Obama's actions, not that there is no expansion. It may be fueled by debt (but it isn't really, or not entirely) but it is an expansion.
Just because we don't like the guy in the White House doesn't mean we can change definitions to suit our rhetoric. Obama is a disaster... but the economy is resilient in spite of his attacks.
Getting a tad bit agitated with those on “our” side using tactics of the left, be it half-truths or even outright lies.
That said, it’s a bit difficult for me to buy into a candidate that’s lived on the government teat since Ronald Reagan.
"Sorry ...it was not a confused message..."
Well, I guess if woofie says so, then it wasn't...
Even with the full context of the interview, what Romney said was pretty stupid.
As a business leader, he should be able to articulate what it means to have a “dead cat bounce.” His expertise is supposed to be in business and finance.
This former head of a multimillion dollar investment company can't explain something that Freeper LittleHarbour was able to do easily (or, for that matter, most regular readers of the Wall Street Journal)?
But maybe Romney learned something about how Americans reacted to his prior animal abuse and was afraid to use the term “dead cat bounce” because it might offend someone. /sarc
106 posted on Monday, January 23, 2012 8:32:58 PM by RC one: “I believe Obamas chances of reelection are inversely proportional to the price of a gallon of gas in the months leading up to election day.”
There's a lot of truth in that.
George Bush couldn't convince the Saudis to help lower the price of gas until it was too late. I wonder if Obama can.
115 posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 12:17:51 AM by NoRedTape: “Who is under the rock behind the rock that is pushing for Mittens to somehow even be in the polls? Wow.....there are some severely misguided people in this voting public. So very sad. I truly hope they will wake-up soon.......”
I think three things are at work.
First, there are sincere conservatives who oppose Obama and think Romney is the best choice to beat him or that he's the inevitable Republican winner so they might as well support him. They're wrong, and with the the South Carolina vote showing that, a lot of Romney's support will implode. The sooner those voters leave Romney and get behind some other candidate, the better.
Second, there are Republican establishment people who are backing Romney because he's part of the establishment and has been for decades. I understand why people do those things, but it's not me. I was born into the same political culture, but I burned my bridges decades ago with the moderate wing of the GOP and I have little use for people who are fueled by a “country club elite” mentality of what it means to be a Republican.
Third, let's not minimize the power of “operation chaos” methods. The Democrats don't have a race this year. That means lots of liberal-leaning independents are voting in the Republican races. Even assuming they're not doing so for malicious motives, they're voting for the candidate most like themselves, and this year that means Romney.
Mitt Romney is just a redux of Republican weak sister, John McCain, who in the 2008 campaign told us all what a good man Barack Hussein “Muslim Brotherhood Adoree” was and still in his humble opinion!!! romney is as weak as a candidate for POTUS can come!!! He will be hugging and kissing “traitor” Obama from head to toe!!!!
By the way, Freepers, how about starting a campaign today to boycott the Obama SOTU farce address by America hater and America, would be destroyer, POTUS Obama this evening. We are not watching it this evening, and are hoping millions of Americans will not tune in either!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.