Fact Check: Questionable claims when Mitt Romney introduces running mate

[underpants]

Source: CBS News

ROMNEY: "Unlike the current president, who has cut Medicare funding by $700 billion, we will preserve and protect Medicare and Social Security and keep them there for future generations."
THE FACTS: You could fill an arena with all the details left out in this statement. Ryan's reputation as a fiscal conservative is built on a budget plan that would overhaul the Medicare program and introduce a voucher-like plan that future retirees could use to buy private health insurance. Whether that results in a better or worse situation for Medicare recipients is a matter of debate. But under Ryan's plan, traditional Medicare would no longer be the health insurance mainstay, just one of many competing options.


ROMNEY: "We offer solutions that are bold, specific, and achievable."
RYAN: "The commitment Mitt Romney and I make to you is this: We won't duck the tough issues, we will lead."
THE FACTS: So far, vital specifics are missing from Romney as he pledges broad cuts in federal spending, but more money for the armed forces, and significant tax cuts. He proposes to cap federal spending at 20 percent of gross domestic product by the end of a first term, an ambitious goal that is not fleshed out with the painful choices that will be necessary for that to happen.


More at the link

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57491617/fact-check-questionable-claims-when-mitt-romney-introduces-running-mate/

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RYAN on Romney: "As governor of Massachusetts, he worked with Democrats and Republicans to balance budgets with no tax increases, lower unemployment, increase income and improve people's lives."


THE FACTS: For a Massachusetts governor, balancing a budget is a requirement of state law.

[IggleDoer]

1. I'm shocked, I tell ya', shocked.

n/t

[beac]

2. I LOL every time Rmoney says how he "balanced the budget all four years I was governor"

in that driving-and-bragging ad.

Might as well say "I followed Massachusetts law while I was governor."

Good for you, Mittens! Want a cookie?

[IggleDoer]

4. They could have run a surplus then ...

... If RMoney paid his taxes.

[rgbecker]

3. From Wikipedia.

The state legislature, with the governor's support, also cut spending by $1.6 billion, including $700 million in reductions in state aid to cities and towns.[181] The cuts also included a $140 million reduction in state funding for higher education, which led state-run colleges and universities to increase tuition by 63 percent over four years.[152][173] Romney sought additional cuts in his last year as governor by vetoing nearly 250 items in the state budget, but all were overridden by the heavily Democratic legislature.[182]

The cuts in state spending put added pressure on localities to reduce services or raise property taxes, and the share of town and city revenues coming from property taxes rose from 49 to 53 percent.[152][173] The combined state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased during Romney's governorship but remained below the national average


Mitt's idea of "working with Democrats and Republicans to balance budgets "etc. is to veto everything the people want.

[high density]

5. Specific solutions?

Rmoney has given no specifics about anything: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/opinion/sunday/romneys-tax-plan-defies-the-rules-of-math.html

He's just acting like every other right wing politician, throwing out easy red meat with no clarity about what he actually wants to do.