Fact Check: Vice Presidential Debate

Independent economists have said that Romney’s plans could slow the economic recovery and eliminate jobs, and that his tax plan doesn’t add up.  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a plan:  to return to the policies that crashed the economy and devastated the middle class.

Here are the facts:

ROMNEY PROMISES ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

REALITY: ROMNEY’S PLAN IS BASED ON OIL DRILLING AND CUTTING OFF INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY – BUT WE CAN’T DRILL OUR WANT TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

Romney Has The “View That The Government Should Cut Off Aid To Renewable Energy.” “Romney’s view that the government should cut off aid to renewable energy marks a reversal for the candidate.” [Washington Post, 6/8/12]

• TIME: “Romney Has Suggested That Wind And Solar Are ‘Imaginary’ Sources Of Energy, But They Can Now Power 15 Million Homes, And Their Industries Employ More Than 300,000 Americans. That’s Real.” “Before President Obama took office, the U.S. had 25 gigawatts of wind power, and the government’s ‘base case’ energy forecast expected 40 GW by 2030. Well, it’s not quite 2030 yet, but we’ve already got 50 GW of wind. We’ve also got about 5 GW of solar, which isn’t much, but is over six times more than we had before Obama. Mitt Romney has suggested that wind and solar are ‘imaginary’ sources of energy, but they can now power 15 million homes, and their industries employ more than 300,000 Americans. That’s real.” [Michael Grunwald, TIME, 8/10/12]
• The Hill Headline: “Romney Campaign: Let Wind Energy Credit Die This Year.” [The Hill, 7/30/12] 
• Romney Would Keep $4 Billion A Year In Tax Incentives And Tax Breaks For Oil And Gas Drilling. Romney’s energy positions include: “Keep tax incentives and tax breaks for oil and gas drilling. These amount to about $4 billion a year.” [Washington Post, 9/11/12]

Washington Post: “Romney’s Plan Spends A Lot Of Time Talking About Drilling” But “Energy Independence Will Require More Than Just Drilling — It Will Also Depend On Efficiency Standards That Romney Has Opposed.” “Energy independence will require more than just drilling — it will also depend on efficiency standards that Romney has opposed. Mitt Romney’s plan spends a lot of time talking about drilling. But it’s worth noting that both the EIA and Citigroup credit the Obama administration’s new fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks as a major part of America’s lurch toward energy independence. By 2025, the increased CAFE standards are expected to reduce U.S. oil consumption by about 2.2 million barrels per day. Without those rules, energy independence looks nearly impossible. And Romney, for his part, has pledged to overturn those fuel-economy rules.” [Wonk Blog, Washington Post, 8/23/12]

ROMNEY PROMISES TO GET TRADE TO WORK WITH A “CRACK DOWN ON CHINA WHEN THE CHEAT”

REALITY: ROMNEY CRITICIZED PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR IMPOSING TARIFFS ON CHINESE TIRES CALLING IT “PROTECTIONISM” AND “BAD FOR THE NATION AND OUR WORKERS”

Romney Attacked Obama’s Chinese Tire Tariffs As “Bad For The Nation And Our Workers” And Called It “Protectionism.” “President Obama’s action to defend American tire companies from foreign competition may make good politics by repaying unions for their support of his campaign, but it is decidedly bad for the nation and our workers. Protectionism stifles productivity.” [Romney, No Apology: Case for American Greatness, Page 119 (audio available), released 3/2/10]

The International Trade Commission Estimated That Tariffs On Chinese Tires Would Save The Equivalent Of Approximately 1,200 American Jobs. “Commissioner Lane notes that in the first year of relief, the average of the outcomes from the COMPAS Model shows that the domestic industry’s domestic sales are likely to increase by approximately 6.8 million units on average. Although the model does not specifically project the impact of such an  increase in output on employment, at the highest level of productivity reflected in the period of investigation 6.8 million tires would equate to over 2.3 million additional hours for production related workers in the industry. While these hours may be a combination of additional hours for existing employees and new jobs, they nevertheless equate to nearly 1,200 jobs on a full-time basis.” [International Trade Commission Report, July 2009

President Obama Has Brought Trade Cases Against China At Twice The Rate Of His Predecessor. The Obama Administration has filed 8  complaints against China with the World Trade Organization. Under the eight years of the Bush Administration, the U.S. filed 7 complaints against China with the WTO. [WTO List Of Disputes Cases, Accessed 9/15/12; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 9/16/12]

ROMNEY PROMISES TO IMPROVE EDUCATION

THE ROMNEY-RYAN BUDGET COULD CUT MORE THAN $115 BILLION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OVER THE NEXT DECADE

If Cuts Were Applied Across The Board, The Ryan Budget Would Slash Education, “The Department Of Education Would Be Cut By More Than $115 Billion Over A Decade.” “Yesterday, House Republicans released their budget resolution for FY 2013… On top of the roughly $1 trillion in cuts in the Budget Control Act, it would be difficult to overstate the radicalism of the domestic cuts proposed by the House budget resolution. In 2013, it would cut annual non-defense funding by 5 percent. By 2014, the resolution would cut this funding by 19 percent in purely nominal terms… The Department of Education would be cut by more than $115 billion over a decade.” [Jeff Zients, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, WH.gov, 3/21/12]

• If Cuts Were Applied Across The Board, The Ryan Budget Would Cut Elementary And Secondary Education Funding By $4.8 Billion. According to the White House, cuts to elementary and secondary education, special education funding would total $4,847,000,000 under the Ryan Budget. [White House, 4/6/12]

ROMNEY’S PLAN: VOUCHERIZE AMERICA’S PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM WHILE OFFERING NO PLAN TO FIX FAILING PUBLIC SCHOOLS                                  

Romney Proposed A “Voucher-Style System” For Education. “Shifting from the economy to education, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was proposing a voucher-style system that could significantly alter the public school system and revive the debate over school choice.” [Associated Press, 5/23/12]

Romney’s Education Plan Says That Students Should Be Allowed To Escape Failing Public Schools By Using Federal Dollars To Pay For Private Schools, Online Schools And Other Alternative Settings. “Calling it a ‘national education emergency,’ Mitt Romney said Wednesday that poor and disabled children should be allowed to escape failing public schools by using federal dollars to pay for private schools, online schools and other alternative settings.” [Washington Post, 5/23/12]

Former Education Secretary To George W. Bush Margaret Spellings Said She Stopped Advising Romney After He “Rejected Strong Federal Accountability Measures” Because Vouchers And Choice As Drivers Of Accountability Are “Untried And Untested.” “One notable skeptic is Margaret Spellings, a former education secretary under Mr. Bush, who this year was an informal adviser to Mr. Romney. She said she withdrew once the candidate rejected strong federal accountability measures.  ‘I have long supported and defended and believe in a muscular federal role on school accountability,’ Ms. Spellings said. ‘Vouchers and choice as the drivers of accountability — obviously that’s untried and untested.’” [New York Times, 6/11/12]

REALITY: ROMNEY WOULD RETURN THE MIDDLE MAN TO STUDENT LOANS AND SLASH FUNDING FOR PELL GRANTS

If Cuts Were Applied Across The Board, The Ryan Budget Would Slash Education, Meaning “9.6 Million Students Would See Their Pell Grants Fall By More Than $1000 In 2014, And, Over The Next Decade, Over One Million Students Would Lose Support Altogether.” [Jeff Zients, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, WH.gov, 3/21/12]

Romney’s Proposal To Repeal President Obama’s Overhaul To The Federal Student Loan Program Would Be “A Return To Bank-Based Student Lending.” “The presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney pledged Wednesday that, if elected, he would reshape or do away with two major Obama administration higher education policy initiatives: the overhaul of the federal student loan program and tighter regulations on for-profit colleges…He also calls for a return to bank-based student lending, which was phased out beginning in 2010 as part of the health care overhaul.” [Inside Higher Ed, 5/24/12]

• Steve Benen: Romney’s Education Agenda “Vows To Bring The Middleman Back” To The Student-Loan System. “One of the overlooked accomplishments of President Obama’s term is the reform of the student-loan system — an effort that was decades in the making, but had been blocked by Republicans and bank lobbyists until 2010. Under the old system, the student-loan industry received billions in taxpayer subsidies to provide a service the government could perform for less. As Rachel explained on the show a month ago, in 2010, Democrats removed the middleman, streamlined the process, saved taxpayers a ton of money, and helped more young people get college degrees. Yesterday, Mitt Romney unveiled a new education agenda, which vows to bring the middleman back.” [Steve Benen, MSNBC, 5/24/12]

ROMNEY CALLED PRESIDENT OBAMA “OUT OF TOUCH” FOR ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO PURSUE MANUFACTURING JOBS

Romney Said “The President Seems To Be Out Of Touch” For Encouraging Young People To Pursue Manufacturing Jobs. “At the stop in Detroit, Romney said Obama showed he was ‘out of touch’ this week when he encouraged young people to pursue manufacturing jobs. ‘Last month, 5,000 people lost their jobs in manufacturing,’ Romney said. ‘The president seems to be out of touch.’” [Detroit News, 6/9/11]

Wall Street Journal: Romney “Twice This Month Said That The President Was Out Of Touch For Suggesting Young People Go Into Manufacturing” But “We Have Had Manufacturing Growth That Rivals The Levels Of The 1980s.”  Jonathan Weisman said in an interview on the manufacturing industry: “Actually, Obama sees and opening here because Mitt Romney, twice this month said that the president was ‘out of touch’ for suggesting young people go into manufacturing, go into community college to study, different kind of high-end manufacturing techniques and if fact if you look at the sort of sluggish recovery of jobs, manufacturing is one of the bright spots. Not particularly beaming but we have had good strong manufacturing growth. We have had manufacturing growth that rivals the levels of the 1980s.” [News Hub, Wall Street Journal, 6/24/11]

ROMNEY PROMISES TO CUT FEDERAL SPENDING

REALITY: ROMNEY PROPOSED $5 TRILLION IN NEW TAX CUTS AND $2 TRILLION IN ADDITIONAL DEFENSE SPENDING BUT THE ONLY SPECIFICS ROMNEY HAS LAID OUT “WOULD MAKE THE DEFICIT BIGGER, NOT SMALLER, AND ADD TO THE DEBT, NOT SUBTRACT FROM IT”

Los Angeles Times: “Romney Says He Wants To Balance The Budget Within Four Years, But He Has Not Spelled Out A Plan To Do So.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/27/12]

• Los Angeles Times: Romney Has Only Spoken In Specifics About Plans That “Would Make The Deficit Bigger, Not Smaller, And Add To The Debt, Not Subtract From It.” “Romney says he wants to balance the budget within four years, but he has not spelled out a plan to do so. Instead, most of the plans he has talked about specifically – significant new tax cuts, increased defense spending, no changes in Medicare or Social Security until people now 55 reach retirement age, postponing the automatic spending cuts scheduled to start Jan. 1 – would make the deficit bigger, not smaller,  and add to the debt, not subtract from it.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/27/12]

Center On Budget And Policy Priorities: Romney’s New Tax Cuts Would Cost $4.9 Trillion Over A Decade, On Top Of The Cost Of Extending The Bush Tax Cuts. “The Tax Policy Center estimates that the Romney tax plan would lose about $480 billion in tax revenue in calendar year 2015, beyond the revenues losses inherent in maintaining current policy (such as continuing all of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts). Over the 2014-2022 period, that implies a total reduction in revenues of about $4.9 trillion, relative to current tax policy.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/21/12]

• Washington Post Headline: “Romney Confirms His Tax Cuts Won’t Be Paid For.” [Greg Sargent , Washington Post, 8/3/12]

PolitiFact: “The President Said Romney Planned To Increase Defense Spending By $2 Trillion And That Was Money The Military Hadn’t Asked For… We Rate The Statement True.” “The president said Romney planned to increase defense spending by $2 trillion and that was money the military hadn’t asked for. Independent analysts confirm that number, and Romney did not deny it. Military leaders have testified in support of the president’s spending plan, and we found no evidence of disagreement behind the scenes. We rate the statement True.” [Politifact, 10/5/12]

• Wall Street Journal: “[Romney’s] Defense Spending Plans, Which Could Add Another $2 Trillion To The Budget Over The Next Decade, Further Complicate His Math.”   [Wall Street Journal, 8/13/12]

ROMNEY PROMISES TO CUT TAXES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

REALITY: THE ROMNEY-RYAN TAX HIKE COULD RAISE TAXES FOR 30 MILLION SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

If Romney’s Tax Plan Was Paid For, Taxpayers Making Less Than $200,000 Would See Average Tax Increases. [Tax Policy Center, On The Distributional Effects Of Base-Broadening Income Tax Reform, p. 16, 8/1/12]

• Politifact: “To Make Romney’s Plan Revenue Neutral,” Those Making Less Than $200,000 Would “See Outright Tax Increases.” “But to make Romney’s plan revenue neutral, deductions would also have to be removed for people with incomes below $200,000, and the effects of that would be significant, the study found. In fact, the elimination of the deductions would mean outright tax increases for everyone with incomes below $200,000. People with taxable income between $50,000 and $75,000, for example, would see an average net tax increase of $641. They’d save $984 from Romney’s rate cut, but lose $2,672 in write-offs.” [Politifact, 8/3/12]

Tax Policy Center: Nearly 30 Million Americans With Business Income Earn Less Than $200,000. According to Tax Policy Center data on tax units with business income, there are: 2,762,000 that earn less than $10,000; 3,089,000 that earn between $10,000 and $20,000; 2,983,000 that earn between $20,000 and $30,000; 2,904,000 that earn between $30,000 and $40,000; 2,558,000 that earn between $40,000 and $50,000; 4,796,000 that earn between $50,000 and $75,000; 3,861,000 that earn between $75,000 and $100,000; and 6,568,000 that make between $100,000 and $200,000. In total, there are 29,522,000 tax units with business income that earn less than $200,000. [Tax Policy Center, T11-0148 – Baseline Distribution of Business Income, by Cash Income Level; Current Law, 2011, 6/7/11]

REALITY: THE ROMNEY-RYAN BUDGET COULD CUT SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION FUNDING BY 19% – A CUT OF $170 MILLION

The Ryan Budget Would Cut Domestic Discretionary Spending By 19 Percent, And “Since The House Has Refused To Specify What Would Be Cut, We Consider The Impacts If The Cuts Are Distributed Equally Across The Budget.” “Yesterday, House Republicans released their budget resolution for FY 2013… On top of the roughly $1 trillion in cuts in the Budget Control Act, it would be difficult to overstate the radicalism of the domestic cuts proposed by the House budget resolution.  In 2013, it would cut annual non-defense funding by 5 percent.  By 2014, the resolution would cut this funding by 19 percent in purely nominal terms. Over a decade, the resolution would cut over $1 trillion in non-defense spending on top of the reductions the President has already signed into law.  The cuts in non-defense discretionary funding are nearly three times as deep as the cuts under the so-called sequester — cuts that we and most objective analysts have always regarded as an unwise and unacceptable. What would it all mean? The Budget doesn’t say.  In fact, the Budget resolution includes a magic asterisk — or, in more technical parlance, an ‘allowance’— for $897 billion in unspecified cuts. But what could the resolution mean?  Since the House has refused to specify what would be cut, we consider the impacts if the cuts are distributed equally across the Budget. The result would be that.” [Jeff Zients, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, WH.gov, 3/21/12]

2012: The Enacted Small Business Administration Budget Was $900 Million. [Fiscal year 2013 Budget, Office of Management & Budget, p. 240]

FACT CHECK: Ryan Requested Stimulus Funds for His District

While Congressman Ryan attacked the Recovery Act tonight, he apparently forgot to check his own record. As Congressman, he understood that the Recovery Act was helping to create jobs and sent letters to federal agencies asking for Recovery Act dollars to help create jobs in his district.