Ryan's stimulus flip flop could prove costly

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PAUL RYAN HECKLED AT TOWN HALL: ‘WHY DID YOU LIE ABOUT ACCEPTING STIMULUS FUNDS?’

By Rebecca Leber/Think Progress

 At a Virginia town hall Friday, a man interrupted vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and asked him why he denied securing more than $20 million in stimulus funds for a local energy efficiency organization. He yelled, “Why did you lie about accepting stimulus funds.” Laughing off the question, Ryan simply moved on where he left off. Watch the video:

After Documents Show Paul Ryan Secured $20 Million In Stimulus Grants, He Claims ‘I Never Asked For Stimulus’

By Stephen Lacey/Think Progress

On Tuesday, the Boston Globe and Associated Pressreported on documents showing that GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan had secured more than $20 million in stimulus funds for a local energy efficiency organization.

According to the reports, the documents showed that Ryan also brought in $5.4 million for local bus services. His requests came at the same time he was publicly calling the stimulus a “wasteful spending spree.”

However, in an interview with a local Ohio television news station, Ryan claimed he never secured funding through the program, saying “I never asked for stimulus.”

Watch it, courtesy of local ABC affiliate 9 News.

The Associated Press wrote a follow-up story to Ryan’s comments:

Ryan’s statement directly counters the evidence of four letters obtained by the AP which the congressman wrote to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, praising energy programs supported by the stimulus and requesting funds for initiatives in his district.

Ryan’s private praise for Department of Energy programs and his written requests for stimulus funds contradict not only his public criticism of the 2009 stimulus bill, but also many of the budget priorities he has laid out, including cuts to investments in green technologies.

Raising further questions about the vice presidential candidate’s claim today that he never sought stimulus money, Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck referred AP to previous explanations by the congressman’s office that by requesting funds Ryan was simply “providing a legitimate constituent service.”

Ryan is one of dozens of Congressional Republicans who have actively lobbied the government for loan guarantees and grants for clean energy companies in their districts — even while many of them railed on the stimulus program in the press.

Read Ryan’s 2009 letters here:

 
 

UPDATE

Ryan has issued a statement explaining why he falsely claimed he never requested Recovery funds:

“After having these letters called to my attention I checked into them, and they were treated as constituent service requests in the same way matters involving Social Security or Veterans Affairs are handled. This is why I didn’t recall the letters earlier,” he continued. “But they should have been handled differently, and I take responsibility for that. Regardless, it’s clear that the Obama stimulus did nothing to stimulate the economy, and now the President is asking to do it all over again.”

Stimulus facts get in the way of a good story

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Memo To Politifact: Conservatives Lie About The Stimulus All The Time

by Marcus Feldman/Media Matters

Politifact, the St.Petersburg Times fact-checking organization, has unveiled its annual "lie of the year" for 2011: the statement that "Republicans voted to end Medicare." This designation is deeply flawed, given that the assertion that "Republicans voted to end Medicare" is arguably a true statement.

But that isn't all that was wrong with Politifact's decision. Politifact's Editor Bill Adair wrote an editor's note trying to explain why Politifact's editors did not choose something else as their "lie of the year." And the explanation rings hollow.

Regarding the false claim that the stimulus created "zero jobs" (the winner in Politifact's reader poll), Politifact stated that "it was more a falsehood from last year." Similarly, regarding the false claim that Obama has traveled the world and "apologized for America," Adair noted that Romney says this repeatedly but claimed that "it wasn't picked up much by other candidates and didn't reach critical mass."

When asked about his explanation about the "zero jobs" lie by Media Matters' Joe Strupp, Adair said that the Lie of the Year "is a subjective decision of Politifact editors. ... [I]t's not based on data points."

Given how often the lies about the stimulus and the Obama apology tour were repeated by conservatives, it may have been helpful for Politifact to look at "data points" rather than just their editors' "subjective" sense of how widespread the lie was.

Conservatives Lie About The Stimulus' Effect On Job Creation All The Time

Adair acknowledges that the claim that the stimulus created zero jobs "had been a popular Republican talking point that was uttered by everyone from Rick Perry to the National Republican Senatorial Committee." Adair is right. Here are examples Politifact itself cited as examples of politicians lying about the stimulus not creating jobs:

• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA): The Stimulus "Failed To Get People Back To Work." [Politifact Virginia, 5/26/11],
• Texas Governor Rick Perry: The Stimulus "Created Zero Jobs." [Politifact 9/12/11]
• National Republican Senatorial Committee: The Stimulus Created "Zero Jobs." [Politifact Virginia10/13/11]

But the lie wasn't limited to politicians. The claim that the stimulus failed to get people back to work was also repeated ad nauseum by the right-wing media. The enduring popularity of these attacks on the stimulus is a testament to the stubborn perniciousness of the falsehood:

Here is a small sample of conservative attacks on the stimulus for supposedly failing to create jobs:

• Washington Times: Obama Sold The Stimulus As A Way To "Jump Start Job Creation," But It "Didn't Work."

As with Mr. Obama's $825 billion spending spree in 2009, the ostensible goal of the latest giveaway is to jump-start job creation. At least he has the priority straight. The economy failed to create any jobs at all last month, the unemployment rate has been stuck above 9 percent for most of this year, and the rate of long-term joblessness has been growing steadily while labor-force participation has declined. It's his "solution" that will make the situation worse. Temporary tax cuts and permanent spending on "shovel-ready" infrastructure didn't work in 2009, and they won't work now. [The Washington Times, 9/7/11]

• Fox Business Reporter Sandra Smith: "We know That The First Stimulus Failed." [Fox News, Hannity, 9/7/11]
• Stuart Varney: Unemployment Data Shows That "The First Stimulus Program Did Not Work."

VARNEY: Look, there's a lot of pressure on the president to come up with something big, bold and new come next Thursday evening. And there's a lot of skepticism that he can do it. Is he going to propose a brand new trillion dollar stimulus program? I mean, this forecast of nine percent unemployment is an admission that the first stimulus program did not work. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/2/11]

• Gretchen Carlson: "The Democrats Believe That Spending And Putting More Stimulus Money Into The Economy Is What Will Create Jobs ... So Far, Nothing Is Working For The Economy." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/4/11]
• The Washington Examiner: "Obama's Economic Stimulus Follies In 2009 Failed Miserably To Get The Economy Growing." [The Washington Examiner, 8/22/11]
• Charles Krauthammer: The $1 Trillion Stimulus "Won't Leave A Trace." [Fox News, Special Report, 5/31/11 via Media Matters]
• Sean Hannity: The "Failed Stimulus" Made The Recession "Worse." [Fox News, Hannity,7/13/11 via Media Matters]
• Discussing Unemployment Data, Eric Bolling Claimed: "All These Economics, These Stimulus Programs, Obamanomics, Epic Fail." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/30/11]
• Laura Ingraham: "The President's Economic Plan, The Stimulus, The Bailouts, More Big Government Stuff, Failed." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 2/4/11]

Conservatives Also Always Repeat The False Claim That Obama Apologizes For America

Adair also wrote off the false conservative talking point repeated ad nauseam by Mitt Romney that Obama engaged in an "apology tour":

Another finalist was Mitt Romney's claim that President Obama traveled the world and "apologized for America." Romney said this many times (he even titled his book No Apology), but it wasn't picked up much by other candidates and didn't reach critical mass.

However, Romney was hardly the only GOP candidate to make this claim in 2011. Here are a few examples:

• Tim Pawlenty. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty delivered a speech in February in which he demanded that Obama "stop apologizing for our country." (Pawlenty dropped out of the race in August.) [The Washington Post, 2/11/11]
• Rick Perry. In October, Rick Perry claimed that "this President has traveled around the country making excuses for America. Apologizing for America." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 11/18/11]
• Rick Santorum. Just two days before Politifact announced its lie of the year, Rick Santorum responded to the question "is President Obama undermining American statute in the world" by saying, in part: "We shouldn't be going around apologizing for America." [The Daily Caller, 12/18/11]

And other prominent conservative voices, including media figures and even former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have also repeated the falsehood in 2011. A Nexis search of Fox News primetime transcripts shows that people have accused Obama of going on an "apology tour" at least 16 times in 2011. And people have accused Obama of "apologizing for America" at least 11 times.

Some examples of these false attacks include:

• Liz Cheney: One Of The "Three Pillars" Of Obama's Foreign Policy Is "Apologizing For America." [Fox News, Hannity, 12/13/11, via Nexis]
• Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton: Recent Obama Actions Fit In "With The American Apology Tour. He Thinks America Shouldn't Be Documenting Its Victory. [Washington Times, 11/9/11]
• Investor's Business Daily: "The Obsessive Need Of This President To Apologize For American Exceptionalism And Our Defense Of Freedom Continued Recently."[Investors.com, 10/11/11]
• Michelle Malkin: Obama's "Apology Tour Has Been Around The World And Back."[MichelleMalkin.com, 8/31/11]
• Charles Krauthammer: "It's A Line Of Attack That Republicans Can Easily Use On The President And Ought To Use On The President." [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier,8/30/11]
• Sean Hannity: "[Obama] Went On An Apology Tour." [Fox News, Hannity, 6/21/11]
• Rush Limbaugh: "Of Course Obama Has Apologized" For America. [Premiere Radio Networks'The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/3/11]
• Heritage: "Though The President Has Embarked On A Worldwide "Apology Tour" For What He Believes Are America's Transgressions, He Now Truly Has Something To Apologize For." [The Heritage Foundation, 5/24/11]
• Fox's Steve Doocy: Will Obama's Speech To The Arab World "Turn Into Another Apology Tour?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/19/11]
• Donald Rumsfeld: "I Think He Had Made A Practice Of Trying To Apologize For America. I Personally Am Proud Of America." [CNN, 2/20/11]
• Glenn Beck on Obama: "I'm Not Really Feeling Confident That At The Dinner, Mr. Apology Tour Is Going To Stand Up And Give One For America." [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 1/18/11, via Nexis]
• Fox's Gretchen Carlson: "Some Would Say" That Obama Is "Apologizing To These Muslim Terrorists." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/7/11]

CHART: ‘LIFE WITHOUT STIMULUS’ — THE U.S. VS. THE U.K

From Think Progress

At Tax.com, Martin Sullivanrebuts those who claim that the 2009 Recovery Act (i.e. the stimulus) did nothing to boost the economy. “Republicans constantly remind us that the Obama stimulus — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — did not work. They voted against it. In the United Kingdom the government is led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. His government did not adopt stimulus,” Sullivan noted. “After three and a half years, U.S. GDP is just about returning to the pre-recession peak. That’s awful. But it’s far better than the U.K. where GDP is still five percent ($750 billion in US terms) below its pre-recession peak.”

(HT: Catherine Rampell)

Perry Claims Federal Stimulus ‘Didn’t Create Any Jobs,’ Ignoring The 50,000 It Created In Texas

By Marie Diamond and Travis Waldron/Think Progress

New GOP presidential contender Gov. Rick Perry (TX) continues to get a free pass from the press for his stimulus hypocrisy on the campaign trail. Last week the governor claimed that the Recovery Act signed by President Obama had “failed” — conveniently forgetting that he accepted more stimulus money than any other state besides California, and used the funds to close 97 percent of Texas’ massive budget deficit.

The Houston Chronicle reported that as of July 2010, federal stimulus funds created or saved 47,700 jobs in the Lone Star State. Yet today during a question-and-answer session in Pembroke, New Hampshire, Perry once again feigned ignorance of the indispenable benefits his state received from stimulus money. In fact, he claimed that the stimulus “didn’t create any jobs, as far as I can tell”:

QUESTION: If the stimulus plan didn’t work, then what do you think would help for unemployment?

PERRY: He asked, “If the stimulus didn’t work” – and the stimulus did not work, obviously all it did was create more debt in this country. It didn’t create any jobs, as far as I can tell, except for maybe those federal regulators that were increased.

Watch it:

So far, Texas has used $17.4 billion in federal stimulus money to keep schools open, ensure Medicaid coverage for children, and put more people to work on infrastructure projects. About half of that was spent on “shovel ready” projects — “things we would not have done with our own money,” says a senior budget analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities. Texas benefited disproportionately from the stimulus, using it to balance its budget two years in a row.

Ironically, Perry once aggressively pursued the federal aid he now denounces to pander to the far-right base. According to Time Magazine, in 2003, “lobbyists under Perry’s direction went to Capitol Hill to lobby the Republican Congress for more than a billion dollars” in stimulus-type funds. Over several years this lobbying campaign won funds for programs “Perry now says he opposes as fiscally irresponsible intrusions on state responsibilities.”

Texas received $4.3 billion in stimulus funds for Medicaid and $3.25 billion for public education. Without the generosity of the federal government Perry now decries, Texas would have had tolay off 565 caseworkers who investigate child abuse. Stimulus-funded child care and job training programs would also have ended. In short, Texans would have been much harder hit by the recession if the Recovery Act hadn’t been there to cushion the blow.

After Campaigning Against The Stimulus, GOP Freshman Attends Opening Ceremony At Stimulus-Funded Jobs Center

By Lee Fang




Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY), a freshman who won last year with Tea Party backing, campaigned vigorously against President Obama’s stimulus plan, a legislative package backed by his opponent, former Rep. Mike Arcuri (D-NY). Hanna’s ads pounded Arcuri for voting for the “failed stimulus.”

But on Tuesday, Hanna seemed to becelebrating a successful stimulus program. Starting in 2009, workers funded by thestimulus refurbished a jobs placement and innovation facility, called the REACH Center, in downtown Rome, NY. Owned by a nonprofit called Rome Up and Running, the REACH Center won the stimulus grant to employ several dozen local youth to make renovations to the building. The investment paid off. Now, the REACH Center is open for business and has landed two tenants.

As the first tenant for the REACH Center moved in this week, Hanna was on-hand for the celebration. In fact, the Rome Observer snapped a picture of Hanna attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony. No word though if he gave thanks to the “failed stimulus” for making it possible.

Can't Add It Up: Fox Still Misleading On Economy, Debt, Stimulus

From Media Matters:

Fox & Friends repeatedly attacked comments made by Democratic officials and legislators to suggest that the 2009 stimulus failed and that the Obama administration is primarily to blame for the nation's debt. In fact, economists have agreed that the stimulus promoted job growth and had positive economic effects, and several analyses have shown that most of the U.S. debt in the past decade can be attributed to former President Bush's tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Pelosi And Goolsbee Comment On Obama's Economic Policies

Goolsbee: "One Month Is Not A Trend. And The Last Six Months We've Added One Million Jobs In The Economy." On the June 5 edition of CNN's State of the Union, White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee said:

GOOLSBEE: What you want to look at are what are the recent trends. Because one month is not a trend. And the last six months we've added 1 million jobs in the economy. The last 15 months we've added 2 million jobs.

[...]

So I think that the president's plan, there is a plan, it has been working. We have been adding jobs significantly over the course of this year. We faced a stiff headwind and this was a tough month, but I don't think that we should abandon the idea that what we need to do now is get the private sector stood up. [CNN, 6/5/2011]

Pelosi: "If [Obama] Hadn't Taken The Actions That He Did ... The [Economic] Situation Would Be Worse." In an interview that aired on the June 5 edition of CBS's Face the Nation, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said:

What the president has done has improved the situation from where it may have been," Pelosi said. "If he hadn't taken the actions he did, the situation would be worse. He pulled us from the brink of the financial crisis, from an economic crisis, and now we have to dig out of a deep debt. And we have to also make it clear that we're not getting into this situation again. [CBS, Face The Nation, 6/5/11 via CBSNews.com]

Fox & Friends Mock Pelosi And Goolsbee, Pin Debt On Obama, Attack Stimulus

Carlson:  "How Long Can You Continue To Say" The Recession "Is Something That They Inherited?" On the June 6 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, the co-hosts discussed Goolsbee and Pelosi's comments about the economy. Co-host Gretchen Carlson said: 

CARLSON: The argument to me is, you know, how long can you continue to say that the hard hit recession of 2007, moving into 2008 is something that they inherited? I mean at one point, at what point does it become this administration's situation that they have to take full control for, and I think we're kind of teetering right now on the fact that it is their responsibility now and the policies that they've put into place to try and fix it. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/6/11]

Doocy Touts Noonan's Claim That "It Comes Down To Four Words: [Obama] Made It Worse."Co-host Steve Doocy referenced Peggy Noonan's recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, noting that Noonan "says it comes down to four words: [Obama] made it worse." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/6/11;Wall Street Journal, 6/3/11]

Varney: "With The Stimulus, [Unemployment] Should Never Have Risen Above 8, 8.5 Percent."Later during the show, the co-hosts discussed  Pelosi's and Goolsbee's comments on the economy with Fox Business host Stuart Varney. While "grading" Obama's economic policies, Varney claimed that "with the stimulus, [unemployment] should never have risen above 8, 8.5 percent," presumably referencing the administration's initial post-stimulus projection of unemployment rates, which was made prior to Obama taking office and prior to having access to the complete economic data at the time. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/6/11]

Perino Suggests The Stimulus Failed And That Obama's Policies Are Primarily Responsible For Debt. Later during the show, the co-hosts discussed Pelosi's and Goolsbee's comments with Fox News contributor Dana Perino, who suggested that the Obama administration's policies have made the economy worse and are responsible for much of the government's debt. From the broadcast:

CARLSON: So Dana, some would say that maybe the president would think that another stimulus plan would be the answer. But that probably wouldn't fly with the American public or Congress.

PERINO: I think their gut instinct and their ideology that they follow does lead them to believe that more government spending would actually help the economy. The problem for them is that people can add two plus two, and it equals the Obama administration and the policies that they've put in place. Let's unpack what Austan Goolsbee said just a little bit. He said, you know, last month was just a blip. OK, well, I hope that the June numbers, when we get them in July, they must -- maybe he knows something we don't know, but I doubt they're going to be spectacular. In addition, while he's right that they had added some jobs over the last six months, remember that economic growth for the country had been revised down from a pretty anemic 3 percent to a 1.8 percent. And the markets are rattled. Their situation is worse. And they're playing -- they have no plan to move forward.

DOOCY: Right.

PERINO: Their plan right now is to demagogue the Republicans' plan to actually try to do something about the debt. And when Nancy Pelosi talks about the debt, it's like oh, really? Where do you think it came from in the last three years? Not that it didn't accumulate over the decades. But in the last three years, they've doubled it. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/6/11, emphasis added]

Trump: The Stimulus Was "A Tremendous Waste Of Money." Later during the broadcast, the co-hosts discussed the economy with Donald Trump. Trump said that the "stimulus is gone, which was really false to start off with. It was a tremendous waste of money." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/6/11]

But Economists Agree That The Stimulus Raised Employment, Had "Very Substantial" Effects

Independent And Private Analysts: Stimulus Significantly Raised Employment. As Media Mattershas previously documented, many analysts confirmed that the stimulus significantly raised employment. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the stimulus increased the number of people employed, as of the second quarter of FY2010, by "between 1.4 million and 3.3 million." Moody's Economy.com estimated it would have created 1.9 million jobs by 2010. [Media Matters,9/26/10]

Economists: "The Effects Of The Fiscal Stimulus" On Economy "Appear Very Substantial."Economists also agreed that the stimulus was effective. A March 2010 study in The Wall Street Journalfound that 70 percent of economists surveyed said the stimulus "boosted growth and mitigated job losses." ABC News reported on February 18, 2010, that most of the economists on its panel thought the economy "would be worse today without the big aid package." And a February 2010 survey of 203 members of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) found that "[e]ighty-three percent believe that GDP is currently higher than it would have been without the 2009 stimulus package (ARRA)." [Media Matters, 9/26/10]

Eight Percent Unemployment Projection Made Before Data Was Released Showing "Far Worse" Economic Conditions

Initial Eight Percent Unemployment Projection Made Before Fourth-Quarter FY2008 Results. AsMedia Matters has previously noted, while Obama advisers initially predicted that after stimulus spending the unemployment rate would not exceed 8 percent -- a prediction made "10 days before Mr. Obama was inaugurated," according to The New York Times -- advisers later explained that this estimate was made before fourth-quarter results for the GDP were available. Jared Bernstein, then-economic advisor to the vice president, explained, "[W]hen we made our initial estimates, that was before we had fourth-quarter results on GDP, which we later found out was contracting on an annual rate of 6 percent, far worse than we expected at that time." [Media Matters, 6/9/09; The New York Times, 6/8/09]

Analyses Show Most U.S. Debt Can Be Attributed To Bush-Era Policies, Economic Downturn

Wash. Post Graphic Shows Bush Tax Cuts And Iraq Wars Contributed Most To Current Deficit.From a June 4 post on The Washington Post blog PostPolitics:

In the debate over the nation's rising debt, rhetoric trumps reality. In January 2001, the U.S. budget was balanced for the first time in decades and the Congressional Budget Office was forecasting surpluses totaling $5.6 trillion by 2011. A decade later, the national debt is larger, as a percentage of the economy, than at any time in U.S. history except for the period shortly after World War II.

[...]

In fact, 75 percent of the members currently serving in Congress voted for at least one -- and in most cases more than one -- of three policies that contributed to fully one-third of the $12.7 trillion swing from projected surpluses to real debt: President George W. Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and President Obama's 2009 stimulus bill.

The post also included the following graphic illustrating the CBO's estimates on how much Bush's tax cuts, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 2009 stimulus contributed to the current debt:

[The Washington Post, 6/4/11]

CBPP: "[V]irtually The Entire Deficit Over The Next Ten Years" Due To Bush Policies, Economic Downturn." The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) published an analysis of federal deficits in December 2009, which was updated on June 28, 2010, titled, "Critics Still Wrong on What's Driving Deficits in Coming Years: Economic Downturn, Financial Rescues, and Bush-Era Policies Drive the Numbers." The report noted:

Some critics continue to assert that President George W. Bush's policies bear little responsibility for the deficits the nation faces over the coming decade -- that, instead, the new policies of President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress are to blame.  Most recently, a Heritage Foundation paper downplayed the role of Bush-era policies (for more on that paper, see p. 4).  Nevertheless, the fact remains: Together with the economic downturn, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years.

The report also graphed the effects of Bush's policies and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the deficit. From the report:

[CBPP, updated 6/28/10, emphasis original, via Media Matters, 4/14/11]