Fact-checking Sarah Palin’s Acceptance Speech
Sarah Plain’s speech at the Republican convention last night was about what I expected: lots of charm, not much substance. She told a couple of good jokes, for instance, and she has a cute little voice that is disarming even when she oozes with sarcasm.
Hilzoy at CBS News points out the biggest problem with Palin’s speech – she told a lot of lies. Here are some of them:
Palin: “I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks,” for that Bridge to Nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves.”
Just to reiterate what others have said: Congress’ requirement that funds be spent on that bridge (aka the ‘earmark’) were removed before Sarah Palin became governor. She was therefore in no position to tell Congress anything about the bridge, one way or the other. During her campaign, she said she supported funding for the bridge…
Palin: “But listening to him [Obama] speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform – not even in the state senate.”
I gave a rundown of Obama’s accomplishments in the Senate here. They include the Lugar-Obama bill on nonproliferation, and an ethics reform package that the Washington Post called “the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet.” Ruth Marcus summarizes his record on reform:
“He helped pass a far-reaching ethics and campaign finance bill in the Illinois state Senate and made the issue a priority on arriving in Washington. Much to the displeasure of his colleagues, Obama promoted an outside commission to handle Senate ethics complaints. He co-authored the lobbying reform bill awaiting President Bush’s signature and pushed — again to the dismay of some colleagues — to include a provision requiring lawmakers to report the names of their lobbyist-bundlers. He has co-sponsored bills to overhaul the presidential public financing system and public financing of Senate campaigns.”
And I wasn’t aware that writing memoirs was something to be ashamed of. Obama has, in fact, written only one. McCain (with Mark Salter) has written at least two…
Palin: “America needs more energy … our opponent is against producing it.”
No — he plans to develop a lot more energy than John McCain does. It’s just that a lot of it is renewable, not carbon-based. Moreover, Obama hasn’t skipped the last eight votes on renewable energy.
Palin: “The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes … raise payroll taxes … raise investment income taxes … raise the death tax … raise business taxes … and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that’s now opened for business – like millions of others who run small businesses. How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up?”
Well, it all depends whose taxes go up, doesn’t it? If Heather and her husband make less than $250,000, their taxes will not go up. Most Americans will pay less in taxes under Obama’s plan than under McCain’s. So they might well be better off.
I found it interesting that Palin didn’t actually say that her sister’s taxes would go up with Obama’s plan, she simply implied that they would, which made me think that she must know that, in fact, they wouldn’t go up. Why else would she miss the opportunity to point out the exact figure?
For your convenience, here is an easy-to-read chart of how Obama and McCain’s tax plans would affect Americans’ income (see previous post). As you can see, the richer you are, the more your income would increase under McCain’s tax plan. Average people, on the other hand, would get an increase in income under Obama’s plan.
I’ve heard the claim several times at Republican events that Barack Obama will raise taxes. I suppose if the Republican party members at these events all make more than $250,000, then it’s true that their taxes will be raised under Obama’s plan. Not mine, though.
Graphs courtesy of TaxProfBlog
Photo courtesy of the BBC
You’ve got it in the last two sentences. Remember, they’re not rich until they make $5,000,000.
I don’t know what to think of her to tell you the truth. I keep reading people’s comments that they so identify with her. It reminds me of the I want to have a beer with George Bush thing. I really don’t get it. I identify with a lot of friends and family, but that doesn’t mean I want them running my country.
Great post, I just wish more people would stumble upon it. Unfortunately many people, 1) have their mind made up and there is no changing it, or 2) are uninformed and will believe whatever their party tells them.
Good post. Let’s keep spreading the word. Check out the video I just posted at my blog.