THE DEFICIT
“In reality, using the most appropriate comparison, he and Congress have actually decreased the deficit slightly. We rate Romney’s statement False.”
“OBAMACARE”
“That number is cherry-picked, and many of those 20 million will be leaving employer coverage voluntarily for better options. Romney also ignores that under the status quo, many more people today “lose” coverage than even the highest, cherry-picked CBO estimate. We rate his statement False.”
“For three years, Republicans have insisted that the health care reform bill amounts to a government takeover of health care. Romney’s statement that the law puts government between you and your doctor is another iteration of that claim.
The law does aim to improve the quality and efficiency of care. At some level, that would change what doctors do. Physicians are wary of change, and the way the law will work is complex. But we found no hard evidence to support the claim that doctors would be forced to make bad decisions. In contrast, we found many provisions that support an open process geared toward providing better care.
Primary care doctors seem most inclined to support the law, as do a large number of physician professional associations.
Support for the law is weaker among specialists, who are more likely to question what it means for their compensation and more likely to face scrutiny for using high-cost tests and procedures. But that doesn’t mean the government is placing itself between doctors and patients. The law is complex, but it leaves intact the private sector delivery of health care.
Overall, we found some concerns that government influence over the private insurance market will dictate doctor behavior. But statements like Romney’s overstate the level of government control in the law and ignore state flexibility in setting insurance standards.
Romney’s campaign offered no evidence to back up this claim. We rule this statement False.”
“…that only accounts for outlays in one year, 2016. Because of the revenue sources that the law established, repealing it actually adds significantly to the deficit over the long haul, according to the CBO. We rate Romney’s statement False.”
“WHEN ‘I’ WAS THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS…”
“We believe the measure that best fits Romney’s no-frills claim is to use raw dollars — and by that measure, spending rose by an average of about 5 percent per year during Romney’s term. We also should note that many of Romney’s efforts to shape the budget were summarily rejected by the Democratic legislature, so claiming full credit for any budgetary trends on his watch is a stretch. On balance, we rate Romney’s claim False.”
Note: This list only includes TWO of the falsehoods he uttered during the Presidential Debate, he has PLENTY more “false” or “mostly false” statements that came out during the debate and definitely well before it. The PolitiFact article has statements from as far back as 2007.
Mitt Romney exhibits the worst characteristics of both Richard Nixon and George W. Bush – deceitful and naive. He is NOT the answer.
