Don't lie to, or about, Nancy Pelosi.
In a new media roundtable discussion on Monday, Nancy Pelosi didn't mince words about the Romney/Ryan problem with the truth. From the lies about what President Obama has done with Medicare and welfare reform, to the lies about their own plans, Pelosi says Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a problem with "fidelity to facts."
On the welfare lies:
I will say this, flat out, no equivocation. No if, ands or buts. It's totally false. It's totally false. It's simply not true. So when people say what do you think, what the purpose of it? The purpose of it is to mislead. I'll leave it up to you to make a judgment of whether—how close on the spectrum it is to Willie Horton or whatever. But it is not true.
On the Medicare lies:
It is not true. It's not true what they say about Medicare, that a person who would be president of the United States would misrepresent the facts to such an extent. It isn't true that the Democrats took several hundred billion dollars and used it for Obamacare. What we did was pour it back into Medicare so it prolonged its life, reduced the cost of prescription drugs to seniors and had free wellness without co-pay or deductible for seniors. It strengthened Medicare.
On the Romney/Ryan tax plan:
And it's not true what they're saying about taxes—tax cuts for the rich being a job creator. George W. Bush. More jobs performed in the private sector when President Obama was president in one year, lest you forget, than in the eight years of the Bush administration. And I said private sector.
On the Romney/Ryan campaign, in general:
Look, I think I've seen it all in politics and nothing surprises me. But the level of misrepresentation, I don't even like to even use stronger language than that ‘cause I don't talk that way. Some people have other words for it. But the level of misrepresentation, you have to wonder, does George Rom—what is his name?—Mitt Romney know what he's talking about? Is this being fed to him and he has no basis for judgment? Does he know what he's talking about and has made a decision to misrepresent? [...]
But the welfare thing is—they're brazen. You have to give them credit for being brazen, because it's a total misrepresentation. But then again they don't know when the factory was closed in their district or how fast they run or anything else, so maybe fidelity to facts is not something that is a commitment on their part.
And, finally: "Who they are is very obvious [...] [a]nd they're misrepresenting it to the public. [...] But for them to misrepresent with President Obama and what the congressional Democrats have done, it's up to us to push back."
If everyone is as fired up as Nancy Pelosi is this week, expect a lot of pushing back.
Listen:
Transcript below the fold.
Q: What's [Romney] going for on this attack on Obama for supposedly ending the work requirement for welfare?
PELOSI: Well, I will say this, flat out, no equivocation. No if, ands or buts. It's totally false. It's totally false. It's simply not true. So when people say what do you think, what the purpose of it? The purpose of it is to mislead. I'll leave it up to you to make a judgment of whether—how close on the spectrum it is to Willie Horton or whatever. But it is not true.
And that is the—we get back to where we began. Insistence on the truth. It is not true. It's not true what they say about Medicare, that a person who would be president of the United States would misrepresent the facts to such an extent. It isn't true that the Democrats took several hundred billion dollars and used it for Obamacare. What we did was pour it back into Medicare so it prolonged its life, reduced the cost of prescription drugs to seniors and had free wellness without co-pay or deductible for seniors. It strengthened Medicare.
It's not true what he's saying about welfare reform. And it's not true what they're saying about taxes—tax cuts for the rich being a job creator. George W. Bush. More jobs performed in the private sector when President Obama was president in one year, lest you forget, than in the eight years of the Bush administration. And I said private sector. So it's just fraught with . . . Look, I think I've seen it all in politics and nothing surprises me. But the level of misrepresentation, I don't even like to even use stronger language than that ‘cause I don't talk that way. Some people have other words for it. But the level of misrepresentation, you have to wonder, does George Rom—what is his name?—Mitt Romney know what he's talking about? Is this being fed to him and he has no basis for judgment? Does he know what he's talking about and has made a decision to misrepresent?
Because the fact is this: Medicare is on the ballot. Social Security is on the ballot. Women's issues are on the ballot. The American Dream is on the ballot. The character of our country is on the ballot. And if they win, Medicare is gone. No matter what they try to say. They are hiding in plain sight a plan to make Medicare “wither on the vine.” That's their language. That's their language.
And you take a Scott Akin to get that—what's this—Todd Akin? I have a denial about some of these people. What's his first name, Todd Akin? They're separating themselves from Todd Akin, isn't that something? They're like this in the Congress. Publicly, oh my God, how shocking. Like this in the Congress. Paul Ryan is on all of those bills, forcible rape, all the rest of it that disrespect women and does not trust their judgment.
So, there are two things. They again, they're hiding in plain sight. Who they are is very obvious. And they're telling us who they are in their documents. And they're misrepresenting it to the public. And that's one thing. But for them to misrepresent with President Obama and what the congressional Democrats have done, it's up to us to push back.
We must insist on the truth. You are the agents of truth. I'm counting on you in this regard. But the welfare thing is—they're brazen. You have to give them credit for being brazen, because it's a total misrepresentation. But then again they don't know when the factory was closed in their district or how fast they run or anything else, so maybe fidelity to facts is not something that is a commitment on their part.