A reply to a lie
Here- in slightly expanded form- is my response:
Which is, of course, itself a lie- as you'd know if you'd simply been reading this blog.
The bill which Huckabee brought before the Arkansas legislature on meth sales, which the Romney ad claims showed how weak he is on crime, had a minimum penalty of ten years for a first offense.
The bill which Romney brought before the Massachusetts legislature, which the Romney ad claims proves that he is tougher on meth sellers than Huckabee is, had a minimum pentalty for the first offense of two and a half years.
What's more, Romney couldn't even get his bill passed!
Now, it's true that the Huckabee bill lowered the penalty- at the request of Arkansas prosecutors, who had to deal with catastrophic overcrowding in the prisons- for first time offenders. But the fact remains that Huckabee's law was four times tougher on first time meth dealers than the bill Romney tried, and failed, to get passed in Massachusetts.
See here for details. Huckabee was far tougher on meth dealers than Romney was- and far more effective, too. Claiming the opposite is just plain lying, son.
Romney claims in his ad that he was praised by certain newspapers for the dubious record of never having exercised executive clemency in a state whose judicial system certainly isn't perfect. fact, those very newspapers criticized him for it.
That's a lie, too.
For information on the actual impact of alleged "law 'n' order" man Mitt Romney's incredible judicial appointments- he had a strong pattern of passing over Republicans in favor of Democrats who later turned out to be major embarassments- see this.
Here and here are articles from the non-partisan site FactCheck.org on the misrepresentations of fact in Romney's attack ads on Mike Huckabee (that's lawyer talk for lies).
Here is the same site's analysis of the dishonest ad the Romney campaign is currently using to smear John McCain in New Hampshire and falsely enhance Romney's own record.
And here is an article on the ad being run both in Iowa and in New Hampshire in which Romney misrepresents his own record on immigration.
My friend, were I a supporter of Mitt Romney- who is as clueless about the meaning of "saw" is as Bill Clinton claimed to be about the meaning of "is-" slick is one word I'd never use about one of my opponents. The bottom line is that Mitt Romney has a real problem with the truth, which he keeps demonstrating over and over- and that he's currently demonstrating it in dishonest and deceitful attack ads both against both Mike Huckabee in Iowa and John McCain in New Hampshire.
Huck has tried to play nice. If he doesn't finish first in Iowa, it will be because he didn't respond in kind when Romney went negative. But the fact is that the Romney campaign's ads are lies is no secret- except, perhaps, to Romney supporters who don't want to face the facts about them. It's been pointed out over and over and over again.The problem, of course, is that once a lie starts getting repeated several times a day on every commercial TV station in town, people are going to start believing it even if it is refuted.
Which is exactly what your guy is counting on. Personally, I don't think he should be allowed to get away with it.
Comments
Mike Huckabee - did the Arkansas budget go from 6 billion dollars to 16 billion dollars during your time as governor? If not, what is that actual dollar amount your budget increased during your time as governor?
On meth. Did Huckabee increase penalties, or reduce them?
Yes, he granted that number of commutations and pardons. If any were inappropriate, that would be news. The mere number is not. What is relevant is that to my knowledge the only controversial prison release of Huck's term was one which- though he is blamed for it by his critics- he played no official role.
There is clearly something wrong, however, with Romney's not having issued any- unless the Massachusetts judicial system is perfect. And there's certainly something wrong with the Romney ad lying and saying that specific newspaper editorials which criticized that record in regard
which in fact criticized it.
Mike Huckabee did indeed- on the advice of prosecutors- move to reduce penalties for first time meth sellers which were probably excessive and which contributed to
massive overcrowding in the prisons to a level only four times as severe as the level Mitt Romney's failed bill set. And there is certainly something wrong that these numbers show anything but that Huck was a great deal tougher on meth dealers than Romney.
Yes, the budget in Arkansas- a poor state with a collapsing infrastructure which left no alternative went up by ten million dollars during the Huckabee years-
while during a single term Mitt Romney presented the people of Massachusets with seven hundred million in new taxes, in the face of no such urgent need.
Any more questions?
That press release from former Tennessee Sen. Thompson accuses Huckabee of more than doubling state spending, from $6.6 billion to $16.1 billion at the end of 2006. But those numbers aren't correct. When we talked to Mike Stormes, the administrator of the Office of Budget for the state of Arkansas, we discovered a different story. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, we found that spending in fiscal year 1998 (the first budget for which Huckabee was responsible) was actually $10.4 billion, while spending at the end of 2006 was $15.6 billion. That’s a big increase, but it’s a far cry from doubling state spending. Being fair and balanced, Thompson was wrong, but still a very large increase...was the 10 million a typo or did you mean 10 billion, either way it was a 5.2 billion increase in spending. Spending increased by like .4 billion under Romney and as for "no such urgent need" Massachusetts was at its lowest point economy-wise and jobs since WWII, and thanks to Romney is no longer in a recession...
Economic Data On Governor Romney's Term:
Massachusetts Added 57,600 Jobs Since The Recession Ended In December 2003 And Until The End Of Governor Romney's Term. "Massachusetts has added 57,600 payroll jobs since December 2003." (Massachusetts Department Of Workforce Development, "Jobs In Massachusetts Up By 1,700 In December," Press Release, 1/18/07)
- Boston Business Journal: "Thousands Of People Are Re-Entering Massachusetts' Work Force As Its Jobs Engine ... Continues To Gain Traction." (Craig M. Douglas, "The Massachusetts Job Creators," Boston Business Journal, 1/1/07)
From 2003-2005 Massachusetts Led All New England States In Economic Growth. "Massachusetts' economic growth accelerated 2.9 percent last year, best in New England..." (Robert Gavin, "Mass. Economy Grew 2.9% In '06, Best In New England," The Boston Globe, 6/8/07)
During Governor Romney's Term, Massachusetts Per Capita Personal Income Grew By 14%, Outpacing Per Capita Personal Income Growth For The Entire United States. In 2003, Massachusetts per capita personal income was $39,442 and rose to $45,877 in 2006. (Department Of Commerce, Bureau Of Economic Analysis, "State Annual Personal Income," www.bea.gov, Accessed: 7/29/07)
In 2005, Massachusetts Had A Per Capita Personal Income (PCPI) Of $43,501. This PCPI Ranked 3rd In The United States And Was 126 Percent Of The National Average, $34,471. (Department Of Commerce, Bureau Of Economic Analysis, "State BEARFACTS 1995 – 2005: Massachusetts," www.bea.gov, Accessed: 7/29/07)
i like the copy and paste buttons, don't have time to do all that research.