VP Debate Facts
Wednesday, October 06, 2004Fact Sheet: John Edwards' At Least 14 Inaccurate Statements Last Night
1. Edwards Repeated Kerry's False Claim That $200 Billion Has Been Spent In Iraq When In Fact "The Cost Of The War To Date Has Been Slightly More Than $120 Billion." (Janet Hook, "Rivals' Bold Assertions Are Debatable," Los Angeles Times, 10/6/04)
2. FactCheck.Org: "Edwards Falsely Claimed The Administration 'Lobbied The Congress' To Cut The Combat Pay Of Troops In Iraq, Something The White House Never Supported." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
3. Edwards' False Assertion That The Administration "Sent 40,000 American Troops Into Iraq Without The Body Armor They Needed" Has Been Refuted By Vice Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Gen. Peter Pace Who Said "Every Soldier And Marine On The Ground Had Body Armor." (Calvin Woodward, "Cheney, Edwards Stretch Findings, Facts," The Associated Press, 10/6/04)
4. According To The Associated Press, Edwards' Attacks On Halliburton Contracts In Iraq Not Accurate Because "Congressional Auditors Recently Concluded U.S. Officials Met Legal Guidelines In Awarding" No-Bid Contracts. (Calvin Woodward, "Cheney, Edwards Stretch Findings, Facts," The Associated Press, 10/6/04)
5. According To The Washington Post, Edwards' Claim That Millionaires Pay A Lower Tax Rate Than The Men And Women Serving In Iraq Is False. "Edwards asserted that 'millionaires sitting by their swimming pool … pay a lower tax rate than the men and women who are receiving paychecks for serving' in Iraq. President Bush last year cut the tax rate on dividends to 15 percent, whereas most soldiers would be in a 15 percent tax bracket -- and pay an effective rate much less after taking deductions for children and mortgages." (Glenn Kessler And Jim VandeHei, "Misleading Assertions Cover Iraq War And Voting Records," The Washington Post, 10/6/04)
6. According To The Associated Press, Edwards Falsely Claimed There Was No Connection Between Iraq And Al Qaeda, When A Recent Senate Intelligence Committee Report Concluded "That The CIA Was Reasonable In Thinking There Were Probably Several Contacts" Between The Two. (Calvin Woodward, "Cheney, Edwards Stretch Findings, Facts," The Associated Press, 10/6/04)
7. Edwards Falsely Claimed That The U.S. Has Absorbed 90 Percent Of The Casualties In Iraq, When In Fact The Wall Street Journal Puts U.S. Casualties Closer To 50 Percent When You Include Iraqis Helping To Secure Their Own Country. "Our uniformed Iraqi allies, however, have already suffered at least 750 combat deaths. And that doesn't include the recruits who've been killed by car bombs as they've waited to enlist in the police or new Iraq army. Even using, er, liberal math, this would put U.S. killed-in-action at about 50% of the total." (Sen. John Edwards, Vice Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 10/5/04; Editorial, "Our Kerry Iraq Guide," The Wall Street Journal, 9/30/04)
8. FactCheck.Org: "[Edwards] Implied That Cheney Was In Charge Of [Halliburton] When It Did Business With Libya In Violation Of US Sanctions, But That Happened Long Before Cheney Joined The Company." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
9. FactCheck.Org: Edwards' Claim That No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Funding Is "$27 Billion Short" Is Wrong When "In Fact, Overall Federal Funding For Education Grew 58% In Bush's First Three Years." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
10. Despite Edwards' Assertion, President Bush "Simply Endorsed" An Amendment That Had Already Been Introduced On Capitol Hill, He Did Not Propose A Constitutional Amendment On Gay Marriage. (Glenn Kessler And Jim Vandehei, "Misleading Assertions Cover Iraq War And Voting Records," The Washington Post, 10/6/04)
11. According To The Washington Post, Edwards "Misleadingly Charged That The Bush Administration Is 'For Outsourcing Of Jobs.'" (Glenn Kessler And Jim VandeHei, "Misleading Assertions Cover Iraq War And Voting Records," The Washington Post, 10/6/04)
12. Edwards Inaccurately Claimed Kerry Voted Or Cosponsored 600 Tax Cuts. The reality is, since joining the Senate in 1985, only 5 of Kerry's own bills have become law, and none were tax bills. Tax bills Kerry has voted for include votes for Democrat alternative "tax cuts" like a 2001 vote that provided $747 billion less in tax relief. The fact is Kerry voted for higher taxes 350 times, including 98 times for tax increases totaling more than $2.3 trillion and at least 126 times against tax cuts totaling more than $5.3 trillion. (Sen. John Edwards, Vice Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 10/5/04; H.R. 1836, CQ Vote #119: Rejected 35-64: R 0-49; D 35-15, 5/21/01, Kerry Voted Yea; Senate Republican Policy Committee, "Tax Relief Act/Deny All Tax Relief Except For A 10-Percent Bracket," 5/21/01)
13. FactCheck.Org: Edwards' Job Figures "Omit The Growth In Employment By Federal, State And Local Governments. The Net Loss In Total Employment Is Actually 913,000 As Of August, The Most Recent Figures Available." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
14. Edwards Repeated Kerry's Exaggerated And False Claim Of Saying "We Had Osama Bin Laden Cornered At Tora Bora," When FactCheck.org Already Said Kerry "Overstates The Case." (Sen. John Edwards, Vice Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 10/5/04; "Distortions And Misstatements At First Presidential Debate," FactCheck.org, 10/1/04, http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=271, Accessed 10/1/04)
1. Edwards Repeated Kerry's False Claim That $200 Billion Has Been Spent In Iraq When In Fact "The Cost Of The War To Date Has Been Slightly More Than $120 Billion." (Janet Hook, "Rivals' Bold Assertions Are Debatable," Los Angeles Times, 10/6/04)
2. FactCheck.Org: "Edwards Falsely Claimed The Administration 'Lobbied The Congress' To Cut The Combat Pay Of Troops In Iraq, Something The White House Never Supported." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
3. Edwards' False Assertion That The Administration "Sent 40,000 American Troops Into Iraq Without The Body Armor They Needed" Has Been Refuted By Vice Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Gen. Peter Pace Who Said "Every Soldier And Marine On The Ground Had Body Armor." (Calvin Woodward, "Cheney, Edwards Stretch Findings, Facts," The Associated Press, 10/6/04)
4. According To The Associated Press, Edwards' Attacks On Halliburton Contracts In Iraq Not Accurate Because "Congressional Auditors Recently Concluded U.S. Officials Met Legal Guidelines In Awarding" No-Bid Contracts. (Calvin Woodward, "Cheney, Edwards Stretch Findings, Facts," The Associated Press, 10/6/04)
5. According To The Washington Post, Edwards' Claim That Millionaires Pay A Lower Tax Rate Than The Men And Women Serving In Iraq Is False. "Edwards asserted that 'millionaires sitting by their swimming pool … pay a lower tax rate than the men and women who are receiving paychecks for serving' in Iraq. President Bush last year cut the tax rate on dividends to 15 percent, whereas most soldiers would be in a 15 percent tax bracket -- and pay an effective rate much less after taking deductions for children and mortgages." (Glenn Kessler And Jim VandeHei, "Misleading Assertions Cover Iraq War And Voting Records," The Washington Post, 10/6/04)
6. According To The Associated Press, Edwards Falsely Claimed There Was No Connection Between Iraq And Al Qaeda, When A Recent Senate Intelligence Committee Report Concluded "That The CIA Was Reasonable In Thinking There Were Probably Several Contacts" Between The Two. (Calvin Woodward, "Cheney, Edwards Stretch Findings, Facts," The Associated Press, 10/6/04)
7. Edwards Falsely Claimed That The U.S. Has Absorbed 90 Percent Of The Casualties In Iraq, When In Fact The Wall Street Journal Puts U.S. Casualties Closer To 50 Percent When You Include Iraqis Helping To Secure Their Own Country. "Our uniformed Iraqi allies, however, have already suffered at least 750 combat deaths. And that doesn't include the recruits who've been killed by car bombs as they've waited to enlist in the police or new Iraq army. Even using, er, liberal math, this would put U.S. killed-in-action at about 50% of the total." (Sen. John Edwards, Vice Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 10/5/04; Editorial, "Our Kerry Iraq Guide," The Wall Street Journal, 9/30/04)
8. FactCheck.Org: "[Edwards] Implied That Cheney Was In Charge Of [Halliburton] When It Did Business With Libya In Violation Of US Sanctions, But That Happened Long Before Cheney Joined The Company." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
9. FactCheck.Org: Edwards' Claim That No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Funding Is "$27 Billion Short" Is Wrong When "In Fact, Overall Federal Funding For Education Grew 58% In Bush's First Three Years." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
10. Despite Edwards' Assertion, President Bush "Simply Endorsed" An Amendment That Had Already Been Introduced On Capitol Hill, He Did Not Propose A Constitutional Amendment On Gay Marriage. (Glenn Kessler And Jim Vandehei, "Misleading Assertions Cover Iraq War And Voting Records," The Washington Post, 10/6/04)
11. According To The Washington Post, Edwards "Misleadingly Charged That The Bush Administration Is 'For Outsourcing Of Jobs.'" (Glenn Kessler And Jim VandeHei, "Misleading Assertions Cover Iraq War And Voting Records," The Washington Post, 10/6/04)
12. Edwards Inaccurately Claimed Kerry Voted Or Cosponsored 600 Tax Cuts. The reality is, since joining the Senate in 1985, only 5 of Kerry's own bills have become law, and none were tax bills. Tax bills Kerry has voted for include votes for Democrat alternative "tax cuts" like a 2001 vote that provided $747 billion less in tax relief. The fact is Kerry voted for higher taxes 350 times, including 98 times for tax increases totaling more than $2.3 trillion and at least 126 times against tax cuts totaling more than $5.3 trillion. (Sen. John Edwards, Vice Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 10/5/04; H.R. 1836, CQ Vote #119: Rejected 35-64: R 0-49; D 35-15, 5/21/01, Kerry Voted Yea; Senate Republican Policy Committee, "Tax Relief Act/Deny All Tax Relief Except For A 10-Percent Bracket," 5/21/01)
13. FactCheck.Org: Edwards' Job Figures "Omit The Growth In Employment By Federal, State And Local Governments. The Net Loss In Total Employment Is Actually 913,000 As Of August, The Most Recent Figures Available." ("Cheney & Edwards Mangle Facts," FactCheck.org, 10/6/04, Available At http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272, Accessed 10/6/04)
14. Edwards Repeated Kerry's Exaggerated And False Claim Of Saying "We Had Osama Bin Laden Cornered At Tora Bora," When FactCheck.org Already Said Kerry "Overstates The Case." (Sen. John Edwards, Vice Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 10/5/04; "Distortions And Misstatements At First Presidential Debate," FactCheck.org, 10/1/04, http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=271, Accessed 10/1/04)
posted by Carl Kilo at 10:14:00 PM
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