The Average Joe

We saw a lot of mudslinging last night between VP Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan.  Let’s review some of the key comments made during the debate and determine fact from fiction. From the Washington Post : “We weren’t told they wanted more security there. We did not know they wanted more security.” — Biden, speaking of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya Biden’s bold statement was directly contradicted by State Department officials just this week, in testimony before a congressional panel and in unclassified cables released by a congressional committee . “All of us at post were in sync that we wanted these resources,” said Eric Nordstrom, the top regional security officer in Libya earlier this year. A Utah national guardsman who led a security team, Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, said: “We felt great frustration that those requests were ignored or just never met.” Maybe Biden was too busy in debate prep to watch? “The congressman here cut embassy security in his budget by...

In looking back at the first debate between Mitt Romney and President Obama, it appeared that Mitt Romney came out much stronger, while the President looked very fuzzy in delivering his statements.  Historically speaking, debates do not always make or break an election for candidates.  If we look through the election history of the United States, not every candidate that has dominated the debates went on to win the election.  Regardless of which candidate “won” this first debate, it is more important to determine fact from fiction between what both candidates said. From The Washington Post : “Governor Romney’s central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut — on top of the extension of the Bush tax cuts — that’s another trillion dollars” — President Obama “I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut” — Governor Romney How can both facts be true? The $5 trillion figure comes from the fact that Romney has proposed to cut tax rates by 20 percent and ...