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Subscribe to RSSWhile Mitt Romney attacked President Obama on the economy and taxes, he touted his own record as governor of Massachusetts on fiscal issues and education. But an examination of his record reveals some of his claims are either inaccurate or, especially on the state’s finances, although linguistically correct, conceal subtle manipulations.
First Read examined five claims Romney made during his speech in the New Hampshire seacoast town of Stratham:
1. Did President Obama raise taxes on corporations?
2. Did Romney really not raise taxes?
3. Did Romney balance the budget every time?
4. Did he cut taxes 19 times?
5. Did Romney keep Massachusetts schools first among all 50 states?
1. Did President Obama raise taxes on corporations?
Romney said Thursday of President Obama, "Instead of encouraging entrepreneurs and employers, he raise[d] their taxes."
In fact, President Obama has not raised taxes on corporations during his three years in office.
"This seems like it is grasping at straws," Bill Smith, managing director of CBIZ's National Tax Office said.
Smith, who has 30-plus years of tax experience, noted that Obama has not increased the tax rate on corporations. He pointed out, in fact, that it was well covered back in December when Obama helped temporarily extend the Bush tax cuts. Smith highlighted a few provisions in the Tax Relief Act that Romney might have been talking about when he said Obama raised taxes on entrepreneurs.
The act did reinstate the estate tax, which had been repealed completely by the Bush tax cuts in 2001. This has an impact on some entrepreneurs and small business owners whose estates are worth more than $5 million, Smith said.
The other item Smith pointed to is part of President Obama's economic stimulus, a tax provision known as "net operating loss carryback." Carryback is exactly what it sounds like. It allows businesses in the red to "carryback" their losses and ask the IRS to refund them for any taxes they paid over the last five years. When the extension of the Bush tax cuts passed, carryback was tightened so only small businesses could ask for tax refunds for the last two years.
2. Did Romney really not raise taxes?
While Romney was technically correct when he said he did not raise taxes, he is responsible for the largest hike in fees in the state's history.
"There is a difference between fees and taxes," contended Noah Berger, president of the non-partisan Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. "But Romney was responsible for the largest raise of fees in our state's history."
The head of the center since 2003, Berger said the difference between fees and taxes is that fees are usually charged for a specific service. Taxes, on the other hand, go into general cost.
Budget documents show Romney raised more than $501 million from fee hikes and closing a business tax loophole in 2004 alone. Romney claimed on the campaign trail in 2008 the fee hikes netted around $260 million over his four years as governor. But the center’s analyses of the state’s 2004 budget show Massachusetts collected $331 million in fees alone after increasing those paid by people like gun owners, used-car buyers, the blind, and small business owners.
By the same logic Romney used in claiming President Obama raised taxes, Berger says it's possible to consider the $181 million in "loophole" closings Romney authorized in 2004 and 2005 as tax increases on businesses.
3. Did Romney balance the budget every time?
As governor, Romney did balance every budget, but only by dipping into the state’s rainy-day fund early and often. He also fell far short of restoring “a $2 billion rainy day fund," as he claimed.
While state-finance law allows the use of rainy-day money to balance the budget, and Berger admits it’s not unusual for governors to do so during recessions, the same budget analyses by budget and policy center show Romney dipped into rainy-day funds routinely. He also co-opted money from funding pools set aside for Medicare assistance, infrastructure projects, and tobacco settlements.
In 2007 alone, Romney's budget relied on $600 million from the stabilization fund. The center’s documents also show during his four-year governorship, Romney diverted more than $1.5 billion in revenue from other sources to help balance the budget despite record growth in tax revenues.
According to the Massachusetts state comptroller's office, Romney left office with a $594.4 million surplus, well short of the $2 billion rainy-day fund figure he claimed.
4. Did he cut taxes 19 times?
According a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Romney did, in fact, cut taxes 19 times. (But see above about fees.)
5. Did Romney keep Massachusetts schools first among all 50 states?
Romney was correct, when he said Massachusetts schools were "first among all 50 states" during his tenure. But, as a statistician at the National Center for Education Statistics told First Read, the statistical difference between Massachusetts test scores and those of its closest competitors falls within the margin of error.
"Although Massachusetts was numerically first in all those years, these rankings do not reflect statistically significant differences,” said Arnold Goldstein, the NECS statistician.
Massachusetts finished first in NCES's educational rankings in both 2005 and 2007, statistically tying six other states. Under Romney's watch, Massachusetts students’ test scores improved, especially in fourth-grade math -- where they jumped from sixth to first in the nation.
Educational success in Massachusetts isn't new. According to Goldstein, Massachusetts has been at or near the top of the NCES school rankings since Democrat Michael Dukakis occupied the statehouse. Still, Romney’s claim in that case was correct.
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I'm starting to believe the rumors that the Dems will get the house back.
I just don't see a viable Pub candidate who could unseat Obama.
The ultra right wing has overreached, forcing the pendulum to swing back the Dems way.
Fairy tales don't always come true, but please keep believing in them.
Its not a fairy tale, republicans were given a mandate last year to create more job opportunities and legislate in a way to get the economy back on track. They haven't met their mandate, they instead have rolled a fairy tale budget proposal that will be used against them in the election in 2012.
Romney just puts off this vibe that makes me not trust him for anything. I would never vote for this guy. EVER. So yeah, all the republicans better really start thinking about who they are going to come together to support. Romney is not the one. I'm still for Ron Paul as it stands but it is looking more and more like another term for Obama.
So to all the Obama haters out there, just be ready.
Deborah...Romney is not a "turn-around" man anymore than Gordon Gekko is (from the movie Wall Street). Like the character Gordon Gekko, Romney made his millions by buying underperforming companies then laying off most of their workers and liquidating most of their assets. Like Gekko said in the movie, "I create nothing." Like most of the Republicans, this is their strategy with Medicare and Social Security - liquidate everything and give the "investors" back pennies on the dollar. Hope this helps...vote for Romney at your own (and your family's) peril.
Vote to BO in 2012 if you like your government job, because if he gets another 4 years, government jobs will all that is left.
Yep, if you want want of those "private sector" jobs, you have to move to China or India.
or else increase our tariffs from 2% to the 22% China charges. You see, unlike our congress and government, other countries protect their industries and workers.
Fact check this, how many and who said that they would do everything in their power to make President Obama fail and now they are saying he failed. Sooo, the ones that were supposed to help "us the people" are busy working and using their time to make the President fail instead of using their time and working helping our country SUCCEED
That is correct, but the repubs did not have to any thing for BO to fail. He did that all on his own.
It's like Michelle Obama said, "If the President fails, America fails." America is on it's way to being a failed state. I don't completely lay this blame solely on Obama. This has been in the works since Woodrow Wilson. Obama has just stream lined that failure.
So when they said "We will do everything in our power to make Obama fail" was just talk to get votes and the quote from his wife was ignored because people don't care if their country fails as long as Obama fails. I'm a little slow but I think I get it
Stop with the facts -- you'll confuse the poor boy. You know if he'd speak to what he actually did he might get more voters....
You most likely were not hired because of your spelling. It's Mormon" not Morman- Try spelling the word "Moron" I think you can spell that at least.
2 Years since MSNBC offered a Fact-Check on Obama speeches....
......wonder why that is?????
We ALL know perfectly well why that is.
Of course that does not mean that this fact checking was not "factual" and a good way to measure who this Romney guy is and it shows me that he has no business in the White House, nor any business holding any political position at all.
As we know too well in Texas, there is a BIG difference between "Fees" and "Taxes". One starts with an F and one starts with a T.
Texas Republicans HATE taxes, but they never met a fee they didnt' like.
I did a tour at Ft. Hood. TX has more "fees" than I ever saw in any one sate before. Taxation by another name.
Now pay your "talkin' bout Texas" fee to the State of Texas, please - by certified check or money order ;-)
He's a Mormon, not a true Christian. He wouldn't even know what to do if his statue started bleeding.
I'm a Atheist so I'm frightened by religious leaders to begin with, but it's a whole other kind of fear for someone that believes Native Americans were white, and then made brown because they went against the second coming of Christ in American in the year 30 AD. That's a whole other kind of delusional.
I think I might move away if someone who lacks critical thinking that much has their finger on the button.
Plastic Mo Romney.
All republican congressmen should be arrested for treason.
So the botom line here is that Mitt will lie just like every other politician when it serves his purpose. So what else is new?
Edward, it's hard to know sarcasm in a post, but I hope that is what you were going for.
If not, have you been out of the country for the last decade, or maybe you hit your head?
I certainly hope that the number of Republican sheeple in the US hasn't risen to levels high enough to make your vision possible. I'm not saying that Democrats have done a great job so far either, but at least they know that you have to tax people to get the money they want to spend, Republicans don't seem to be able to put 2 and 2 together to get 4, they want to lower taxes AND then cut some spending, but no where near enough to be able to pay for the remaining expenditures.
If the Republicans do win as you hope, I sure hope you are rich, because that is who the win will be for, definitely not the poor or middle class. Seriously, write down the services and projects that republicans want to cut, and then write down who uses those benefits (I'll save you some time, the middle-class and the poor). Then write down who the tax breaks and loopholes written into the tax code benefit the most (the already rich). While your making lists, why not list the last hundred sex/bribery/tax/infidelity scandals, and tally up which party has had the most (By my count, Republicans). The Republicans of the last 20 years will never deliver on the "American Dream" they've promised the poor and middle-class. Trickle-down economics means "You can get yours, after we get ours first". Too bad they didn't say how much they wanted before they are full, or how much would be left.
Now that Santorum has entered the race watch Romney fade. The Christian Right will flock to Santorum because as far as they are concerned Romney is Devil's food since he is Mormon. They will not say this of course, claiming rather that Romney's record is not "conservative" enough. They will cry RINO as a reason not to vote for him. Without the Christian Right vote, Romney is toast.
Who cares what Romney claims -- he will not get the nomination. The teapublican party is controlled by the right religious crazies and they will not allow a Mormon to win the nomination. Combine that with the health care legislation he's favored and he's dead in the water.
As a Mass resident, I can tell you, Romney is a chameleon. He ran as a moderate and supported gay rights, abortion rights, and gun limitations. Us moderates/Independents and old-line Republican liberals didn't care about his Mormon religion and got sucked in. About two years into office, he caught Presidential Fever and started changing his public views. By the end, we couldn't recognize the guy we elected.
Nobody, probably even Mittens himself, knows what he really believes. He has what some people call Situational Ethics! In other words, he's a flip-flopper, a liar, and a very very very self-serving chameleon. Anyone who votes for this shape-shifting baloney-spewing liar will be sorry.
"But, as a statistician at the National Center for Education Statistics told First Read, the statistical difference between Massachusetts test scores and those of its closest competitors falls within the margin of error."
Nickle and dime comments about Romney but nothing about our dear leader's lies:
"The wall along the southern border is nearly complete." (Maybe the wall is complete in China)
"Chrysler has paid back every dime it owes us." (The still owe taxpayers billions).
But then again, what else should we expect from MSNBarackCrap.
Romney is just another Corporate Sponsored Distraction to further assist THEM & THEMS Oligarchs Goal to keep their Man Broken Promise Barry in Office.
What's the count up 20 or more CLOWNS? More than at PT Barnum's.......
Folks.... Rummey can't win....Sanatorium can't win...Plain can't win...Trumpet can't win....so why do you think THEM Corporate Talking Heads keep putting THEM Clowns out?
DISTRACTION plain and simple.......don't look at or even mention the REAL GOP Front Runner since 2010.
What America need now is Honesty Experience Integrity Honor and Courage! Only ONE Candidate in 2012 has all of these qualifications.....
Dr Ron Paul 2012......seriously over 4000 Babies can't be WRONG!
Word of Mouth is all we need so let's just keep spread the Word!
Exactly right, NYMike
It is s
Interesting........OBAMA'S OWN WORDS
2008:
"Navy Seal Team 6 is Cheney's private assassination team."
2011:
"I put together Seal Team 6 to take out Bin Laden."
2008:
"Bin Laden is innocent until proven guilty, and must be captured alive and given
a fair trial."
2011:
"I authorized Seal Team 6 to kill Bin Laden."
2008:
" Guantanamo is entirely unnecessary, and the detainees should not be
interrogated."
2011: "Vital intelligence was obtained from Guantanamo detainees that led to our locating Bin Laden."
o good to see the libs getting desperate. I wonder why they never analyze Obama speeches this closely?
LOL you fell for an Internet Hoax. LOL.
Link??? Un substantiated quotes are only opinions...
Another Republican that would rather tell a lie even when telling the truth is easier.
What do you have to say about Wiener? How about John Kerry's yacht, Geitner's taxes, Edwards mistress, Rangel's vacation home and rent subsidized campaign headquarters, Maxine Waters, Eliot Spitzer and I could go on but what's the point. Liberals see everything through a prism of not right or wrong but left or right, if they are on the left be silent, if they are on the right, slam them. MSNBC does this every single day and it's getting old.
When MSNBC "fact checks" anything, you have to laugh. Let's see them "fact check" Obama's campaign promises compared to today or "fact check" Pelosi's comments when she became Speaker of the House compared to how she voted. We should be "fact checking" those in power today and let the campaign speeches speak for themselves.
off topic again.
Since you love off topic crap, here is some for you;
Adelphia Communications Corp.: Donated large sums of money to some of the most conservative members of Congress. They are also the first cable company to offer hard-core adult movies to subscribers. Daily Kos article
Edison Misla Aldarondo, Republican legislator from Puerto Rico, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for molestation of his daughter and her friend for eight-year period starting when they were 9. Full Article
Randal David Ankeney, Republican activist from Colorado, arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a child with force. He faces 6 charges related to getting a 13-year-old girl stoned on pot and then having sex with her. Source Also accused of sexually assaulting another girl. Denver ABC Article
Dick Armey (R-Texas), former professor, has been accused by The Dallas Observer of sexually harassing female students.
Jim Bakker, televangelist with Pat Robertson at Robertson's Christian Broadcasting network. Committed adultery with Jessica Hahn [1] and then used charitable donations to pay her hush money[2]. Fellow televangelists say he's gay. [3][4]Indicted on 23 federal charges of fraud, tax evasion, and racketeering [5].
Merrill Robert Barter, Republican County Commissioner from Maine, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy. Booth Bay Register Article
Bob Barr, Republican Congressman from Georgia. Sponsored the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, saying "The flames of hedonism, the flames of narcissism, the flames of self-centered morality are licking at the very foundation of our society, the family unit." Was married three times. Paid for his second wife's abortion. Failed to pay child support to the children of his first two wives and while married to his third and present wife was photographed licking whipped cream off of strippers at his inaugural party.
Merrill Robert Barter, Republican County Commissioner, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy. Booth Bay Register Article
Robert Bauman, Republican congressman and anti-gay activist from Maryland, was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar. Source: Washington Blade
Parker J. Bena, Republican activist and Bush Elector from Virginia, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography (including children as young as 3 years old) on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $18,000. Conservative Babylon
William Bennett, Drug Czar under George H. W. Bush, compulsive gambler who has had to wire as much as $1.4 million to cover gambling losses in a 2 month period. NY Press Article | Washington Monthly Article
Louis Beres, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon. 3 of his family members accuse him of molesting them when they were pre-teens. Editor and Publisher article
Howard L. Brooks, Republican legislative aide and advisor to a California assemblyman, was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography. Sacramento Bee article
John Bolton: George W. Bush's latest Ambassador to United Nations. Corroborated allegations that Mr. Bolton’s first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex have not been refuted by the State Department. Raw Story Article
Mike Bowers Former State Attorney General of Georgia, prosecuted the famous "Bowers vs. Hardwick" case, based on Georgia anti-sodomy laws. Admitted to a 10-year adulterous affair Slate article
Andrew Buhr, Republican politician, former committeeman for Hadley Township Missouri, was charged with two counts of first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy. Source
Jeffrey Buley (http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/36931.htm), New York Republican Party's top lawyer, and senior political adviser to Gov. Pataki (R), arrested for assaulting his wife in a drunken rage. They have two young children.
Ted Bundy campaigned for the Republican Party. Infamous serial rapist who murdered 16 women. Source: BBC
Jim Bunn Congressman of Oregon: With his success due in great part to support from the Christian Coalition, Bunn won his congressional seat, then immediately ditched his wife (and mother of his five children), married a staffer, and put his new wife on the state payroll for the unheard-of salary of $97,500. Conservative Babylon
John Allen Burt, Republican anti-abortion activist from Pensacola, Florida, convicted of sexually molesting a 15 year old girl at the home for troubled girls that he ran. Source: Pensacola News Journal
Dan Burton, Republican Congressman from Indiana who, while married, fathered a child by another woman. Salon.com Article
George W. Bush, Republican president, accused in a criminal complaint and lawsuit of raping Margie Schoedinger, who was later suicided. Accused by Tammy Phillips, a former stripper quoted in the National Enquirer in 2000 saying she had an affair with Bush that had ended in 1999.
Neil Bush, brother or G. W. Bush, in a March 2003 divorce deposition, admitted repeatedly having sex with strange women who just showed up at his room while on an Asian business trip. (Overshadowing the sex scandal; the business scandal--see link.) Washington Post article.
John Butler, Republican activist, was charged with criminal sexual assault on a teenage girl.
Ken Calvert, Congressman (R-Ca), champion of the Christian Coalition and its "family values." Sued as an alimony deadbeat by his ex-wife. Said "We can't forgive what occurred between the President and Lewinsky." In 1993 he was caught by police receiving oral sex from a prostitute and attempted to flee the scene.
Charles Canady, Congressman (R-Florida), Judiciary Committee member. Lied to his constituents about his adulterous affair with Sharon Becker, which caused her divorce.
Helen Chenoweth, Congresswoman (R-Id.). Admitted to a six-year adulterous affair with a married associate. In 1995, Chenoweth had denied the affair when asked about it by The Spokane Spokesman-Review, but now she claims a pardon from a higher authority: "I've asked for God's forgiveness, and I've received it," she revealed.
Keola Childs, Republican County Councilman from Hawaii, pleaded guilty to sexual assault in the first degree for molesting a male child.Honolulu Star-Bulletin Article
Kevin Coan, Republican St. Louis Election Board official, arrested and charged with trying to buy sex from a 14-year-old girl whom he met on the Internet. Source: Newmax
Roy Cohn, continually condemned gays and gay rights. Was a closet gay who died of AIDS. Wikipedia Article
Carey Lee Cramer Political consultant and anti-Kerry ad producer, tried for molesting two young girls, one of whom lived with him, and was 8 yrs old; the other starred in an anti-Kerry commercial. Diary Diary. The Monitor.
Dan Crane, Republican Congressman from Illinois, married, father of six. Had sex with a minor working as a congressional page. Salon.com article --Bkmeyers 08:36, 3 October 2006 (PDT)On July 14, 1983 the House Ethics Committee concluded that Rep. Dan Crane (R-Ill.) had engaged in sexual relationships with minors, specifically 17-year-old congressional pages. In Crane's case, it was a 1980 relationship with a female page. wikipedia.org article
Paul Crouch Televangelist, Former President of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). Paid $425,000 in hush money in an attempt to cover up a gay affair. Christianity Today article
Randy Cunningham: Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Congressman and confessed-felon 'Duke' Cunningham was periodically supplied with prositutes.[6] Cunningham pled guilty to corruption charges, and is currently serving jail-time.
Richard A. Dasen Sr., Republican benefactor of conservative Christian groups, convicted of sexual abuse of children, promotion of prostitution and several counts of solicitation, enough to add up to a sentence of 126 years in prison. Investigators estimated that he spent up to $5,000,000 on prostitutes. Missoulian Article on the trial | Missoulian Article
Richard A. Delgaudio, Republican fundraiser and Bush pioneer, was found guilty of child porn charges. WBAL Channel article
Peter Dibble, Republican legislator from Connecticut pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl. News Channel 8 Article
Brian J. Doyle, Deputy Press Secretary for U.S. Department of Homeland Security. On March 12, 2006, Doyle contacted a 14-year-old girl whose profile was posted on the Internet, and initiated a sexually explicit conversation with her. The girl was actually an undercover Polk County Sheriff s Computer Crimes detective. Doyle knew that the girl was 14 years old, and he told her who he was and that he worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. During future online chats, Doyle gave the undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl his office phone number and his government-issued cell phone number, so that they could have telephone conversations, in addition to their online chatting. Doyle used the Internet to send hard-core pornographic movie clips to the girl and used the AOL Instant Messenger chat service to have explicit sexual conversations with her. [7]
Nicholas Elizondo, Republican director of the "Young Republican Federation" molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years in prison. Halfway down this Bakersfield Californian article
Larry Dale Floyd, Republican Constable in Denton County, Texas Precinct Two. Arrested for allegedly crossing state lines to have sex with an 8-year old child and was charged with 7 related offenses. Age 62 at time of arrest. Dallas News Article | Atrios Article
Mark Foley, US Representative from Florida, engaged in sexually-explicit SMS text-messaging with 17-yo males, former pages. He had been chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. details He was protected by US House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
John Fund, of the Wall Street Journal, a prominent anti-abortion columnist and GOP fund raiser. He lost his position after it was revealed that he impregnated the daughter of an old girlfriend and then encouraged her to abort his child. American Politics Journal Article
[[[Steven Gaines]], Pastor in a Southern Baptist Church. For a year, he kept secret the allegations that another pastor in his church had sexually abused a young family member years earlier.
Jeff Gannon Partisan blogger with no journalism credentials and a fake name who got invited to Bush's Press conferences. Is also a pimp and a gay prostitute. Truthout Article. See also dKospedia's page on Jeff Gannon.
Jack W. Gardner, Republican Councilman from Pennsylvania, had been convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl. when the Republican Party, knowing of these crimes, put him on the ballot. Article with documents
Richard Gardner, a Nevada State Representative (R), admitted to molesting his two daughters. Review Journal Article
Newt Gingrich, Republican from Georgia, married three times. Gingrich campaign worker Anne Manning admitted that she gave Newt oral sex while he was still married to his first wife. Informed one wife he was filing for divorce while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer treatments. Salon Article
Philip Giordano, Republican mayor from Connecticut sentenced to 37 years for forcing two 8 and 10 year old girls to perform oral sex on him in his City Hall office. NBC Article | Newsday Article
Matthew Glavin, President and CEO of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, big player in the Clinton Impeachment, and many anti-gay jihads, has been arrested multiple times for public indecency, one time fondling the crotch of the officer who was arresting him. Full Article
Marty Glickman, Republican activist, was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a juvenile and one count of delivering the drug LSD.
Mark A. Grethen, Republican activist from Virginia, convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children. Orlando Weekly article
Jon Grunseth, Republican businessman and candidate for Minnesota governor, withdrew his candidacy after allegations surfaced that he went swimming in the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter, and tried to grope one. "I've made some mistakes" he said. USA Today article
Dr. W. David Hager, Bush appointee from Kentucky, member of Focus on the Family's Physician Resource Council, player in movement to ban the morning-after-pill. Had an adulterous affair, before divorcing his wife he sexually abused her, including sodomizing her in her sleep. Article
Ted Haggart, pastor of a 3,000-member church, who preached often against homosexuality, spoke with President Bush frequently, and was held up as a pillar of "family values." Turns out he had a sexual relationship with a male prostitute, who he also paid for meth-amphetamines.
Mark Harris, Republican city councilman from Wisconsin who is described as a "good military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Dennis Hastert protected Mark Foley for over a year, keeping private the news that Foley had engaged in sexually-explicit conversations with teenage boys.
John Hathaway, Republican Senate candidate from Maine, was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media. Source: Casco Bay weekly
Howard Scott Heldreth, anti-abortion activist who gained fame during the Schiavo media-circus, was convicted of two charges of raping a child in 2002. page at Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Sexual Offender/Predator Unit
Mike Hintz, a First Assembly of God youth pastor from Des Moines, Iowa, introduced by Bush on the campaign trail, and promoted his policies. Says he supports Bush's values. Two months later, this married father of four turned himself into police, charged with the sexual exploitation of a child. Article | Commentary Also signed an ad (that called for criminally prosecuting business that sell porn), together with another pastor who was repeatedly busted for public masturbation.
Neal Horsley, anti-abortion activist from Georgia. Has called for the arrest of all homosexuals. Admitted on the Fox News Radio's The Alan Colmes Show, that he's had sex with mules. Put photographs on his Web site of naked men engaging in homosexual acts and a nude woman engaging in bestiality amid shots of grotesquely maimed fetuses. Drug dealer convicted of possession of hashish with intent to sell. He calls for "the establishment of a new government, one that can obey God's plan for government."
Henry Hyde, Republican Congressman from Illinois, Judge who oversaw Clinton's impeachment proceedings, prominent opponent of reproductive rights, who had an extramarital affair with a woman who was married and had three children, during the course of which she and her husband were divorced. Salon.com article
Don Haidl, Assistant Sheriff of Orange Country, in violation of California's rape shield law, led a smear campaign against the child his son poisoned and then violently gang-raped on videotape, adding up to 24 felony counts. He said that his son "acted accordingly" because the child was a "slut". The full gruesome story, with many newspaper articles.
Tim Hutchinson, divorced his wife of 29 years to marry a congressional aide he was having an affair with.
Paul Ingram, Republican Party leader of Thurston County, Washington, pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison. Source: The Olympian Article
Bill Janklow, former S. Dakota Governor and Congressman, arrested for drunk driving, disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer, and indecent exposure in 1974. Pardoned his son-in-law for multiple drunk driving convictions in 2002. Resigned congressional seat due to a felony manslaughter conviction in a reckless driving incident (running a stop sign at 70 mph)in 2003 that resulted in the death of farmer, Vietnam veteran, and motorcyclist Randy Scott, 55, of Hardwick, Minnesota. Janklow served 100 days of a possible 11-year sentence. Janklow sought and received immunity from civil damages on the grounds that he was traveling on business related to his role as a congressman when the killing of Scott occurred. Janklow also petitioned to get back (and was granted) his license to practice law in the state of South Dakota. Link from American Motorcyclist Association webpage - [8]
Bernard Kerik, had two simultaneous adulterous affairs.
Earl Kimmerling, from Indiana, sentenced to 40 years in prison after he confessed to molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her. Anderson, IN, Mayor Mark Lawler and Republican State Reps. Jack Lutz of Anderson, IN, and Woody Burton of Greenwood, IN, supported him.Source
I. Lewis Libby, former Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. In 1996 published a novel containing bizarre sexual content, including bestiality and pedophilia.Full Details (Oh yeah, and he's also been indicted on obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements, charges adding up to 10 years in prison.)
Rush Limbaugh, triple-divorcee[10], 30-pill a day drug addict. Goodies from The Smoking Gun.com
Bob Livingston, former Congressman (R-La.), Speaker of the House; resigned from the House in the wake of revelations about his past adultery -- at the same time he was leading calls for impeachment of President Clinton.
Donald Lukens, Former Ohio Republican Congressman, was found guilty of having sex with a minor - a girl he was accused of sleeping with since she was 13. Also convicted of taking $15,000 in bribes from the operators of a trade school while he was a congressman. A U.S. District Court jury in Washington deliberated for just one hour before reaching the verdict. Time Article
Pat McPherson, Douglas County, Nebraska Election Commissioner. Arrested for fondling a 17-year-old girl. Article
Jon Matthews, Republican talk show host in Houston, was indicted for indecency with a child, including exposing his genitals to a girl under the age of 17. Source: ABC News
Jeff Miller, (R-Cleveland), Senate Republican Caucus Chairman in Tennessee and the sponsor of Tennessee’s Marriage Protection act, getting divorced (as of April 2005) because of an affair he was having with an office aid. Miller described the Tennessee Marriage Protection Act as a means of preserving the sanctity of marriage. He opposed an amendment, however, which stated that “Adultery is deemed to be a threat to the institution of marriage and contrary to public policy in Tennessee.” [11] [12]
Nicholas Morency, Republican anti-abortion activist from Cape May County, NJ, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to anybody who murders an abortion doctor The Dallas Morning News article.
Sue Myrick, Congresswoman (R-NC), describes herself as a "devout Christian." Committed adultery with a married man.
Bill O'Reilly Right-wing conservative talk show host on Fox News, sued for sexual harrassment by his producer. The suit included graphic details, including tape-recordings. O'Reilly's wife was pregnant at the time. O'Reilly settled and paid millions of dollars rather than have the details become public.
Bob Packwood, Senator (R-Ore.), resigned in 1995 under a threat of public senate hearings related to 10 female ex-staffers accusing him of sexual harassment.
Jeffrey Patti, Republican Committee Chairman from Sparta, NJ, was arrested for distributing what experts call "some of the most offensive material in the child pornography world" - a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped. Daily Record News Article
Brent Parker Utah State Representative. Arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover officer posing as a male prostitute. KSL News Article |Deseret News Article
John Paulk, lied about prowling for gay sex while running a fundamentalist group to cure gays.
Mark Pazuhanich, Republican judge from Monroe County, PA, pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation. Pocono Record article
John Peterson, Congressman (R-Pa), accused of sexual harassment and creation of a hostile work environment by six women. Peterson has refused to admit a crime, saying only "I may have been an excessive hugger."
Harvey Pitt, SEC Chief under George W. Bush until he was forced to resign in 2002. Worked for New Frontier Media, a firm which distributed teen sex videos.
Dennis Rader AKA the Bind Torture Killer or BTK killed ten people to satisfy his sexual urges. He was also a leading local Republican.[13]
Ronald Reagan First president to be divorced (from a woman who had been married two or three times before him - the record is unclear, none of which seems to bother the religious right).
George Roche III, carried on a 19 year affair with his son's wife, while serving as president of Hillsdale College in Michigan, which "emphasizes the importance of the common moral truths that bind all Americans, while recognizing the importance of religion for the maintenance of a free society."
Beverly Russell, County Chairman of the Christian Coalition as well as a member of the South Carolina Republican Party’s executive committee, sexually molested his step-daughter, Susan Smith, who later drowned her two children. Herald-Journal Article |Commentary on Newsweek Article
Jack Ryan, 2004 Republican nominee for US Senate from Illinois, pressured his wife, actress Jeri Ryan, to have sex with other men. Tricked her into visiting sex clubs, where he asked her to have sex with him while others watched.[14]
Rick Santorum, used $100,000 of PA state funds earmarked for that state's school children to educate his own children, who were not residents of Pennsylvania. source (http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04323/413787.stm)
Joe Scarborough, former Republican Congressman from Pensacola, Florida, currently a conservative talk show host. Resigned his congressional seat abruptly to spend more time with his family, amidst allegations of an affair. His intern, Lori Klausutis, was soon after found dead in his office. The medical examiner, who had his license revoked in Missouri for falsifying information in an autopsy report, and suspended in Florida for six years, ruled the case an accident, after giving conflicting information about her injuries. He said he lied about them because "The last thing we wanted was 40 questions about a head injury."
Ed Schrock, two-term Republican Congressman from Virginia, with a 92% approval rating from the Christian Coalition. Cosponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, consistently opposed gay rights. Married, with wife and kids. Withdrew his candidacy for a third term after tapes of him soliciting for gay sex were circulated.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger, right wing conservative radio host. Promotes family values, but estranged from her mother; opposes birth control, but has had her tubes tied; espouses saving oneself for marriage, but admits to having had sex before she was married; opposes adultery, but has committed adultery while she was married, and has slept with a married man; opposes divorce, but is divorced and remarried, has posed for nude photos which are available online.
Larry Jack Schwarz, Republican parole board officer and former Colorado State Representative, fired after child pornography was found in his possession. Rocky Mountain News article With his political career over, he went to work in the hard-core pornography industry for Platinum X Pictures, owned by his daughter, porn starlet Jewel De'Nyle (Stephany Schwarz). Wikipedia article
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican governor, had sex with a 16 year old when he was 28. Numerous allegations of gropings, harassment, in California.
John Scmitz, right-wing republican congressman, who had had his committee chairship taken away from him in the California State Senate after issuing a press release attacking Jews, feminists and gays. Forced out of office in 1982 for having an adulterous affair and fathering two children out of wedlock with one of his students. He was caught because his baby was admitted to hospital for having hair tied so tightly around his penis that it was almost severed. His daughter, Mary Kay LeTourneau, was convicted of having an adulterous affair with one of her students, and giving birth to two of his children. Wikipedia article
Don Sherwood, The former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 10th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. Eventually admitted to an affair with a woman 30 years younger than him, after she accused him of physical abuse and attempting to choke her. Post-Gazette Article
Tom Shortridge. Republican campaign consultant and former head of the South Bay, CA, Republican Club, was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl. Los Angeles Times Article
Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr., Republican City Councilman from Wrightsville, PA, pleaded no contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison. Sex Offender Registry page | Article
Jim Stelling, Seminole County Republican Party chairman who believes in "family values", as he told a judge. Filed a defamation lawsuit against Nancy Goettman, a former county GOP executive committee member, for falsely claiming he had been married six times. Stelling has been married 5 times. Article
Roger Stone, Republican dirty-tricks operative, led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount; advisor for Bob Dole and Arlen Specter's Presidential campaigns, owner of Washington, D.C.-based Ikon Public Affairs. Place X-rated ads for group sex with his wife, Nydia. Claimed he was framed, even though the ads were placed with his credit card and used his P.O. Box. [15]
Jimmy Swaggart, televangelist, said during a sermon "I'm trying to find the correct name for it … this utter absolute, asinine, idiotic stupidity of men marrying men. … I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm gonna be blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died." Had an affair with a prostitute.
David Swartz, Republican County Commissioner from Ohio, pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Rocky Mountain News Article
Randall Terry, Right to Life activist, founder of Operation Rescue, involved in the Terri Schiavo protests. Once imprisoned for sending former President Bill Clinton an aborted fetus. His son Jamiel is gay; his daughter Tila had sex outside of marriage, became pregnant, had a miscarriage - she is no longer welcome in his home; his daughter Ebony had 2 children outside of wedlock and became Muslim. He has campaigned against infidelity and birth control, gays and unwed mothers. Terry himself was censured by his church after committing adultery.
Bill Thomas Republican congressman, had an affair with Deborah Steelman, a health care lobbyist who steered huge campaign gifts to Thomas' war chest.
Strom Thurmond, Now dead Republican Senator from South Carolina and racist, impregnated a 15-year old African American maid. (BBC Article)
Robin Vanderwall, Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate, convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex from boys and girls over the internet. Virginian-Pilot Article
Robert Waltrip, Bush campaign contributor. Runs a funeral company which had to settle a lawsuit because bodies were being dug up and dumped in the woods. According to Fox News, Waltrip's company, a cemetery company called Service Corporation International (also known as Dignity Memorial) was "recycling" graves, removing the bodies that were there originally and throwing them in the woods to use the space to house new customers at two Jewish cemeteries in Florida. George W. Bush, who had met with Waltrip, was subpoenaed but refused to testify in the case.
J.C. Watts, Representative (R-Oklahoma), loud champion of "moral values." Has out-of-wedlock children.
Jim West, Spokane Mayor. Supported a bill, which failed, would have barred gays and lesbians from working in schools, day-care centers and some state agencies. Voted to bar the state from distributing pamphlets telling people how to protect themselves from AIDS. Proposed that “any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person” among teens be criminalized. Had a sexual affair with an 18 year old boy.Source: Spokesman Review
Keith Westmoreland, a Tennessee state representative (R), was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to minors under 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children). Tennessean Article
Stephen White, Republican preacher. Was arrested after allegedly offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy in West Chester, PA, for permission to perform oral sex on him. Daily Pennsylvanian article | Daily Yale News Article
Paul Williams, pastor in a large Southern Baptist Church, resigned suddenly amid allegations that he had sexually abused a young family member 17 years ago. He was protected for a year from these allegations being made public by the Church Pastor, Dr. Steven Gaines.
Wonder why they never looked at BO this close? And why do they want Romney to run against BO.
Are you not aware that those quotes that were posted are fictional? It is from an Internet chain email that has been going around and posted to blogs like this one by gullible right-wingers.
Thermen you seem to be one of the few intelligent and articulate Obamans posting so please tell US why you think Broken Promise Barry is any better than Rummy?
Honestly do you believe there is ANY difference between THEM & THEM?
Here are all of the reasons I think BHO is a proven liar and a failure....
Obama Lied or Misled US about the Parrot-Act...Iraq...Afghanistan...Libya...GITMO...Bankster Bailout....Trillions-Missing...Federal-Deficit...No-Transparency...Runaway-Military...Runaway Inflation...No-Lobbyists....Federal-Prosecutions....Surveillance… Healthcare…Mortgages…Unemployment...Gasoline...Billion-Dollar-Reelection Fund…Junkets…School-Lunches...Head-Start....Wikileaks…Manning…UBL…
The list goes on and on and the ONLY Change America has seen has been for the much WORSE!
So again please tell US why you support BP Barry?
BTW I've stated who and why I support many times yet I have NOT seen the why Obamans support Barry for any reason other than his skin color.....
Which is Simply Racist!
That rambling post made no sense whatsoever. Are you on something?
Ah yes I understand.......it's a "rambling" post because you don't like or want to have to explain the unexplainable!
Greg in Detroit got close because "Obama" saved "Chrysler" which isn't quite true but close enough.
So give US a reason Therman....any REAL reason....you still support Obama?
Please try to Explain the Unexplainable....
If this guy happens to win the Presidency (which he probly wont) just think about the number of Blue Laws he's going to want to start up, invading on our rights and freedoms. Talk about socialism, Romney is it.
More socialism (actually fascist) than Obama.......how?
I don't support Corporate Romney because he is just another Corporate Distraction trying to split the GOP Party from the One Candidate who might be able to beat Corporate Obama.
So why do you still support Promise Breaking Barry?
MUW - I think it has a lot more to do with how pissed off people are about what Bush and Cheney did while in office than anything else. I mean I don't know the real answer but that would be my guess.
Agreed Brent.....but Obama has continued every one of those Bush Era Policies and added more than a few new ones.
Worse.... Broken Promise Barry continued these policies after promising US to put an END TO THEM during his Election Campaign.
Fool US once shame on you......try to fool US twice and I'll at least will vote for Ron Paul & Ralph Nader instead!
Obamans never give a reason to keep him other than......
Oh man I know, I honestly do not see a huge difference between how these two Presidents have done their job. I am no fan at all of either one. I have a feeling it will have been close to two decades before we can say we have had a decent President in office again.