Thursday, October 25, 2012
Barack Obama: Determination (Video/Transcript)
Transcript:
Obama: There's just no quit in America, and you're seeing that right now. Over 5 million new jobs, exports up 41%, home values rising, our auto industry back and our heroes are coming home. We're not there yet, but we've made real progress. And the last thing we should do is turn back now. Here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting American-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. And ending the war in Afghanistan, so we can do some nation-building here at home. That's the right path. So read my plan, compare it to Governor Romney's and decide which is better for you. It's an honor to be your president, and I'm asking for your vote. So together we can keep moving America forward
Republican Richard Mourdock: I gained votes after rape remarks
Reported by the Guardian News
The Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said on Thursday that he had gained voters as a result of his claim that pregnancies from rape are "something that God intended to happen".
The GOP candidate from Indiana was criticised by Republicans and Democrats after he made the comments during a debate on Tuesday. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, has become embroiled in the row after refusing to withdraw his support for Mourdock. President Obama said Mourdock's remarks were "demeaning to women".
But Mourdock said on Thursday that his popularity had been unaffected by the fallout. Asked about voters who might not vote for him because of the remarks, Mourdock said: "I haven't heard of those voters," the Indianapolis Star reported.
When Mourdock was given an example of one voter who had, in fact, stopped supporting him, he said: "I assured all women that the issue of rape is a serious issue. It is not one that my God condones. If anyone thinks that I would condone that, that's a ludicrous point of view."
Asked if his campaign had gained votes after the abortion comment, the Star said Mourdock replied: "I know we did."
Mourdock's assertion may come as surprise within his own party. The Senate candidate was the subject of headlines for the second day in a row on Thursday, with criticism coming from prominent Republicans as well as the president.
Haley Barbour, the Republican former governor of Mississippi, told CBS's This Morning that Mourdock's remarks were "kinda crazy" and said he did not support Mourdock's statements on rape.
"I don't agree with what he said. I thought that what he said was kinda crazy," Barbour said. The former governor tried to play down the impact on the presidential race, saying that outside Mourdock's state people are "not talking about what someone who's secretary of state in Indiana said".
Even if Mourdock's comments – the latest in a series of missteps by Republicans over issues of rape and abortion – do not adversely affect his campaign, his notoriety could have an impact on Romney's popularity among women, which polls show has improved over the last month.
The latest AP/GfK poll found that Romney has eroded Obama's substantial lead among women – an issue which has been seen as key to deciding the election. The poll showed Romney dead even with Obama on 47%, having been 16 points behind the president with women voters just a month before.
The poll was largely conducted before Mourdock made his remarks, however, and Romney's reluctance to withdraw support from the Indianan is unlikely to be popular. In a debate on Tuesday, Mourdock said he was opposed to abortion even when a woman had been raped, saying "even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen".
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mourdock said he stood by his comments, apologising only for people misinterpreting them.
Obama sought to draw attention to the comments on Wednesday, saying the statement was "demeaning to women". Asked about Mourdock's comment on The Tonight Show, Obama told host Jay Leno: "Rape is rape. It is a crime."
The president continued the theme on Thursday, telling a crowd of supporters in Florida: "I don't think politicians in Washington, most of whom are male, should be making healthcare decisions for women."
Romney refused to answer questions from reporters about Mourdock on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. His campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, said that Romney "disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr Mourdock's comments do not reflect Governor Romney's views". However, she added: "We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him."
There was some good news for Mourdock, however, as John McCain, who beat Romney to the Republican nomination for president in 2008, said he still supported Mourdock. McCain had appeared to waver when interviewed by CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. Asked if he still supported Mourdock, McCain said "it depends on what he does".
"If he apologises, says he misspoke and he was wrong, and he asks the people to forgive him then obviously I'd be the first [to forgive Mourdock]," he said.
On Thursday a spokesman for McCain issued a statement saying the 2008 presidential candidate hoped Mourdock would be elected to the Senate.
"Senator McCain was traveling yesterday in Florida and did not have an opportunity to see Mr Mourdock's full press conference before he taped his CNN interview," the statement said. "Senator McCain is glad that Mr Mourdock apologised to the people of Indiana and clarified his previous statement."
Mourdock has also been backed by the national Republican senatorial committee, although the New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte dropped plans to campaign with Mourdock, a spokesman saying she disagreed with his comments.
Mourdock is not the first Republican to find himself in hot water over beliefs related to abortion. In August, Todd Akin, a Republican Senate nominee from Missouri, said that pregnancy as a result of "legitimate rape" is rare as "the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down".
Just last week, Republican congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois told reporters "you can't find one instance" where it had been necessary to perform an abortion due to the risk to the mother's life, due to medical advances. Medical experts note that there are some cases where the only option in the case of complications sustained during pregnancy is to abort the foetus.
The Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said on Thursday that he had gained voters as a result of his claim that pregnancies from rape are "something that God intended to happen".
The GOP candidate from Indiana was criticised by Republicans and Democrats after he made the comments during a debate on Tuesday. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, has become embroiled in the row after refusing to withdraw his support for Mourdock. President Obama said Mourdock's remarks were "demeaning to women".
But Mourdock said on Thursday that his popularity had been unaffected by the fallout. Asked about voters who might not vote for him because of the remarks, Mourdock said: "I haven't heard of those voters," the Indianapolis Star reported.
When Mourdock was given an example of one voter who had, in fact, stopped supporting him, he said: "I assured all women that the issue of rape is a serious issue. It is not one that my God condones. If anyone thinks that I would condone that, that's a ludicrous point of view."
Asked if his campaign had gained votes after the abortion comment, the Star said Mourdock replied: "I know we did."
Mourdock's assertion may come as surprise within his own party. The Senate candidate was the subject of headlines for the second day in a row on Thursday, with criticism coming from prominent Republicans as well as the president.
Haley Barbour, the Republican former governor of Mississippi, told CBS's This Morning that Mourdock's remarks were "kinda crazy" and said he did not support Mourdock's statements on rape.
"I don't agree with what he said. I thought that what he said was kinda crazy," Barbour said. The former governor tried to play down the impact on the presidential race, saying that outside Mourdock's state people are "not talking about what someone who's secretary of state in Indiana said".
Even if Mourdock's comments – the latest in a series of missteps by Republicans over issues of rape and abortion – do not adversely affect his campaign, his notoriety could have an impact on Romney's popularity among women, which polls show has improved over the last month.
The latest AP/GfK poll found that Romney has eroded Obama's substantial lead among women – an issue which has been seen as key to deciding the election. The poll showed Romney dead even with Obama on 47%, having been 16 points behind the president with women voters just a month before.
The poll was largely conducted before Mourdock made his remarks, however, and Romney's reluctance to withdraw support from the Indianan is unlikely to be popular. In a debate on Tuesday, Mourdock said he was opposed to abortion even when a woman had been raped, saying "even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen".
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mourdock said he stood by his comments, apologising only for people misinterpreting them.
Obama sought to draw attention to the comments on Wednesday, saying the statement was "demeaning to women". Asked about Mourdock's comment on The Tonight Show, Obama told host Jay Leno: "Rape is rape. It is a crime."
The president continued the theme on Thursday, telling a crowd of supporters in Florida: "I don't think politicians in Washington, most of whom are male, should be making healthcare decisions for women."
Romney refused to answer questions from reporters about Mourdock on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. His campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, said that Romney "disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr Mourdock's comments do not reflect Governor Romney's views". However, she added: "We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him."
There was some good news for Mourdock, however, as John McCain, who beat Romney to the Republican nomination for president in 2008, said he still supported Mourdock. McCain had appeared to waver when interviewed by CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. Asked if he still supported Mourdock, McCain said "it depends on what he does".
"If he apologises, says he misspoke and he was wrong, and he asks the people to forgive him then obviously I'd be the first [to forgive Mourdock]," he said.
On Thursday a spokesman for McCain issued a statement saying the 2008 presidential candidate hoped Mourdock would be elected to the Senate.
"Senator McCain was traveling yesterday in Florida and did not have an opportunity to see Mr Mourdock's full press conference before he taped his CNN interview," the statement said. "Senator McCain is glad that Mr Mourdock apologised to the people of Indiana and clarified his previous statement."
Mourdock has also been backed by the national Republican senatorial committee, although the New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte dropped plans to campaign with Mourdock, a spokesman saying she disagreed with his comments.
Mourdock is not the first Republican to find himself in hot water over beliefs related to abortion. In August, Todd Akin, a Republican Senate nominee from Missouri, said that pregnancy as a result of "legitimate rape" is rare as "the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down".
Just last week, Republican congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois told reporters "you can't find one instance" where it had been necessary to perform an abortion due to the risk to the mother's life, due to medical advances. Medical experts note that there are some cases where the only option in the case of complications sustained during pregnancy is to abort the foetus.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Could a Romney / Biden Ticket happen?
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news,
Standing up, so you mean something big is about to happen. it's a very close race. it's a very very close race. one of the consequences is that it is entirely possible that at the end of all this the president of the united states is going to be john boehner. I'm not kidding.
Here's how this works. the process by which that could happen is not that hard to understand and it really could feasibly happen.
This is the battle ground map. the yellow states. the states that are red or blue is it seems clear that the states are going to vote. Let's assume there are not going to be any big surprises there in the non- battle ground states. that brings us to just the battlegrounds. those are the states in yellow.
So in this scenario, before we get to the battleground states, President Obama, just from adding up the blue states, has 237 electoral votes. That's even before we get to the battleground states in yellow. you need 270 to win.
So president Obama picks up Ohio, all important Ohio. Let's say he also wins new Hampshire, and let's say he wins the great state of Wisconsin.
But let's say mitt Romney wins all of the other battleground state on the map. this is not that hard to image. Romney would win Florida and north Carolina and Virginia and Colorado and Nevada and what I like to think of as the Iowa part of Ohio.
So if that happens on election day, look at what the electoral count is. that is a tie. 269 to 269. Neither of them is president in this circumstance. So how in this circumstance do we do side who wins the presidency?
Jonathan Carl from ABC News spun this out in print and we've been look looking at it ever since. It is not an accident what would happen in the case of a 269 to 269 electoral college tie. This is not something we would have to make it up on the spot. The founders talked about what would be the right thing to do in a circumstances like this. And it turns out what they thought was a very strange thing. so according to the 12th amendment, it's the house of representatives who gets to choose who is the president.
But, they do not vote on who's going to be president the way they normally vote on things in the house. In that circumstance, when they're making that specific decision, each state just gets one vote per state. So no matter how many members of congress there are from each state, no matter how big the state's population, each state gets an equal vote.
So in this scenario that get us to an electoral tie between Mitt Romney and President Obama, Mitt Romney wins more states. he wins 29 states to Obama's 21 states. Which means that if the house of representatives voted, Mitt Romney would be elected by the house of representatives. Nobody can instruct the state congressional delegations exactly how to cast their ballots, they get to decide on their own.
You would think they would vote the way their state voted and work it out in their own mini democracies or something. But if they did that the way their states voted, this is who we would end up with.
What if we ended up instead 25 states picking president Romney and 25 states picking President Obama. There is no tie breaker in that case. you know who becomes president in that circumstances? Not Mitt Romney, not President Obama, but this guy, speaker of the house John Boehner. That's who becomes president in the event of a 25/25 tie.
The more likely outcome in our electoral tie that got us here, is that there will be no tie in the house. Mitt Romney will be elected president in the house, but then what happens to the vice presidential tie?
If there's an electoral tie it goes to the house of represents we get president Romney and vice president Paul Ryan not automatically. This is the amazing part and it's on purpose. It didn't come up by accident.
The vice presidency would be decided in the senate after the presidency was decided in the house of representatives. So it's kind of nuts but look it how it works out. In the senate they would vote for a vice president in a straightforward way. One senate, one vote. We would be talking about the senate we would have after the election.
If it's a republican majority in the senate, presumably that republican majority would pick Paul Ryan.
If there is a democratic majority, that senate would presumably pick Joe Biden, right?
If the senate is tied at 50/50, in that case the sitting vice president would break the vote. So then we would have a process dictated by the constitution of the United States.
President Mitt Romney and vice president Joe Biden. Together. At once. That is a totally feasible prospect as an outcome for this election.
Isn't this a great country?
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
For the undecided voters (Video/ Transcribt)
Transcript:
>>> before you get our vote, you're going to have to answer some questions. questions like --
>> when is the election? how soon do we have to decide?
>> what are the names of the two people running? and be specific.
>> who is the president right now? is he or she running? because if so, experience is maybe something we should consider.
>> i have been told that when "snl" lampoons you, you've finally made it or maybe that's what helps me sleep at night. the other possibility is that you are simply so ripe for mockery, your mere existence is so absurd that "snl" cannot ignore you any longer. undecided voters i'm talking to you. take a look good, hard look in the mirror because this is your wake-up call. officially out of excuses. the debates are wrapped up and with two weeks left, it's time to make up your minds. we got to know these guys pretty well. i mean, i know the candidates better than i know my own neighbors. but that's because i hate them. if you still don't know who president obama is, look around you. some will say he's like jesus, he is everywhere and in everything. he's in your higher milk prices an out of work cousin, in your second mortgage and your uncle who keeps telling you to buy gold and he's on "the view" everything morning. as for mitt romney, he's also been pretty easy to find from california to new hampshire, you can find him at any one of his 400 homes. you can find him at fox news 17 times a day. you can often find him on both sides of an issue, and sometimes you'll find he's the only candidate to show up at a debate. and so i don't buy this undecided nonsense. in 2011 a study found most women believed 180 seconds was long enough to decide whether a potential suitor was mr. right or mr. wrong. men make snap decisions all the time like when they decide to buy a mustang at 55.
>> yep.
>> or grow to mustache. colin powell made a study of good decision making insisting you should need to less than 40% of available information to make a tough decision and no more than 70%. someone should have told that to haml hamlet. i'm calling your bluff undecideds, you, the most contemptible voting group out there. you're either procrastinating, lazy, or lying, so pick a side and make up your minds and consider this your written invitation to the election. oka
>> when is the election? how soon do we have to decide?
>> what are the names of the two people running? and be specific.
>> who is the president right now? is he or she running? because if so, experience is maybe something we should consider.
>> i have been told that when "snl" lampoons you, you've finally made it or maybe that's what helps me sleep at night. the other possibility is that you are simply so ripe for mockery, your mere existence is so absurd that "snl" cannot ignore you any longer. undecided voters i'm talking to you. take a look good, hard look in the mirror because this is your wake-up call. officially out of excuses. the debates are wrapped up and with two weeks left, it's time to make up your minds. we got to know these guys pretty well. i mean, i know the candidates better than i know my own neighbors. but that's because i hate them. if you still don't know who president obama is, look around you. some will say he's like jesus, he is everywhere and in everything. he's in your higher milk prices an out of work cousin, in your second mortgage and your uncle who keeps telling you to buy gold and he's on "the view" everything morning. as for mitt romney, he's also been pretty easy to find from california to new hampshire, you can find him at any one of his 400 homes. you can find him at fox news 17 times a day. you can often find him on both sides of an issue, and sometimes you'll find he's the only candidate to show up at a debate. and so i don't buy this undecided nonsense. in 2011 a study found most women believed 180 seconds was long enough to decide whether a potential suitor was mr. right or mr. wrong. men make snap decisions all the time like when they decide to buy a mustang at 55.
>> yep.
>> or grow to mustache. colin powell made a study of good decision making insisting you should need to less than 40% of available information to make a tough decision and no more than 70%. someone should have told that to haml hamlet. i'm calling your bluff undecideds, you, the most contemptible voting group out there. you're either procrastinating, lazy, or lying, so pick a side and make up your minds and consider this your written invitation to the election. oka
USA-Today Fact-Check of the third Presidential Debate
USA-Today 1:55AM EDT October 23. 2012
- During the third and final presidential debate Monday night, President Obama and Mitt Romney disputed an array of statements on foreign policy. Here are a few worth a deeper look:
Defense spending
Claim: Obama said Romney wants to add $2 trillion in spending the military hasn't asked for and that defense spending has increased every year he has been president.
The facts: Obama's claim about Romney's increase is accurate; his statement that budgets have increased is not.
Romney calls for spending a minimum of 4% of the nation's gross domestic product on defense. Over 10 years, that would amount to about $2 trillion more for the Pentagon than Obama has budgeted over the same period.
The 2013 Pentagon base budget — excluding costs for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — as proposed by Obama declines by $5 billion compared with 2012, according to the Pentagon's comptroller.
MORE: Obama, Romney meet in final debate
ANALYSIS: Will final debate break voters' stalemate?
Syria
Claim: Obama said that Romney said he would provide heavy arms to Syrian rebels.
The facts: Romney did say he would provide heavy weaponry to rebels in Syria. In an Oct. 8 speech in Lexington, Va., Romney said he "will work with our partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition who share our values and ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat (President Bashar) Assad's tanks, helicopters and fighter jets."
The 'apology tour'
Claim: Romney said Obama went on "an apology tour of going to various nations in the Middle East and criticizing America."
The facts: The use of the term "apology tour" to describe Obama's April 2009 foreign visits appears to have started with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
In his book, Romney cited a number of speeches in which he said Obama apologized: "The United States certainly shares blame" for the global banking meltdown, Obama told the French. The George W. Bush administration had "lowered our standing in the world," he told the English. And to the Turkish parliament, he said: "The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history," which included slavery, segregation and treatment of American Indians.
Even so, none of his foreign speeches included what many people would consider an essential element of an apology: the words "we're sorry." That's why Obama is correct that professional fact-checkers have rated the statement as untrue.
Mali
Claim: Romney, citing a litany of Middle East hotspots, said northern Mali "has been taken over by al-Qaeda-type individuals."
The facts: Mali, an African nation of 14 million people in the western Sahara desert, has been embroiled in conflict this year as insurgent groups have fought for independence. The Economic Community of West African States has identified at least three of the groups as having links with al-Qaeda. Intelligence officials say the groups may also have connections to insurgent groups in Algeria and Libya.
The Obama administration's response has been low-key, but on Monday, a French defense official told the Associated Press that it was discussing drone strikes with the United States. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also sounded the alarm Monday, telling a German military conference near Berlin that "Free democratic states cannot accept international terrorism gaining a safe refuge in the north of the country."
Libya
Claim: Obama said Romney suggested that getting rid of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya was "mission creep."
The facts: "What we are watching in real time is another example of mission creep and mission muddle," Romney wrote in the National Review on April 21, in the midst of the Libya operation. In that piece, Romney said he supported the "specific, limited mission" of a no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians from the Gadhafi regime, but he said Obama owed Americans a better explanation of why he had changed his position to call for the Libyan dictator's ouster.
After Gadhafi was killed by rebel forces, Romney said, "The world is a better place with Gadhafi gone."
Iraq
Claim: Obama said Romney wanted to leave troops in Iraq after Dec. 31, 2011, a claim Romney denied.
The facts: When the U.S. government was trying to secure a status of forces agreement last year with the Iraqi government that would have allowed some U.S. troops to remain in the country, Romney said more U.S. troops should remain than Obama was proposing.
Romney repeated that sentiment in a video leaked to Mother Jones from a May fundraiser. Romney said: "This president's failure to put in place a status of forces agreement allowing ten to 20,000 troops to stay in Iraq: unthinkable." But there is no record that Romney made the claim as recently as "a few weeks ago."
Global Influence
Claim: Romney said nowhere in the world is the United States' role greater than it was four years ago.
The facts: Global attitudes about the United States have declined slightly over the past four years, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2008, 84% to 14% positive-negative view of the United States and 14% unfavorable. In 2012, that favorability figure had fallen to 80%-14%.
Veterans
Claim: Obama said the unemployment rate for veterans is below the national jobless rate.
The facts: The unemployment rate for veterans in September was 6.7%, just above the three-year low of 6.6% reached the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Veterans Affairs. That's below the 7.8% national jobless rate. However, unemployment for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan era was 9.7% last month.
Iran
Claim: Obama said Romney now favors bilateral talks with Iran, a reversal of his previous stance.
The facts: The Associated Press reported that Romney refused to answer when asked Sunday whether he supported one-on-one talks.
Russia
Claim: Obama said Romney has called Russia the largest geopolitical threat to the United States.
The facts: It is true that Romney said in a March 26 interview with CNN that Russia "is without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe." He added: "They fight for every cause for the world's worse actors. The idea that he (Obama) has more flexibility in mind for Russia is very, very troubling indeed." In a subsequent interview, Romney sought to clarify his remarks, saying, "That doesn't make them an enemy. It doesn't make them a combatant. They don't represent the No. 1 national security threat."
Class size
Claim: Obama said Romney said that reduced class sizes at schools did not make a difference.
The facts: During a May visit to a Philadelphia charter school, Romney discussed his approach to education when he was governor of Massachusetts. He said people told him that smaller class sizes were needed, and Romney said he analyzed every school district and their students' performance.
"I said let's compare the average classroom size from each school district with the performance of our students, because we test our kids, and we'll see if there's a relationship. And there was not."
He later cited a study by a consulting firm that studied classroom size around the world and came to a similar conclusion. "So it's not the classroom size that's driving the success of those school systems."
Oil imports
Claim: Obama said the United States has cut its oil imports to the lowest levels in 20 years.
The facts: That's close. The Department of Energy said this year that U.S. dependence on imported oil fell to 45% last year, the first time it dropped below 50% since 1997. The White House, citing DOE figures, says on its website that net imports — that's imports minus exports — as a share of total consumption fell to 45% last year and that was the lowest level in 16 years. Meanwhile, U.S. oil production has risen sharply. September's domestic production was the highest of any September since 1998, the American Petroleum Institute reported last week. Overall, petroleum imports fell to 10.5 million barrels a day in September, down 602,000 barrels a day from a year earlier.
Cooperation with Israel
Claim: Obama said, "We have created the strongest military and intelligence cooperation between our two countries in history."
The facts: By its nature, intelligence cooperation is difficult to verify. But military cooperation is a bit more visible. On Sunday, the United States and Israel launched a joint training operation called "Austere Challenge 12." Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro called the exercise the "largest and most significant joint exercise in the allies' history."
Nevertheless, the event also happens at a low point in the political relationship between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Obama declined to meet with Netanyahu last month when Israeli leader visited the U.S. And asked by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes whether he felt pressure on Iran from Israel, Obama said he would "block out any noise" from the Israelis.
Middle East peace talks
Claim: Romney said the United States has not exerted leadership in the Middle East and said Israel and the Palestinians haven't met in two years
The facts: The last direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders happened in September 2010 — and then quickly broke down when the Israeli moratorium on settlements in the West Bank expired.
Obama himself has admitted that peace in the Middle East has eluded him, as it has every president since Jimmy Carter. "I have not been able to move the peace process forward in the Middle East the way I wanted. It's something we focused on very early. But the truth of the matter is that the parties, they've got to want it as well," he told Washington, D.C., television station WJLA in July.
Romney is more pessimistic. In a secretly taped fundraiser more famous for his "47%" remark, he said: "The pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish," that "it's going to remain an unsolved problem" and that a permanent agreement is "just wishful thinking." He also angered many Palestinians in July when he said at a Jerusalem fundraiser that cultural differences accounted for the stark disparities in wealth between Israel and Palestine.
Romney has softened that stance more recently. In a foreign policy speech in Virginia this month, Romney said he would "will recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel." By that score, Romney's Palestinian policy is the same as Obama's. They both espouse a "two-state" solution that first became U.S. policy under President George W. Bush.
Carter, with a delegation of elder statesmen visiting Israel Monday, said prospects of a lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord are "vanishing."
U.S.- Israel Relations
Claim: Romney said Obama was trying to create "daylight" between the United States and Israel.
The facts: The reported "daylight" policy first surfaced in a Washington Post story recounting a 2009 meeting Obama had with Jewish leaders, in which one leader told Obama, "If you want Israel to take risks, then its leaders must know that the United States is right next to them."
Obama disagreed, saying, "Look at the past eight years. … During those eight years, there was no space between us and Israel, and what did we get from that? When there is no daylight, Israel just sits on the sidelines, and that erodes our credibility with the Arab states."
By that, the president seemed to be saying that the United States can be more effective acting as an honest broker between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The White House hasn't disputed the Washington Post account, but press secretary Jay Carney has made it clear that the policy, if there is one, does not extend to Iran. "There is no daylight between the United States and Israel when it comes to the absolute need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," Carney said.
China
Claim: Obama said his administration has brought more trade cases against China in four years than the Bush administration did in eight years.
The facts: The Obama administration has brought eight trade cases against China with the World Trade Organization, according to PolitiFact.com and the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Bush filed seven cases over two terms. However, China joined the WTO in 2001, after President George W. Bush took office, and member countries effectively gave China a grace period. The United States was the first nation to file a trade case against China in 2004. Thus, Obama could take advantage of some of the groundwork laid by Bush's administration.
Exports to China
Claim: Obama said U.S. exports to China have doubled since the start of the Obama administration.
The facts: The United States has more than doubled its exports to China during Obama's presidency, but that has coincided with rising imports from China as well. When Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, the United States exported $4.2 billion worth of goods to China. By August 2012, that had risen to $8.6 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Imports from China over that time period have risen from $24.7 billion to $37.3 billion. So the American trade balance with China has gone from $20.6 billion in favor of China in January 2009 to $28.7 billion in August 2012.
Education
Claim: Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, want to cut the education budget, according to Obama.
The facts: Though Ryan's budget has called for $5.3 trillion cuts in federal spending over the next decade, he has not singled out education programs for reduction or elimination, according to Politifact. An analysis by the National Education Association determined that the large cuts proposed by Ryan, and generally embraced by Romney, could cut 2 million spots in the Head Start early childhood education program.
Romney insists that he is not going to cut education programs. "I'm not going to cut education funding. I don't have any plan to cut education funding and grants that go to people going to college. I'm planning on continuing to grow, so I'm not planning on making changes there," Romney said in his Oct. 3 debate with Obama.
Defense budget
Claim: Romney said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Pentagon budget cuts totaling $1 trillion over 10 years devastating.
The facts: Panetta and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have agreed to $487 billion in budget cuts. However, about $500 billion in additional cuts to defense spending will automatically begin in January — a process termed "sequestration" — if Congress and Obama do not reach a comprehensive deal to reduce deficits. Panetta was referring to those $500 billion in cuts as devastating. Moreover, Romney's running mate, Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, voted for that Budget Control Act that included the automatic cuts.
- During the third and final presidential debate Monday night, President Obama and Mitt Romney disputed an array of statements on foreign policy. Here are a few worth a deeper look:
Defense spending
Claim: Obama said Romney wants to add $2 trillion in spending the military hasn't asked for and that defense spending has increased every year he has been president.
The facts: Obama's claim about Romney's increase is accurate; his statement that budgets have increased is not.
Romney calls for spending a minimum of 4% of the nation's gross domestic product on defense. Over 10 years, that would amount to about $2 trillion more for the Pentagon than Obama has budgeted over the same period.
The 2013 Pentagon base budget — excluding costs for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — as proposed by Obama declines by $5 billion compared with 2012, according to the Pentagon's comptroller.
MORE: Obama, Romney meet in final debate
ANALYSIS: Will final debate break voters' stalemate?
Syria
Claim: Obama said that Romney said he would provide heavy arms to Syrian rebels.
The facts: Romney did say he would provide heavy weaponry to rebels in Syria. In an Oct. 8 speech in Lexington, Va., Romney said he "will work with our partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition who share our values and ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat (President Bashar) Assad's tanks, helicopters and fighter jets."
The 'apology tour'
Claim: Romney said Obama went on "an apology tour of going to various nations in the Middle East and criticizing America."
The facts: The use of the term "apology tour" to describe Obama's April 2009 foreign visits appears to have started with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
In his book, Romney cited a number of speeches in which he said Obama apologized: "The United States certainly shares blame" for the global banking meltdown, Obama told the French. The George W. Bush administration had "lowered our standing in the world," he told the English. And to the Turkish parliament, he said: "The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history," which included slavery, segregation and treatment of American Indians.
Even so, none of his foreign speeches included what many people would consider an essential element of an apology: the words "we're sorry." That's why Obama is correct that professional fact-checkers have rated the statement as untrue.
Mali
Claim: Romney, citing a litany of Middle East hotspots, said northern Mali "has been taken over by al-Qaeda-type individuals."
The facts: Mali, an African nation of 14 million people in the western Sahara desert, has been embroiled in conflict this year as insurgent groups have fought for independence. The Economic Community of West African States has identified at least three of the groups as having links with al-Qaeda. Intelligence officials say the groups may also have connections to insurgent groups in Algeria and Libya.
The Obama administration's response has been low-key, but on Monday, a French defense official told the Associated Press that it was discussing drone strikes with the United States. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also sounded the alarm Monday, telling a German military conference near Berlin that "Free democratic states cannot accept international terrorism gaining a safe refuge in the north of the country."
Libya
Claim: Obama said Romney suggested that getting rid of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya was "mission creep."
The facts: "What we are watching in real time is another example of mission creep and mission muddle," Romney wrote in the National Review on April 21, in the midst of the Libya operation. In that piece, Romney said he supported the "specific, limited mission" of a no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians from the Gadhafi regime, but he said Obama owed Americans a better explanation of why he had changed his position to call for the Libyan dictator's ouster.
After Gadhafi was killed by rebel forces, Romney said, "The world is a better place with Gadhafi gone."
Iraq
Claim: Obama said Romney wanted to leave troops in Iraq after Dec. 31, 2011, a claim Romney denied.
The facts: When the U.S. government was trying to secure a status of forces agreement last year with the Iraqi government that would have allowed some U.S. troops to remain in the country, Romney said more U.S. troops should remain than Obama was proposing.
Romney repeated that sentiment in a video leaked to Mother Jones from a May fundraiser. Romney said: "This president's failure to put in place a status of forces agreement allowing ten to 20,000 troops to stay in Iraq: unthinkable." But there is no record that Romney made the claim as recently as "a few weeks ago."
Global Influence
Claim: Romney said nowhere in the world is the United States' role greater than it was four years ago.
The facts: Global attitudes about the United States have declined slightly over the past four years, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2008, 84% to 14% positive-negative view of the United States and 14% unfavorable. In 2012, that favorability figure had fallen to 80%-14%.
Veterans
Claim: Obama said the unemployment rate for veterans is below the national jobless rate.
The facts: The unemployment rate for veterans in September was 6.7%, just above the three-year low of 6.6% reached the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Veterans Affairs. That's below the 7.8% national jobless rate. However, unemployment for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan era was 9.7% last month.
Iran
Claim: Obama said Romney now favors bilateral talks with Iran, a reversal of his previous stance.
The facts: The Associated Press reported that Romney refused to answer when asked Sunday whether he supported one-on-one talks.
Russia
Claim: Obama said Romney has called Russia the largest geopolitical threat to the United States.
The facts: It is true that Romney said in a March 26 interview with CNN that Russia "is without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe." He added: "They fight for every cause for the world's worse actors. The idea that he (Obama) has more flexibility in mind for Russia is very, very troubling indeed." In a subsequent interview, Romney sought to clarify his remarks, saying, "That doesn't make them an enemy. It doesn't make them a combatant. They don't represent the No. 1 national security threat."
Class size
Claim: Obama said Romney said that reduced class sizes at schools did not make a difference.
The facts: During a May visit to a Philadelphia charter school, Romney discussed his approach to education when he was governor of Massachusetts. He said people told him that smaller class sizes were needed, and Romney said he analyzed every school district and their students' performance.
"I said let's compare the average classroom size from each school district with the performance of our students, because we test our kids, and we'll see if there's a relationship. And there was not."
He later cited a study by a consulting firm that studied classroom size around the world and came to a similar conclusion. "So it's not the classroom size that's driving the success of those school systems."
Oil imports
Claim: Obama said the United States has cut its oil imports to the lowest levels in 20 years.
The facts: That's close. The Department of Energy said this year that U.S. dependence on imported oil fell to 45% last year, the first time it dropped below 50% since 1997. The White House, citing DOE figures, says on its website that net imports — that's imports minus exports — as a share of total consumption fell to 45% last year and that was the lowest level in 16 years. Meanwhile, U.S. oil production has risen sharply. September's domestic production was the highest of any September since 1998, the American Petroleum Institute reported last week. Overall, petroleum imports fell to 10.5 million barrels a day in September, down 602,000 barrels a day from a year earlier.
Cooperation with Israel
Claim: Obama said, "We have created the strongest military and intelligence cooperation between our two countries in history."
The facts: By its nature, intelligence cooperation is difficult to verify. But military cooperation is a bit more visible. On Sunday, the United States and Israel launched a joint training operation called "Austere Challenge 12." Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro called the exercise the "largest and most significant joint exercise in the allies' history."
Nevertheless, the event also happens at a low point in the political relationship between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Obama declined to meet with Netanyahu last month when Israeli leader visited the U.S. And asked by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes whether he felt pressure on Iran from Israel, Obama said he would "block out any noise" from the Israelis.
Middle East peace talks
Claim: Romney said the United States has not exerted leadership in the Middle East and said Israel and the Palestinians haven't met in two years
The facts: The last direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders happened in September 2010 — and then quickly broke down when the Israeli moratorium on settlements in the West Bank expired.
Obama himself has admitted that peace in the Middle East has eluded him, as it has every president since Jimmy Carter. "I have not been able to move the peace process forward in the Middle East the way I wanted. It's something we focused on very early. But the truth of the matter is that the parties, they've got to want it as well," he told Washington, D.C., television station WJLA in July.
Romney is more pessimistic. In a secretly taped fundraiser more famous for his "47%" remark, he said: "The pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish," that "it's going to remain an unsolved problem" and that a permanent agreement is "just wishful thinking." He also angered many Palestinians in July when he said at a Jerusalem fundraiser that cultural differences accounted for the stark disparities in wealth between Israel and Palestine.
Romney has softened that stance more recently. In a foreign policy speech in Virginia this month, Romney said he would "will recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel." By that score, Romney's Palestinian policy is the same as Obama's. They both espouse a "two-state" solution that first became U.S. policy under President George W. Bush.
Carter, with a delegation of elder statesmen visiting Israel Monday, said prospects of a lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord are "vanishing."
U.S.- Israel Relations
Claim: Romney said Obama was trying to create "daylight" between the United States and Israel.
The facts: The reported "daylight" policy first surfaced in a Washington Post story recounting a 2009 meeting Obama had with Jewish leaders, in which one leader told Obama, "If you want Israel to take risks, then its leaders must know that the United States is right next to them."
Obama disagreed, saying, "Look at the past eight years. … During those eight years, there was no space between us and Israel, and what did we get from that? When there is no daylight, Israel just sits on the sidelines, and that erodes our credibility with the Arab states."
By that, the president seemed to be saying that the United States can be more effective acting as an honest broker between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The White House hasn't disputed the Washington Post account, but press secretary Jay Carney has made it clear that the policy, if there is one, does not extend to Iran. "There is no daylight between the United States and Israel when it comes to the absolute need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," Carney said.
China
Claim: Obama said his administration has brought more trade cases against China in four years than the Bush administration did in eight years.
The facts: The Obama administration has brought eight trade cases against China with the World Trade Organization, according to PolitiFact.com and the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Bush filed seven cases over two terms. However, China joined the WTO in 2001, after President George W. Bush took office, and member countries effectively gave China a grace period. The United States was the first nation to file a trade case against China in 2004. Thus, Obama could take advantage of some of the groundwork laid by Bush's administration.
Exports to China
Claim: Obama said U.S. exports to China have doubled since the start of the Obama administration.
The facts: The United States has more than doubled its exports to China during Obama's presidency, but that has coincided with rising imports from China as well. When Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, the United States exported $4.2 billion worth of goods to China. By August 2012, that had risen to $8.6 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Imports from China over that time period have risen from $24.7 billion to $37.3 billion. So the American trade balance with China has gone from $20.6 billion in favor of China in January 2009 to $28.7 billion in August 2012.
Education
Claim: Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, want to cut the education budget, according to Obama.
The facts: Though Ryan's budget has called for $5.3 trillion cuts in federal spending over the next decade, he has not singled out education programs for reduction or elimination, according to Politifact. An analysis by the National Education Association determined that the large cuts proposed by Ryan, and generally embraced by Romney, could cut 2 million spots in the Head Start early childhood education program.
Romney insists that he is not going to cut education programs. "I'm not going to cut education funding. I don't have any plan to cut education funding and grants that go to people going to college. I'm planning on continuing to grow, so I'm not planning on making changes there," Romney said in his Oct. 3 debate with Obama.
Defense budget
Claim: Romney said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Pentagon budget cuts totaling $1 trillion over 10 years devastating.
The facts: Panetta and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have agreed to $487 billion in budget cuts. However, about $500 billion in additional cuts to defense spending will automatically begin in January — a process termed "sequestration" — if Congress and Obama do not reach a comprehensive deal to reduce deficits. Panetta was referring to those $500 billion in cuts as devastating. Moreover, Romney's running mate, Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, voted for that Budget Control Act that included the automatic cuts.
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