PolitiFact's Lie Of The Year? Shock Of Shocks...It's Something Romney Said

Now liberals can love PolitiFact again.

Mitt Romney's claim in a campaign ad that President Barack Obama "sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China" earned PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year," the site announced on Wednesday.

Of course to do this they have to conflate two separate statements and ignore reality.

From PolitiFact's "award" (no links for propagandists)

"I saw a story today, that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China," he said, to boos from the audience. "I will fight for every good job in America. I’m going to fight to make sure trade is fair, and if it’s fair, America will win."

Reporters mentioned the mistake in their stories the next day, it lit up the Internet, and the liberal cable channel MSNBC attacked Romney for not knowing the facts.

"His lie is embarrassing, frankly, and it should be unsettling for the rest of the world," said MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. "Imagine Romney waking up in the Lincoln bedroom or whatever, checking his conservative Twitter feed and running with whatever he finds there."

Romney’s campaign didn’t retreat, though. It doubled down with a TV ad for Ohio voters that weekend:

"Who will do more for the auto industry? Not Barack Obama," the ad began, adding, "Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job." A similar radio ad soon followed.

The campaign statement was based on an erroneous report in the Washington Examiner. Romney never used the "all production to China" line once he was told the story he was relying on was wrong.

The second claim that Chrysler is going to build Jeeps in China is true. Even PolitiFact admits that.

But Chrysler was thinking of reviving the Jeep brand in key foreign markets, and like other American automakers, Chrysler preferred to build cars in the countries where it intended to sell them -- a common strategy to reduce tariffs and transport costs.

In their original Pants on Fire rating for the ad they said this.

Bragman, the auto analyst, said Romney’s notion that expansion in China comes at a cost to American workers runs counter to the facts. Chrysler’s Toledo plant is running at full capacity, and its Detroit plant is at three shifts. Chrysler is building cars in the United States for sale here.

The production of cars in China is a sign of Chrysler's growing strength in overseas markets. It would like to build Jeeps in China to sell in China. It is not outsourcing American auto jobs.

This is the nifty little slight of hand. Suddenly opening plants in foreign countries is cool and doesn't cost US jobs? Why I'm so old I remember when Obama though that was immoral.

The distinction Obama and liberals are making is it's only eviilllll outsourcing (off shoring really) if a plant closes and the production is moved to another country but it's fine and dandy if a company opens a plant in another country instead of America (except when a Republican invests in that company, then it's evil again).

This is the intellectual corruption that infects the Democratic Machine Media.

By the way, here's my "Lie of the Year"

“We should ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more,”

Obama isn't going to "ask" anyone to pay more, he's going to make them pay more. Just try saying to the IRS, "The President has asked me to pay this higher right, I respectfully decline".

posted by DrewM. at 11:33 AM

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