Six Whoppers from the Debate

Six Whoppers from the Debate

From Campaign for American's Future

Last night, John McCain repeated conservative arguments that are completely divorced from the facts. We need to take every possible opportunity to counter these right-wing whoppers. Here’s a short summary:

Whopper: “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the subprime lending situation that caused the housing market in America to collapse.”

Fact: The unregulated shadow banking system caused our financial crisis. The Federal National Mortgage Association, known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, backed relatively few subprime mortgages until the Bush Administration changed the rules in 2004, encouraging those companies to buy subprime loans late in the game. [Washington Post] Instead, it was unregulated banking companies that created the situation—years before Fannie and Freddie got involved—by encouraging mortgage companies to lend to individuals who could not afford the payments. [Dean Baker, McClatchy Newspapers]

Whopper: “Businesses in America today are paying the second highest tax rate of anywhere in the world.”

Fact: Compared to other industrialized countries, actual U.S. corporate taxes are low. According to a 2008 study by the World Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the United States’ total corporate tax burden ranks 76th of over 100 countries. [World Bank] Almost all of our major trading partners and competitors—including Canada, Mexico, China, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, and France—collect more businesses taxes than we do. Our tax rate is relatively high, but the code is so riddled with loopholes that two-thirds of American corporations and foreign corporations doing business in the United States pay absolutely no federal income taxes—despite taking in $2.5 trillion in sales. [Government Accountability Office]

Whopper: “We can eliminate our dependence on foreign oil by building 45 new nuclear power plants, right away.”

Fact: Nuclear power won’t make the U.S. energy independent. At the fastest possible pace of construction, it would still take almost 40 years to build 45 new nuclear power plants. During the same period, at least that many nuclear plants will have to be retired as they become too old to operate safely. [Keystone Center] In fact, the only practical avenue to energy independence is increasing the percentage of power generated from renewable energy sources, raising fuel efficiency standards, and enacting the Apollo Alliance plan to invest in conservation, energy efficiency and clean power—and create more than 3 million new jobs. The largest short-term savings on energy will come from conservation—retrofitting buildings to be more efficient, raising fuel and appliance efficiency standards, and changing personal habits.

Whopper: “We can offshore drill now. We will reduce the cost of a barrel of oil because we show the world that we have a supply of our own.”

Fact: Offshore drilling would take 10 years to bring new oil to market, 20 years to reach peak capacity, and even then it wouldn’t lower gasoline prices. It takes years—to set up operations, dig test wells, and build a functioning oil rig—for a new well to provide oil for the market. On top of that, all of the oil-drilling ships in the world are booked for the next five years. [New York Times] So it would take 10 years before any oil is pumped out of new offshore wells, and about 20 years for those wells to reach peak capacity. Bush’s own Department of Energy reports that with new offshore drilling “any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.” [U.S. Department of Energy]

Whopper: “ACORN...is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.”

Fact: ACORN, a 38-year-old grassroots community organization, is being smeared by the right wing. ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, was founded in 1970 and is the nation’s largest grassroots organization of low- and moderate-income people, with over 400,000 member families. ACORN has done something praiseworthy: it has encouraged over 1.3 million Americans to join the democratic process by registering to vote. A few people gave ACORN registration forms with false names, and ACORN was required by law to turn those in to elections officials. But not one instance of voter fraud associated with ACORN has been proven. The Center for American Progress wrote an excellent paper debunking the claims against ACORN. [Center for American Progress]

Whopper: “The Washington, D.C. school voucher system [is a model for success—the number of vouchers offered] “I think it’s a thousand and some, and some 9,000 parents asked to be eligible for that.”

Fact: The Washington D.C. school voucher system illustrates perfectly why vouchers don’t work. Two studies from the Bush Administration’s own Department of Education found that the voucher program in Washington D.C. has had no impact on students’ academic achievement. [Department of Education 2007, 2008] And when the vouchers were first offered, so few public-school parents applied for them that the D.C. school system had to give them away to children who were already attending private schools. [Washington Post] With 90 percent of America’s students attending public schools, we need a reform agenda that provides them with great schools—not a plan to siphon off scarce public funds to give private school vouchers to a few.

After McCain said "that one," it was over

I admit John McCain started out pretty good in the debate. Wow, I thought, a town hall format really is his strong point. But after 30 minutes, I realized this whole campaign -- the debate, the presidency, everything -- is a marathon, not a sprint. McCain does not have the stamina. Barack Obama does and he clearly won this Town Hall debate. And in the process sewed up the election by any stretch of political imagination.

McCain created the momentum early on with his $350 billion taxpayer bailout of distressed homeowners. Pretty bold, I thought. (I also thought the far right is having a fit right now.) Obama was wobbly in his early response and especially specifics.

Can't remember if it was the question about "sacrifice" or before that but around that time Obama began to turn things around. And McCain -- sorry -- was just a cranky, grumpy old man. The icing on the cake was when he called Obama "that one!" (racial dynamics and all...) Like he was an object, not a human being. Ohhh. That reverberated around a million homes! How many people at their work, by their bosses or supervisors have been called "that one?" Millions. It's belittling and embarrassing. And that is what McCain promises for the American people.

On green jobs and health care Obama hit solidly the questions pitched to him. But suprisingly, he knocked it out on foreign policy -- supposedly his "weak" point. Starting with the illegal war in Iraq and McCain's support for it, Obama railed on the cost in treasure, lives and relationships around the world.

I channeled my 79 year old mom who died five years ago. She -- like my dad -- are classic Reagan Democrats. And, I concluded after the channeling, that she would vote for Obama. It's like being presented a door to the hopeful future or the horrid past. My mom was alway a pragmatist. Hopeful future? Horrid past? Hmmm the devil is known, I'll take the future she'd say.

It's obvious that working class, democratic forces must still press their agenda after Nov. 4. But won't it be different when there is an ally in the White House! This debate sealed it. Obama won -- and will win -- significantly.