While some politicians like to play fast and loose with things like truth and fact, we happen to believe that honesty and integrity are real indicators of a person’s character and that there’s no arguing with cold, hard data. The Republican party seems happy to run their election campaign carelessly repeating things they know to be indisputably untrue, hoping that the American public will blindly believe whatever they’re told. We sincerely hope the people of the United States of America are better than that, and we would like to help them along their path to the truth by providing the following facts for your consideration.
The Sub-Three Hour Marathon Paul Ryan Never Ran
During a recent interview with radio show host Hugh Hewitt, Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan was asked about his marathon personal best. Without hesitation, Ryan replied, ‘Under three, I think. You know, high twos… a two hour and fifty-something.’ Such a time would mean that Ryan averaged a sub-seven minute mile over the course of his 26.2-mile marathon, an elite and remarkable accomplishment. Host Hewitt responded with an exclaimed, ‘Holy smokes!’ Ryan immediately replied, ‘I was fast when I was younger, yeah.’
The problem is that Paul Ryan never ran a marathon in under three hours. He never even ran a marathon in under four hours. Paul Ryan has run one marathon in his entire life: the 1990 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, at age 20. He finished in 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds. George W. Bush, John Edwards, and Sarah Palin have all run faster marathons. Any marathoner or triathlete will tell you that a personal best is not something they easily forget or misspeak about. The training process for such an event is a consuming, grueling process, the results of which are a huge accomplishment. One has to wonder why Ryan would chose to lie about something like this. The bigger question is, of course, how easy will it be for Paul Ryan to tell bigger lies that could potentially effect the future of the United States.
Paul Ryan’s claim that Obama ‘funneled’ $716 billion out of Medicare
During last week’s Republican National Convention, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan attacked President Obama’s healthcare plan, claiming that the plan, in need of more money, ‘just took it all away from Medicare, $716 billion, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare.’
The truth, according to Politifact, is that the $716 billion were ‘mainly aimed at insurance companies and hospitals, not beneficiaries.’ Ryan’s claim that these cuts ‘came at the expense of the elderly’ is clearly a rhetorical strategy. In fact, some of the new spending in Obama’s healthcare plan is actually within the Medicare programme, ‘such as increasing coverage for prescription drugs and offering preventive care wtih no out-of-pocket costs.’
Nevertheless, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney attempted to capitalise on Ryan’s claim, assuring us that he would the cuts that Obama’s plan made. But, according to ThinkProgress, doing so would actually ‘make Medicare insolvent eight years sooner, from 2024 to 2016, and increase premium’s for the program’s beneficiaries.’
