Romney:
“We are an energy-rich nation and we’re living like an energy-poor nation,” he said, asserting that Mr. Obama had halted offshore drilling, blocked construction of new coal plants, slowed development of nuclear plants and failed to develop natural gas trapped in shale formations.
But those claims are largely untrue. While Mr. Obama declared a moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP spill in 2010, the government began granting permits again earlier this year and activity is approaching pre-spill levels. The administration recently announced a major lease sale in the western Gulf of Mexico and gave provisional approval to a Shell project in the Arctic off the coast of Alaska. And while a number of utilities have canceled plans to build new coal plants, that is largely because demand for electricity has slowed, not because of new federal regulations.Maybe they should keep a leash on that fact-checking business. It could get to feel like real journalism. People could get used to it.
Perry and Bachmann:
... Gov. Rick Perry of Texas repeated his claim that “the science is not settled.” Representative Michele Bachmann, who has previously asserted that global warming is “manufactured science” and a hoax, again questioned whether human activity was affecting the global climate.
The overwhelming scientific consensus is that global warming is occurring and that human activity — chiefly the burning of fossil fuels and cutting down of tropical forests — is likely to blame.
Perry again:
“You cannot keep the status quo in place and call it anything other than a Ponzi scheme.” But that metaphor is misleading. Government projections have Social Security exhausting its reserves by 2037, absent any changes, but show that the payroll tax revenues coming in would cover more than three-quarters of benefits to recipients then.
Then Bachmann, again. ...
From "pants on fire" to mostly wrong, the Republicans had a grand old time in Reagan's showcase while the Times revived fact checking.
Still, some words just seem wrong when put together: Republicans, Reagan, library. Meanwhile, though, the truth is refreshing, isn't it.
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The search for truth doesn't end there. Gail Collins has some fun with the debaters.
Romney cleaned Perry’s clock on Social Security. Young Americans, if you dream of someday running for president, try not to write any books calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme. “We’re not trying to pick fights here,” protested Perry, inaccurately.
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...Is there something going on with Mitt Romney’s hair? The dark part is looking darker and those little white tufts around the ears are getting whiter. It makes his forehead look as if it’s levitating.
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I was sorry that no one asked Perry more of the really critical questions. For instance, is it true that he saved his daughter’s puppy from being eaten by a coyote? This allegedly happened when Perry went jogging “packing a Ruger .380 with laser sights and loaded with hollow-point bullets.” Because, as he says, he is “that kind of guy.” His puppy-rescue is a stirring picture, especially considering that Perry’s chief competitor is the man who drove to Canada with the family dog Seamus strapped to the roof of the car.
But the more I think about it, the more I wonder. Where were his bodyguards? How did the puppy keep up with him if he was running? And where exactly was he carrying the Ruger? Many joggers I know have trouble hanging on to a water bottle.
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The debate was at the Reagan library, and no matter what you think of Ronald Reagan, this crew makes him look good. It is the genius of the Republican Party in recent decades that it continually selects candidates who make the ones who went before appear better. Remember how great George H.W. Bush seemed once we’d lived with his son for a while? And I have a strong suspicion that whoever the nominee is this time will make us yearn for the magic that was W.
I know! I know! Just the other day I looked at a picture of Richard Nixon and thought, "That vicious creep looks good... in contrast?"
