Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XIII

By Steve Benen

Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:00 PM EDT

Mitt Romney recently felt comfortable lecturing journalists about, of all things, "quality control" when sharing the news with the American public.

As Ed Kilgore joked, "Now I suppose when you have already developed a reputation for towering mendacity on subjects large and small, a medium-sized lie about your views on media accuracy is as easy as changing those jeans and a lot easier than changing your entire political persona on a regular basis. But you might think at some point the man would fear being struck down by a thunderbolt right on the spot if he lectures the media -- old or new -- about 'sourcing' and 'quality control.'"

If the presumptive Republican nominee has any such fears, he's not showing it. Those looking for proof need only consider the 13th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.

1. Romney told voters about the cost of the Affordable Care Act, "[W]e've just learned from the CBO, it's not a trillion dollars. It's more like double that.... Obamacare is massively more expensive than had been originally estimated."

That's not even close to being true.

2. On the same subject, Romney argued, "Thirty percent of employers said they are going to drop the coverage for their employees when Obamacare is installed."

Actually, no, they didn't say that at all.

3. He said he would save "about $100 billion a year" eliminating Obamacare.

That's not only absurdly untrue, it's actually backwards -- scrapping the entirety of the Affordable Care Act would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt.

4. Romney claimed Obama had created an "unaccountable panel, with the power to prevent Medicare from providing certain treatments."

That's simply not true.

5. Romney argues in a new fundraising letter that the numbers for unemployment, bankruptcies, and foreclosures are "soaring."

Actually, that's the exact opposite of the truth -- unemployment, bankruptcies, and foreclosures are all falling.

6. Romney claims in the same mailing that Obama stood over "the greatest job loss in modern American history."

 Not really.

7. Romney went on to argue, "President Obama has mortgaged our future, increased the budget by more than 20% and allowed our debt to skyrocket."

The debt has increased (thanks to Bush-era policies), but the budget hasn't increased by more than 20%.

8. Romney told voters in Philadelphia this week, "This president did not cause the recession; he just made it worse and made it longer."

There's no way around the fact that Romney's simply lying. He knows he's lying because he's also said the American economy has improved under Obama.

9 Romney argued repeatedly this week, "Women account for 92.3 percent of the jobs lost under Obama."

You've got to be kidding me.

10 The Romney campaign and its surrogates spent all day Thursday describing Hillary Rosen as an "advisor to the Obama campaign."

Hillary Rosen is not an advisor to the Obama campaign.

11. Romney argued yesterday, "President Obama is the first president in history to openly campaign for reelection on a platform of higher taxes. He has already raised taxes on millions of Americans, but he won't stop there. He wants to raise taxes on millions more by taxing small businesses and job creators."

That's actually three lies in one paragraph.

12. On a Romney campaign conference call yesterday, a campaign spokesperson said the Obama administration needs to "stop disrespecting stay-at-home moms."

The Obama administration has never disrespected stay-at-home moms, and when pressed for evidence to back up the charge, the Romney campaign couldn't think of anything.

Paul Krugman noted this week, "Mitt Romney's campaign is setting new standards in serial dishonesty. Really. He makes Bush look like a font of truth and accuracy."

That's more than fair, though the question is no longer whether Romney has a problem telling the truth -- he clearly does -- but rather whether he'll face any electoral consequences for recklessness.

Previous editions of Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity: Vol. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII.
Postscript: A special thanks to reader R.F. in Tampa for sending in the above image. Maddow Blog readers who also want to send us stuff can do so right here.