FACT CHECK: Gingrich Repeats Romney’s Welfare Lie He Said Had “No Proof”
Newt Gingrich just repeated Mitt Romney’s welfare lie that Gingrich himself said has “no proof.” Independent fact checkers, news organizations, President Clinton, and a Republican co-author of welfare reform have said this attack is blatantly false, but Romney and his allies continue to repeat it. That’s no surprise, just this week, they said they would not be burdened by facts in launching false attacks.
Newt Gingrich: “We Have No Proof” To Support Romney’s Welfare Attack. “COOPER: So you think the wording of the ad is not actually accurate, that it is too straightforward? GINGRICH: Well, I think the ad does assert, but this is a political ad. In 30 seconds you tend not to get all the various amendments and things…COOPER: But accuracy is important. …GINGRICH: We have no proof today, but I would say to you under Obama’s ideology it is absolutely true that he would be comfortable sending a lot of people checks for doing nothing.” [CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, 08/08/12]
Newt Gingrich: “We Have No Proof” To Support Romney’s Welfare Attack. “COOPER: So you think the wording of the ad is not actually accurate, that it is too straightforward? GINGRICH: Well, I think the ad does assert, but this is a political ad. In 30 seconds you tend not to get all the various amendments and things…COOPER: But accuracy is important. …GINGRICH: We have no proof today, but I would say to you under Obama’s ideology it is absolutely true that he would be comfortable sending a lot of people checks for doing nothing.” [CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, 08/08/12]
President Clinton: Governor Romney’s Ad Alleging That President Obama Weakened The Work Requirements Of The 1996 Welfare Reform Act “Is Not True.” “Governor Romney released an ad today alleging that the Obama administration had weakened the work requirements of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. That is not true.” [Statement by President Bill Clinton on Governor Mitt Romney's New Television Advertisement, 08/07/12]
MITT ROMNEY CONTINUES FALSE ATTACKS ON THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S WELFARE ACTION, EVEN THOUGH “EVERY MAJOR FACT CHECKING ORGANIZATION SAYS THE ATTACKS ARE FALSE”
National Public Radio: “Republican Mitt Romney Keeps Saying That President Obama Has Gutted The Law, Even Though Every Major Fact-Checking Organization Says The Attacks Are False.” [National Public Radio, 8/22/12]
New York Times Editorial: Mitt Romney’s Claim Is “Blatantly False.” “Mitt Romney’s campaign has hit new depths of truth-twisting with its accusation that President Obama plans to ‘gut welfare reform’ by ending federal work requirements. The claim is blatantly false, but it says a great deal about Mr. Romney’s increasingly desperate desire to define the president as something he is not.” [Editorial, New York Times, 08/09/12]
Politifact Richmond Times Dispatch: “A New Obama Program Does Not End Welfare-To-Work Mandates. To The Contrary, It Strengthens The Requirements By Granting Waivers To States Seeking To Make The Work Requirements More Successful.” “McDonnell said the Obama administration is ‘unwinding’ welfare-to-work requirements. But a new Obama program does not end welfare-to-work mandates. To the contrary, it strengthens the requirements by granting waivers to states seeking to make the work requirements more successful. The waivers would be granted to pilot programs that are individually evaluated; HHS is not proposing a blanket national change to welfare law. We rate McDonnell’s statement False.” [Richmond Times Dispatch, Politifact, 08/13/12]
PolitiFact Richmond Times Dispatch Rated Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Claim That “Obama Is ‘Undwinding’ Welfare To Work Requirements” False. [Richmond Times Dispatch, Politifact, 08/13/12]
Chicago Tribune Editorial: “States Would Be Expected To Boost By At Least 20 Percent The Number Of Recipients Moving From Welfare To Work And Regularly Demonstrate They’re Moving Toward That Goal.” “What we saw was an opening for the states to get some flexibility to promote new ways to get welfare recipients onto payrolls. States would be expected to boost by at least 20 percent the number of recipients moving from welfare to work and regularly demonstrate they're moving toward that goal.” [Chicago Tribune Editorial, 08/09/12]
Washington Post Wonkblog: One Of The Architects Of Welfare Reform, Ron Haskins, Argues That Waivers Are What Made Welfare Reform Possible And Enthusiastically Supports The Actual Policy Of The Waivers. “But Haskins enthusiastically supports the actual policy of the waivers. Waivers are what made welfare reform possible in the first place, he argues, by letting states experiment with new practices and they can be useful going forward. For instance, he thinks they might offer a way around limitations that prevent welfare checks from going to employers to subsidize the hiring of welfare recipients, rather than to the recipients directly. Such combined welfare-work programs, Haskins believes, hold a lot of promise… In sum, Haskins says, ‘The Republican alarm on welfare reform might be a little exaggerated.’ Coming from one of the architects of the reform, that should cast some doubt on Romney’s attacks.” [Washington Post, WonkBlog, 8/7/12]
Ron Haskins: “There’s No Plausible Scenario Under Which It Really Constitutes A Serious Attack On Welfare Reform.” “There's no plausible scenario under which it really constitutes a serious attack on welfare reform.” [National Public Radio Morning Edition, 08/08/12]
Huffintgon Post Headline: “Ron Haskins, GOP Welfare Reform Architect, Criticizes Mitt Romney’s Ad.”[Huffington Post, 8/8/12]
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback: “As Far As I Have Seen,” The Work Requirement Attack Is False. “JANSING: But you agree that these claims that the work requirement has been abolished are false? BROWNBACK: As far as I have seen, but I don’t know all of the basis to it.” [Brownback, MSNBC, 08/29/12]