FACT CHECK: Romney’s Salt Lake Olympics: Taxpayers Built It
Mitt Romney’s Olympics claim ignores one key fact about the turnaround: he didn’t build it. After three days of attacking federal resources and assistance, the facts show that Romney received an unprecedented taxpayer bailout to help his effort—so much taxpayer funding that Sen. John McCain called it a “national disgrace.”
ROMNEY OVERSAW A WIDE-RANGING LOBBYING CAMPAIGN TO BAILOUT THE SALT LAKE OLYMPICS WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS – ROMNEY’S GAMES WERE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE WINTER GAMES EVER”
NBC News: “Mitt Romney Oversaw A Wide-Ranging Lobbying Campaign To Snare Tens Of Millions Of Dollars In Federal Earmarks For The Salt Lake City Olympic Games At A Time Critics Were Charging The Games Had Become A Prime Example Of Out-Of-Control ‘Pork Barrel’ Spending.” [NBC News, 2/18/12]
The Salt Lake Olympic Games “Got More Federal Cash Than Any Previous U.S. Olympics.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/13/11]
The Salt Lake Olympics Were “The Most Expensive Winter Games Ever” Costing $2 Billion With $1 Out Of Every $5 Funded By Taxpayers. “The Salt Lake City Olympics will be the most expensive Winter Games ever, costing nearly $2 billion -- or $791,667 per athlete -- to stage 17 days of skiing and skating. Nearly $1 of every $5 will be picked up by U.S. taxpayers.” [Associated Press, 12/11/01]
ROMNEY REPEATEDLY TOUTED THE AMOUNT OF MONEY HE TOOK FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Romney Bragged About Federal Subsidies He Got For The Olympics And Pledged He’d Bring Home More Washington Money As Governor. “Pledging to avoid tax hikes and minimize cuts, Romney has made Olympic-size federal subsidies a campaign-promise solution to balancing the state budget. ‘We need to do a better job getting money from Washington,’ he tells voters in a televised speech. ‘I was successful in doing that in organizing the Olympics, got record funds from the federal government. I’ll do that here.’” [Salt Lake Tribune, 11/4/02]
Romney Touted The “Record Amount Of Money” He Got From The Federal Government For The Olympics And Said “That’s The Same Thing I’ll Do As Governor Of Massachusetts--Get More Money From The Federal Government.” In a gubernatorial debate with Shannon O’Brien and the minor party candidates, Romney said, “I need a little chance on the idea that the government bailing out the Olympics…We cut our costs by $200 million . The federal government actually provided a record amount of money to us for security and transportation –that was a separate area. That’s the same thing I’ll do as governor of Massachusetts—get more money from the federal government.” [2002 Massachusetts Governor’s Debate, WB56, 10/9/02]
2002: Romney: “I Am Big Believer In Getting Money Where The Money Is. … The Money Is In Washington.” “In a long-forgotten tape from the 2002 Massachusetts governor’s race obtained by ABC News, Mitt Romney is seen touting his Washington connections and his ability to get millions of taxpayer dollars from the federal government. ‘I am big believer in getting money where the money is,’ Romney says on the video, ‘The money is in Washington.’” [ABC News, 3/2/12]
SENATOR MCCAIN CALLED THE EARMARKS FOR ROMNEY’S OLYMPICS “A NATIONAL DISGRACE” AND CALLED FOR A “FEDERAL INVESTIGATION”
McCain Called The Amount Of Federal Money Going To The Olympics “A National Disgrace” And Said There Should Be “A Federal Investigation” While Romney Defended The Federal Funds. McCain: “But you’ve got well over $1 billion that’s just a rip-off of the taxpayers, and, you know, is really a national disgrace…Actually, there should be a federal investigation.” ROMNEY: But Senator McCain, I believe, raises a very good question. What should the role of the federal government be with regards to the Olympics? Should it provide the security? Should it provide the highways and bridges necessary to get people to venues? In my view, the answer is, unequivocally, yes.” [CBS Evening News (6:30 PM ET) – CBS, February 9, 2002]