Famous Lies By Politicians

Mocking You

New member
Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Greens--come one, come all and let us scour our memories (and exercise Google) and list famous lies by politicians. I'll get it started.

LBJ:
"The North Vietnamese regime have conducted further deliberate attacks against U.S. Naval vessels operating in international waters" (Gulf of Tonkin.)

"We are not about to send American boys 10,000 miles away to do what Asian boys ought to be doing."


Nixon:
"I can categorically state that no one in the White House staff, no one in this administration, was involved in this bizarre incident." (The break in at the Watergate Hotel)

"I am not a crook."

Reagan:
"Once we have developed SDI, will give the technology to the Soviets, and the rest of the world."

"We did not, repeat did not, trade weapons or anything else for hostages."

"Trees cause more air pollution than cars do."

Reagan said he helped liberate the Auschwitz death camp and had taken footage of the atrocities.


George Bush Sr.:
"Read my lips, no new taxes."

Bill Clinton:
"The era of big government is over."

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman... Miss Lewinsky. "


George W. Bush:
"I had a temporary assignment in the National Guard in Alabama and fulfilled my weekends at one period of time."

"Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction." (He gave a list in the 2003 SotU address)

"Mission Accomplished."

"There is a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda."

"We found the weapons of mass destruction."


Barack Obama:
"Fast and Furious began under the Bush administration."

"I will close Guantanamo within six months of being elected."

"I didn't raise taxes once. I lowered taxes over the last two years."

"The vast majority of money I get is from small donors from all across the country."

Signed an extension of the Patriot Act after repeatedly saying he opposed it.

"Republicans say no to everything, in fact, since 2007 they have filibustered over 500 pieces of legislation that would have helped the middle class."

"I wasn't specifically referring to ISIL as a JV team."

"Actually, my position on immigration executive action has not changed."

"If you like your health care plan, you can keep it."
 

Mocking You

New member
Ted Kennedy:
"I fully intended to report the accident... but I thought by some miracle Mary Jo would escape the car."
 

Mocking You

New member
Joe Biden:
"No religious institution, Catholic or otherwise has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide."

Biden claimed he attended Syracuse University College of Law on a full academic scholarship and graduated in the top half of the class. He actually received a partial scholarship based on financial aid and finished 76th in a class of 85.
 

PureX

Well-known member
Some of the Obama "lies" are not really lies. They are relatively true, meaning they were true within a specific context.

I think we should be fair, here.
 

Mocking You

New member
Gary Hart:
"The woman in question (Donna Rice) simply dropped into my lap. I chose not to dump her off."

smuk2g.gif
 

Mocking You

New member
Some of the Obama "lies" are not really lies. They are relatively true, meaning they were true within a specific context.

I think we should be fair, here.

The only ones I listed that comes close to what you're talking about is the one about closing Guantanomo and the Patriot Act. All the others are lies.
 

PureX

Well-known member
The only one I listed that comes close to what you're talking about is the one about closing Guantanomo. All the others are lies.
Also, the one about keeping your health insurance if you like it. That is actually true for the vast majority of people. And those who could not do so had really bad insurance coverage. That's why they couldn't keep them.

Also, the president can't actually raise or lower taxes. He doesn't have that authority. Bush senior got burned on that because he made a blanket claim; "no new taxes". A claim he didn't actually have the power to keep.

Some of the other statements of Obama's are partly true, as well. But not really worth arguing about. Because they were mean to mislead, I think.
 

Mocking You

New member
Also, the one about keeping your health insurance if you like it. That is actually true for the vast majority of people. And those who could not do so, had really bad insurance policies. That's why they couldn't keep them.

Nope. I couldn't keep my health insurance plan because it did not have pre-natal and maternity care. Pre-natal and maternity care is mandated under ObamaCare. Tell me - -how many men need pre-natal care as part of their health insurance plan?

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...ar-if-you-like-your-health-care-plan-keep-it/
 

PureX

Well-known member
Nope. I couldn't keep my health insurance plan because it did not have pre-natal and maternity care. Pre-natal and maternity care is mandated under ObamaCare. Tell me - -how many men need pre-natal care as part of their health insurance plan?

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...ar-if-you-like-your-health-care-plan-keep-it/
I suspect there was more to it then that. And your anecdotal example doesn't weigh much within a nation of 320 million people. It was a small percentage of people who could not keep their plans, and most of those had bad coverage (but wanted it that way). The republicans and the media played these small numbers to the hilt, as they always do, to manufacture the impression that the ACA was a huge disaster when it has not been.

I predict that in the end, however, it will have little positive effect on our insane health care system, because it does not address the price-gouging that is the essential problem. But it has helped a significant number of people get covered who were not covered, before. And some glitches here and there are inevitable even in the best of systems.
 

Mocking You

New member
I suspect there was more to it then that. And your anecdotal example doesn't weigh much within a nation of 320 million people. It was a small percentage of people who could not keep their plans, and most of those had bad coverage (but wanted it that way)

I think I still have the cancelation letter that lists the reasons my policy was canceled, chief being it was "substandard" because it didn't have the mandated baby coverage (and possibly the mental health coverage.)

4 million policies were canceled. Assume 3 people per policy, that's 12 million people.

We're getting off topic. Do you have any politician's lies to contribute?
 

PureX

Well-known member
I think I still have the cancelation letter that lists the reasons my policy was canceled, chief being it was "substandard" because it didn't have the mandated baby coverage (and possibly the mental health coverage.)

4 million policies were canceled. Assume 3 people per policy, that's 12 million people.

We're getting off topic. Do you have any politician's lies to contribute?
Fortunately for me, I tend not to pay too much attention to what they say. :)

I do remember George Bush senior looking right at the camera and lying through his teeth about something or other many years ago. It was probably about Iran/contra-gate or something like that. I only remember it because I was rather stunned at the time. The evidence was all over the news, and he just flat out lied to deny it existed. But I honestly don't recall the specifics.

And I have seen countless lies by legislators that claim even though they take in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of campaign contributions from corporations, and then vote to pass legislation favoring those corporations, that they were not influenced by those contributions. I mean, that lie has become the standard BS line among legislators, these days. They have no shame or sense of decency at all.
 

Nick M

Black Rifles Matter
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
What about the lies that are not lies in your OP? You got "hands up don't shoot" in there too?
 

fzappa13

Well-known member
"...if you can keep it."

Wait...Franklin wasn't really a politician and that was actually true.

Franklin was a lot of things not all of which were public fodder but he was right about that one, regardless of his intentions or status as a politician.
 
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