Last night Politifact Wisconsin issued one of the least factual and most skewed “fact checks” I’ve ever seen. Not only do they bend over backwards to provide cover to one of the most impotent promises President Obama ever made, they also simply lie about the key facts they use to label Paul Ryan’s claim false. Here is Politifact’s ruling:
Ryan said Obama broke his promise to keep a Wisconsin GM plant from closing. But we don’t see evidence he explicitly made such a promise — and more importantly, the Janesville plant shut down before he took office.
We rate Ryan’s statement False.
Let’s start with what Obama said and see if any reasonable human being who isn’t simply shilling for the President could possibly reach the same conclusion as Politifact:
I know that General Motors received some bad news yesterday, and I know how hard your Governor has fought to keep jobs in this plant. But I also know how much progress you’ve made – how many hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles you’re churning out. And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years. The question is not whether a clean energy economy is in our future, it’s where it will thrive. I want it to thrive right here in the United States of America; right here in Wisconsin; and that’s the future I’ll fight for as your President.
So, President Obama went to the Janesville GM plant and told them that if the policies he supports were enacted, the plant would “be here for another hundred years”. If a presidential candidate comes to your plant and tells you the execution of his policies will keep it open for another hundred years that’s a promise or a guarentee or whatever you want. However, it most certainly isn’t meaningless as Politifact would like us all to believe.
And, of course, President Obama’s policies were enacted but the Janesville GM plant didn’t even survive through all of 2009. Instead, it shut down on April 23rd 2009. Which brings me to the next point. Politifact is just plain lying about when the Jainsville plant closed.
They claim it “effectively” closed in December of 2008. That’s simply false. While the SUV line in the plant was shut down in December of 2008 the plant’s truck line remained up and running until April 23rd 2009.
There’s just no way around that. Throwing in a weasel word like “effectively” doesn’t change anything. The simple fact is that closed factories don’t build trucks.
So, there you have it. President Obama promised the Janesville GM plant would go on building for a hundred years but even after the government bought GM and Obama came into office the plant shut down. That’s the reality of the situation whether the liberals at Politifact like it or not.
