Here are the statements to fact-check from the July 18, 2010 Meet the Press:
VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT
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Statements are listed in chronological order
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ)
1) Over the course of the Bush [43]administration there was a 72% increase in the national debt, from $5.7 trillion to $9.8 trillion.
2) At the end of the Bush [43]administration, the U.S. had a $1.5 trillion budget deficit.
SEN. MENENDEZ: And it’s not just talking about President Bush, it’s the policies that they espouse that are in essence Bush’s policies. Those led us to a 72 percent increase in the debt from $5.7 trillion to $9.8 trillion when Bush left. It led us to a massive elimination of the surplus that Bill Clinton gave George Bush, and he had a $1.5 trillion deficit when he left office.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD)
1) Last week’s Washington Post/ABC News poll indicated that respondents had less confidence in Congressional Republicans than Democrats.
2) Over the course of the Bush [43] administration 600,000 private sector jobs were lost.
3) Currently the US is experiencing positive job growth.
4) Last week Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) said he would move to repeal the financial reform bill.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, David, if you look at that Washington Post/ABC poll, the most, I think, interesting fact that came out of it, and the one that was right on the front page, was the fact that the American people have a lot less confidence in Republicans in Congress than they do in Democrats in Congress, and that’s not surprising. It’s pretty fresh in their memory exactly what those Republican policies did to the economy. After all, during the whole eight years of the Bush administration, we actually lost over 600,000 private sector jobs. We’re now seeing positive job growth. And the good news, I think, for the American people is our Republican colleagues are reminding people every day that they would adopt the same policies they had before. John Boehner, the Republican leader, just this week said that he’s going to move to repeal the Wall Street reform bill.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | President Obama’s approval rating is about 38% among independent voters.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX):Â The president’s approval rating’s about 38 percent among independent voters
DAVID GREGORY (NBC) | Last week on Meet the Press White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said/indicated that “Democrats are in trouble in the House”
MR. GREGORY: Well, and we’ll get into some of the issues. I want to go back to Congressman Van Hollen on some of the fallout from the news that was made right here last Sunday, Robert Gibbs stating what a lot of people in politics thought was obvious, which is that Democrats are in trouble in the House, they could indeed lose majority status in the House.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | Congressional Republicans blocked a recent piece of legislation designed to restrict tax incentives for American companies that employ people in countries other than than the U.S.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: I mean, frankly, you know, John Cornyn and his allies have been trying to block a whole lot of very important jobs measures. We in fact sent a piece of legislation over very recently that would remove these perverse tax incentives to ship American jobs overseas, that give American corporations a bonus if they ship American jobs overseas. Pete and his colleagues voted against getting rid of that loophole.
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ)
1) Sen. John Kyl said that $680 billion in tax cuts would not have to be paid for, that it could be added onto the debt.
2) During the first six months of the Obama administration, 2.9 million jobs were lost.
3) In the first six months of 2010, 890,000 jobs have been created.
SEN. MENENDEZ: …positive or negative, may be viewed that way. But look, when John Kyl says that you don’t have to pay for $680 billion of tax cuts whatsoever, just add it onto the debt, but you can’t even take care of $30 billion to have people who are unemployed in this country get through the emergency of the moment, you know, it’s a big difference. And when we look at jobs, the reality is we lost 2.9 million jobs in the first six months of the president’s time that he inherited from Bush. We created 860,000 jobs in the first six months of this year. That’s a 3.7 million…
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | The day President Bush [43] left office, the U.S. was losing 700,000 jobs a month.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, what you’re, what you’re hearing is–as, as Bob said, look, we know that we have a long way to go on the economy. People are still hurting, that’s absolutely clear. But we also know what the American people know, which is the day George Bush lost–left office, we were losing 700,000 jobs a month.
REP. PETE SESSIONS (R- TX) | In the 12 years before the Obama administration began[?], the US economy doubled in size.
REP. SESSIONS: First of all, it’s not truthful. People had jobs when Republicans were, not only in charge, but George Bush was there. We doubled the size of the economy over 12 years.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)
1) In 2008 the US budget deficit was 3.2% of the US gross domestic product.
2) Now the US budget deficit is 10% of the US gross domestic product.
SEN. CORNYN: Well, let’s look at a few facts. I, I, thank you for the opportunity because I wanted to respond to what Chris said. You know, in the last year that President Bush was in office, 2008, the deficit was 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product. Today it’s 10 percent.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)
1) US unemployment was “roughly” 6.9% on November 4, 2008.
2) Now it is 9.5%.
SEN. CORNYN: You’re ignoring the stimulus that was–failed according to the own, the president’s own standards. He said it was supposed to keep unemployment to 8 percent. A $2.6 trillion healthcare bill, which I agree with, with Pete, will bankrupt not only the private sector but the states and the federal government creating a new entitlement program. My point is that, you know, unemployment was roughly 6.9 percent when President Obama was elected. Now it’s 9.5 percent.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | Congressional Republicans [leadership?] have said that they will only support extending tax cuts for those who make less than $250,000 a year if the Bush era tax cuts for those making over $250,000 a year are also extended.
REP. VAN HOLLEN:Â They’ve said we’re only going support a continuation of middle class tax cuts, those for people under $250,000, if you also extend the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | Regarding the financial reform bill, Sen. Chris Dodd said “We don’t know exactly how this will impact the economy or our financial systems for some time to come.”
SEN. CORNYN:Â Well, I think–I mean, this is a 2,300-page bill that not even Chris Dodd, the principal Senate author, knows–he said, “We don’t know exactly how this will impact the economy or our financial systems for some time to come.”
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ)
1) 2 weeks before the financial reform bill was passed a hedge fund manager raised $1 million for Republican candidates.
2) Senate Republicans attempted to “stop” the financial reform bill 4 times.
SEN. MENENDEZ: On Wall Street reform, look, two weeks before, two weeks before the Wall Street reform bill was passed, you know, a hedge fund manager ultimately raised a million dollars for Republican candidates two weeks before the bill was being voted on, and they tried to stop us four times in the Senate before we got the Wall Street reform.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | The CBO said that over a 20 year period the health care reform bill would reduce the deficit by $1.4 trillion.
REP. VAN HOLLEN:Â The fact is, as the CBO has, has scored, which is the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, that if you look at a 20-year period, you actually reduce the deficit by $1.4 trillion, which means if you do what they want to do and repeal it, they’re actually adding to the deficit.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | Currently, the unemployment rate in Nevada is 14%. [Sen. Cornyn also seems to be suggesting that it is a result of Sen. Harry Reid being in Congress for 27 years]
SEN. CORNYN: And if, if folks like in Nevada, for example, 14 percent unemployment since Harry Reid–now that Harry Reid is running for re-election, 20–after 27 years in the United States Congress, if you want to continue those policies and those sorts of results, then go ahead and vote for Harry Reid.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)
1) Sen. Harry Reid called Alan Greenspan a “hack.”
2) In 2007 Sen. Harry Reid said that the Iraq war had been lost and that the “surge” would not be effective.
3) Sen. Harry Reid called a former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “incompetent.”
SEN. CORNYN: Well, let’s, let’s look what Harry Reid has said. He’s called the former chairman of the Federal Reserve a hack. He declared the Iraq war lost and the surge a failure before it even started in 2007. And he called the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff incompetent.
REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX) | The Tea Party movement is comprised of about 1/3 Democrats, 1/3 Republicans, and 1/3 independents
REP. SESSIONS:Â I think it’s clear to me that what–when I look at the tea party, it’s about one-third Democrat, one-third Republican, one-third independents.
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