Forum Post: Mitt Romney's 10 Most Baseless Claims At The Denver Debate

from the Huntington Post:

One. "The president said he’d cut the deficit in half. Unfortunately, he doubled it.” Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Obama Doubled The Deficit When Obama took office in 2009, the deficit was projected to be $1.2 trillion during that year, and it ultimately turned out to be $1.4 trillion, according to Congressional Budget Office data cited by The New York Times. The deficit is expected to be $1.1 trillion for fiscal year 2012.

Two. "I just don't know how the president could have come into office, facing 23 million people out of work, rising unemployment, an economic crisis at the -- at the kitchen table, and spend his energy and passion for two years fighting for Obamacare instead of fighting for jobs for the American people. It has killed jobs." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Obamacare Killed Jobs The Congressional Budget Office estimates that healthcare reform will reduce the health care industry's workforce by only about 0.5 percent, largely because workers will decide to retire early or work fewer hours. And if Romney's Massachusetts health care reform law is any indication, job loss won't be a big problem; employment trends in the state have mirrored national trends since Romneycare took effect.

Three. "It's hurt the housing market because Dodd-Frank didn't anticipate putting in place the kinds of regulations you have to have. It's not that Dodd-Frank always was wrong with too much regulation. Sometimes they didn't come out with a clear regulation." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Dodd-Frank Hurt The Housing Market The Dodd-Frank regulations aim to prevent another housing crash like the one that helped to cause the 2008 financial meltdown by banning high-risk lending practices, according to CBS News. In addition, the housing market has been on a slow rebound since Obama took office.

If anything, it may be banks that are holding back the housing recovery. Many are slow to lend because they're concerned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will make them take back any bad loans, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Four. "The idea of cutting $716 billion from Medicare to be able to balance the additional cost of Obamacare is, in my opinion, a mistake." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Obama's healthcare law would curb benefits to health care providers and insurers, but doesn't directly cut seniors' benefits. Critics allege however, that the cuts in payments would have the unintended consequence of hurting seniors because doctors would stop accepting Medicare patients, according to USA Today.

Five. Obamacare "puts in place an unelected board that’s going to tell people, ultimately, what kind of treatments they can have." – Mitt Romney, Oct 3 Presidential Debate

Health Care Panel Though Obamacare does create an independent board, the law prohibits the board from making recommendations to "ration health care," or "otherwise restrict benefits or modify eligibility,” according to Bloomberg.

Six. "Up to 20 million people will lose their insurance as Obamacare goes into effect next year." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Employer-Based Health Insurance Some workers may switch from their employer-provided health plans, according to the Congressional Budget Office, but that number is more likely to be closer to between 3 and 5 million per year between 2019 and 2022.

Seven. "The president has a view very similar to the view he had when he ran four years ago, that a bigger government, spending more, taxing more, regulating more -- if you will, trickle-down government would work." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

"Trickle-Down Government" President Obama's proposed budget is estimated to cut about $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years and, so far, Obama has signed $2 trilion worth of spending cuts into law, according to Democratic Party Pollster Bernard Whitman.

Eight. "You never balance the budget by raising taxes." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Balancing The Budget President Bill Clinton managed to balance the budget during his time in office with a tax boost for those in the top 2 percent of earners, according to Duke professor William Chafe.

Nine. "My plan is not to put in place any tax cut that will add to the deficit." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Adding To The Deficit Romney's tax plan would cost the country $4.8 trillion over the next 10 years, according to Tax Policy Center data, cited by NBC News.

Ten. "And these businesses -- many of them have gone out of business. I think about half of them, of the ones have been invested in, they’ve gone out of business." Mitt Romney, Oct. 3 Presidential Debate

Clean Energy Failures Businesses that got government clean energy loans failed at a rate of about 1.4 percent at the end of 2011, according to The Washington Post."

Do facts matter? I especially liked the "clean coal" love affair, so I put in an order for a six pack.

What was your favorite Slick Willie claim??