And UPDATE at the bottom of the post...Those wonderful folks at FactCheck.org have taken the time to go through Obama's mailers about Hillary's positions on NAFTA and healthcare. They are equal opportunity checkers..and they do not play favorites. From their article on this issue:
Clinton said "every Democrat should be outraged" at two "false" mailers that Obama sent to voters in Ohio.
We find that a mailer criticizing her position on trade is indeed misleading. One that attacks her health-care plan we have previously described as straining the facts, though not exactly "false."
* Trade: A mailer showing a locked plant gate quotes Clinton as saying she believed NAFTA was "a boon" to the economy. Those are not her words and Obama was wrong to put quote marks around them. In fact, she's been described by a biographer as privately opposing NAFTA in the White House.
* Health Care: A second mailer said Clinton's health care plan "forces everyone to buy insurance, even if you can't afford it." We have previously said that mailer "lacks context" and strains the facts. But both Obama and Clinton have been exaggerating their differences on this issue.
We've also previously criticized Clinton for sending a mailer that twisted Obama's words and gave a false picture of his proposals on Social Security, home foreclosures and energy.
We leave it to our readers to decide whether they should be "outraged" or not, and at whom.
So, both of these asshats have put out false info on each other..but the problem I have with Obama's mailers is that he used two Newsday articles as Hillary's positions..that is bullshit, as it appears to be a direct quote in the mailer, which IT'S NOT. The words were not Hillary's they were those of the Newsday journalists..and I use journalist loosely here.
I think it's fair to say the dirty politics have begun..tighten your seatbelts it will be a very bumpy ride..
The FactCheck article goes more indepth..check it out at the second link above.
UPDATE...Christopher in the comments here takes FactCheck.org to task by pointing out various times Hillary has touted the wonderfulness of NAFTA..after checking through the internets myself..I find this article by David Sirota that also points to many of the same things Christopher does:
According to NBC's Meet the Press, in 2004, Clinton said, "I think, on balance, NAFTA has been good for New York and America."
The Associated Press reported on 3/6/96 that she said, "NAFTA is proving its worth" and later praising NAFTA as "a free and fair trade agreement."
In her memoir, Clinton trumpeted her husband's "successes on the budget, the Brady bill and NAFTA."
In 1998, Bloomberg News reports that she praised corporations for mounting "a very effective business effort in the U.S. on behalf of NAFTA." Another direct quote.
In a 2002 speech to the Democratic Leadership Council, she said:
"We all know the record of the DLC, the Progressive Policy Institute and, of course, the Clinton-Gore Administration. The economic recovery plan stands first and foremost as a testament to both good ideas and political courage. National service. The Brady Bill. Family Leave. NAFTA. Investment in science and technology. New markets. Charter schools. The Earned Income Tax Credit. The welfare to work partnership. The COPS program. The SAFER program. All of these came out of some very fundamental ideas about what would work. The results speak for themselves. Those ideas were converted into policies programs that literally changed millions of lives and, I argue, changed America."
I now agree with Christopher that FactCheck.org needs to recheck their facts. I stand corrected, thank you Christopher! ;)
