Complaints grow about assertions in Ryan's speech

Fact-checkers and Democrats cry foul over the vice-presidential nominee's statements about Medicare, a local GM plant and the deficit commission.

Los Angeles Times: Paul Ryan's Factual Errors Noted By Many, But Are Voters Listening?
Paul Ryan mostly got raves for the "optics" of his speech Wednesday night before the Republican National Convention, winning the image battle on the biggest night of his young political life. But by the time the reviews came piling in after midnight, the Republican vice presidential nominee had taken a serious beating for straying repeatedly from the facts. The GOP's newly minted Boy Wonder, just 42, bent or ignored the record on issues ranging from Medicare, to President Obama's debt-reduction commission, to the closing of a GM plant in his Wisconsin hometown, to the beneficiaries of federal stimulus spending -; according to a couple of fact-check organizations and news outlets such as the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post (Rainey, 8/30).

Los Angeles Times: Democrats: Paul Ryan 'Lied' In Convention Speech
Democrats came out swinging Thursday with a fact-check rebuttal of Paul Ryan's  prime-time convention speech, saying he "lied." ... several of Ryan's key points hewed along the edges of factuality, and fact-checkers have been quick to pounce. Claims that Obama is taking $716 billion from Medicarehave been rebutted as reductions to healthcare providers, rather than cuts to senior beneficiaries – and Ryan's own proposed federal budget counts on similar Medicare savings to reduce the deficit (Mascaro, 8/30).

The Washington Post: Bitter Campaign And Its Rhetoric Bring Fact Checkers To The Center Of Debate
Did Paul Ryan bend the truth? The verdict, rendered by a slew of media fact checkers, was immediate and unequivocal: In his first major speech before the American people, the Republican vice presidential nominee repeatedly left out key facts, ignored context and was blind to his own hypocrisy. ... But the push-back from the Romney campaign, and Republicans at large, was just as quick and just as self-assured. "Lemmings to their own death," read the headline of a column by Erick Erickson on the conservative Web site RedState.com. "The fact checkers are not checking facts, they are spinning," he wrote (Helderman, 8/30).

The New York Times: Facts Take A Beating In Acceptance Speeches
Mr. Ryan spoke out forcefully against the "$716 billion funneled out of Medicare by President Obama," without noting that his own past budget plans had counted on the same savings. And he pledged to protect Medicare without explaining how the Romney-Ryan plan would change it. Mr. Romney said that the Medicare cuts would "hurt today's seniors." In fact, the savings would come not from trimming benefits for current recipients, but from cutting the projected growth in reimbursements to hospitals and insurers over the next decade. The Medicare debate is shaping up as central to the election: Democrats say that the Romney-Ryan plan to reshape Medicare would force future beneficiaries to pay more for their health care, while Republicans fault Mr. Obama for cutting $716 billion in its projected growth (Cooper, 8/31).

The Hill: AP: Ryan Speech Took 'Factual Shortcuts' On Medicare, Other Issues
The Associated Press blasted GOP vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan for misleading claims about Medicare in his speech at the Republican convention. On Wednesday night, the House Budget Committee chairman used an attack line now commonplace for Mitt Romney's campaign -; that President Obama's signature health law cut Medicare by $716 billion. But the AP's "Fact Check" of Rep. Ryan's (R-Wis.) speech noted that Ryan included the same cuts in his last two budgets, something he did not mention Wednesday (Viebeck, 8/31).

ABC: Obama Campaign Shreds 'Lies' In Ryan Speech
One word describes Democrats' view of Rep. Paul Ryan's address Wednesday night to the Republican National Convention: "lies." The Obama campaign is criticizing the GOP vice presidential nominee, backed by reports from independent fact-checkers that claim Ryan repeatedly took liberty with the facts. ... Ryan said Wednesday that $716 billion were "funneled out of Medicare by President Obama," suggesting the administration had raided the program at the expense of beneficiaries. In reality, the Affordable Care Act did not alter existing Medicare benefits as guaranteed by law but instead trimmed payments to service providers while reducing waste, fraud and abuse, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.  Ryan also didn't mention that he proposed the same $716 billion in Medicare savings in his signature budget (Dwyer, 8/30).