It's no secret that politicians tend to use exaggerated political rhetoric to get people to vote for them. In recent decades, Republicans in particular have repeatedly made very ominous predictions about the horrors that will result from Democratic policies while painting a very rosy picture of what will result from Republican policies.
We now have the luxury of looking back over the years to examine those predictions and compare them to the actual results of each party's policies.
Below I've listed 21 specific examples of these predictions and I've included links after most of them where you can verify this information. I encourage you to do your own research about each of these examples.
1. In the 1960s, Republicans claimed that passage of Medicare would be the end of capitalism.
California Governor Ronald Reagan even proclaimed Medicare would lead to the death of freedom in America.
Of course they were wrong. Since the passage of Medicare, capitalism has thrived in America and millions of elderly Americans have had longer, healthier lives and greater personal freedom. Medicare remains the most popular form of health insurance in the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs
Of course they were wrong. Since the passage of Medicare, capitalism has thrived in America and millions of elderly Americans have had longer, healthier lives and greater personal freedom. Medicare remains the most popular form of health insurance in the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs
2.
In 1993, when Bill Clinton raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.5%,
Republicans predicted a recession, increased unemployment and a growing
budget deficit.
They
weren't just wrong; the results were exactly the opposite of everything
they predicted. After that tax increase went into effect, the country
experienced the seven best years of economic growth in history.
- Twenty-two million new jobs were created
- Unemployment dropped below 4%
- The poverty rate went down for 7 straight years
- The budget deficit was eliminated
- America enjoyed a growing budget surplus which economists projected would pay off our national debt in 20 years.
3.
In 2001, when George W. Bush cut taxes for the wealthy, Republicans
predicted record job growth, increased budget surplus and nationwide
prosperity.
Once again, the prosperity they promised never quite happened. In fact we saw the exact opposite occur.
After the Bush tax cuts were enacted:
After the Bush tax cuts were enacted:
- The budget surplus immediately disappeared
- Less than 3 million net jobs were added during Bush’s 8 years
- The poverty rate began climbing again
- We experienced two recessions along with the greatest collapse of our financial system since the Great Depression
- The budget deficit eventually grew to $1.4 trillion by the time Bush left office
In 1993, President Clinton signed the Brady Law mandating nationwide background checks and a waiting period to buy a gun.
4.
In 1993, when the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons Ban were passed,
Republicans predicted increasing rates of crime and murder.
Thankfully
just the opposite happened. From the 1970s, through the early 1990s
violent crime had been increasing steadily. After 1993, however, the
violent crime and overall murder rates suddenly began to drop. This
decline continued for more than ten years.
What could have happened in 1993 to precipitate such a sudden and prolonged drop in the crime rate? That’s the year Congress passed the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Law, which mandated background checks and a waiting period to buy a gun.
Despite Republican predictions to the contrary, the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons Ban preceded the most dramatic reduction in violent crime since the FBI started keeping statistics.
The image below has two graphs which show the rates of murder and violent crime in the US over a span of 35 years. These graphs are based on the actual numbers from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports web site. Notice how the crime rate drops suddenly after the Brady Law and Assault Weapons Ban were passed in 1993 .
What could have happened in 1993 to precipitate such a sudden and prolonged drop in the crime rate? That’s the year Congress passed the Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Law, which mandated background checks and a waiting period to buy a gun.
Despite Republican predictions to the contrary, the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons Ban preceded the most dramatic reduction in violent crime since the FBI started keeping statistics.
The image below has two graphs which show the rates of murder and violent crime in the US over a span of 35 years. These graphs are based on the actual numbers from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports web site. Notice how the crime rate drops suddenly after the Brady Law and Assault Weapons Ban were passed in 1993 .
These charts show the rate of murder and violent crime over 35 years based on numbers from the FBI Uniform Crime reports.
5.
Republicans predicted that we would find Iraq’s Weapons of Mass
Destruction even though UN weapons inspectors said that those weapons
didn't exist.
The
Bush administration continued to insist the WMDs would be found even
when the CIA said some of the evidence was questionable. As we all know, the WMDs predicted by the Bush administration did not exist and Saddam had not resumed his nuclear weapons program as they claimed. Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney ultimately had to admit that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18M70UgmV40
6.
Prior to going to war in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
optimistically predicted the Iraq war might last “six days, six weeks, I
doubt six months”.
What's more, Vice-President Dick Cheney said we would be greeted as liberators by the Iraqi people after we overthrow Saddam.
They were both horribly wrong. Instead of six weeks or six months, the Iraq war lasted 8 long and bloody years costing thousands of American lives. Many Iraqi militia groups were formed which fought against the U.S. forces that overthrew Saddam. It led to an Iraqi civil war between the Sunnis and the Shiites which took hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. What’s more, Al Qaeda, which did not exist in Iraq before the war, used the turmoil in Iraq to establish a new foothold in that country.
The Iraq war was arguably the most tragic foreign policy blunder in US history.
They were both horribly wrong. Instead of six weeks or six months, the Iraq war lasted 8 long and bloody years costing thousands of American lives. Many Iraqi militia groups were formed which fought against the U.S. forces that overthrew Saddam. It led to an Iraqi civil war between the Sunnis and the Shiites which took hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. What’s more, Al Qaeda, which did not exist in Iraq before the war, used the turmoil in Iraq to establish a new foothold in that country.
The Iraq war was arguably the most tragic foreign policy blunder in US history.
7.
Republicans said waterboarding and other forms of “enhanced
interrogation” are not torture and are necessary in fighting Islamic
extremism.
In
reality, waterboarding and other forms of enhanced interrogation which
inflict pain, suffering or fear of death are outlawed by US law, the US
Constitution and international treaties. Japanese soldiers after World
War II were prosecuted by the United States for war crimes because of
their use of waterboarding on American POWs.
Professional interrogators have known for decades that torture is the most ineffective and unreliable method of getting accurate information. People being tortured say anything to get the torture to end but will not likely tell the truth.
An FBI interrogator named Ali Soufan, was able to get al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah to reveal crucial information without the use of torture.
But when CIA interrogators started using waterboarding and other
enhanced interrogation methods, Zubaydah stopped cooperating and gave
his interrogators false information.
Far from being necessary in the fight against terrorism, torture is completely unreliable and counter-productive in obtaining useful information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html?_r=0
http://jeff61b.hubpages.com/hub/Five-Excellent-Reasons-Why-Torture-Never-Works
Professional interrogators have known for decades that torture is the most ineffective and unreliable method of getting accurate information. People being tortured say anything to get the torture to end but will not likely tell the truth.
An FBI interrogator named Ali Soufan, was able to get al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah to reveal crucial information without the use of torture.
But when CIA interrogators started using waterboarding and other
enhanced interrogation methods, Zubaydah stopped cooperating and gave
his interrogators false information.Far from being necessary in the fight against terrorism, torture is completely unreliable and counter-productive in obtaining useful information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html?_r=0
http://jeff61b.hubpages.com/hub/Five-Excellent-Reasons-Why-Torture-Never-Works
8.
In 2008, Republicans said that if we elect a Democratic president, we
would be hit by Al Qaeda again, perhaps worse than the attack on 9/11.
Former
Vice-President Dick Cheney stated that electing a Democrat as president
would all but guarantee that there would be another major attack on
America by Al Qaeda.
Cheney and other Republicans were, thankfully, completely wrong. Since Obama became president, we have had zero deaths on U.S. soil from Al Qaeda attacks and we succeeded in killing Bin Laden along with dozens of other high ranking Al Qaeda leaders.
Cheney and other Republicans were, thankfully, completely wrong. Since Obama became president, we have had zero deaths on U.S. soil from Al Qaeda attacks and we succeeded in killing Bin Laden along with dozens of other high ranking Al Qaeda leaders.
Looking at the rate of job loss and job creation, its easy to see
that the stimulus of 2009 was highly successful in stopping the job
losses and turning the economy around.
9.
In 2009, Republicans predicted that the economic stimulus package would
only make the recession worse and cause more unemployment.
The
results show they were very wrong. The American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 ended the recession after only a few months.
Although 750,000 people were losing their jobs each month when Obama
took office, after the Recovery Act was passed the rate of job loss
immediately decreased each month and within a year the economy showed
positive job growth.
Considering the severity of the 2008 economic collapse and the total opposition by Republicans to do anything at all to stimulate the economy, it is remarkable that the US economy recovered as quickly as it did.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/its-the-lack-of-demand-st_b_754381.html
Considering the severity of the 2008 economic collapse and the total opposition by Republicans to do anything at all to stimulate the economy, it is remarkable that the US economy recovered as quickly as it did.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/its-the-lack-of-demand-st_b_754381.html
10. Most Republicans said that President Obama should be impeached because of the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.
Their
own studies, however, have proved them wrong. Every Congressional
investigation, including those by the Republican led House Intelligence
Committee, have concluded the Obama administration did nothing wrong
regarding Benghazi, that there was no “stand down” order given and that
neither the President nor anyone in his administration lied about it.
Each and every Republican investigation has reached this same conclusion but Republicans continue to exploit this tragedy for political gain.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/21/politics/benghazi-attack-report/
Each and every Republican investigation has reached this same conclusion but Republicans continue to exploit this tragedy for political gain.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/21/politics/benghazi-attack-report/
- Reagan's Savings and Loan crisis
Click this link for a summary of the Savings and Loan crisis.
11.
Republicans said we must deregulate businesses so they can be more
profitable and we will all enjoy the wealth created by deregulation.
This
theory failed back in the 1980s when the Reagan administration
deregulated the Savings and Loan industry. All the S&Ls collapsed
and it cost taxpayers billions of dollars to bail them out.
They were proven wrong again in 2008 when years of deregulation of the financial industry resulted in the worst financial collapse and recession since the Great Depression. Taxpayers had to spend nearly a trillion dollars to bail out these large corporations.
Far from spreading the wealth around, these attempts at deregulation cost millions of jobs and created economic turmoil that took the country years to recover from.
They were proven wrong again in 2008 when years of deregulation of the financial industry resulted in the worst financial collapse and recession since the Great Depression. Taxpayers had to spend nearly a trillion dollars to bail out these large corporations.
Far from spreading the wealth around, these attempts at deregulation cost millions of jobs and created economic turmoil that took the country years to recover from.
Senator Mitch McConnell claimed Obamacare would cost the economy 2 million jobs.
12. Republicans predicted that Obamacare would hurt the economy and kill jobs.
As
you may have guessed, they were wrong. The year 2014 was the first full
year that Obamacare was in effect. During this year the United States
saw the fastest rate of job creation in 14 years and the best rate of
economic growth in over ten years. More jobs were created in 2014 than
in any year of the Bush presidency.
Not only did Obamacare not harm the economy, it coincided with the best economic expansion in a dozen years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/12/19/fact-checking-obamas-press-conference-jobs-claims/
Not only did Obamacare not harm the economy, it coincided with the best economic expansion in a dozen years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/12/19/fact-checking-obamas-press-conference-jobs-claims/
Gas prices have dropped dramatically during 2013 and 2014.
13. Republicans said if President Obama is reelected, the price of gasoline would rise to $5.45 a gallon by January 2015.
In
fact, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, said if Obama were reelected, the price
of gas would reach $6.60 a gallon. Newt Gingrich, who was running for
president in 2012, said Obama’s energy policies, EPA regulations, and
failure to approve the XL pipeline would result in $10.00 a gallon
gasoline.
Of course these predictions were laughably wrong. Instead of $5.45 per gallon or $10.00 per gallon, the price of gas in January, 2015, was $1.89, less than half of the all-time high of $4.15 a gallon under President Bush.
Of course these predictions were laughably wrong. Instead of $5.45 per gallon or $10.00 per gallon, the price of gas in January, 2015, was $1.89, less than half of the all-time high of $4.15 a gallon under President Bush.
14. Republicans said President Obama would be terrible for the economy.
Although
he inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression, President
Obama has presided over the longest continuous period of uninterrupted
job growth in American history. More jobs have been created under
President Obama than under both Bush Presidents combined. The stock
market has set new records almost daily during Obama's presidency.
Despite Republican attempts to stop all progress, President Obama has overseen the greatest economic turnaround in over 75 years without any help from Republicans.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2014/09/05/obama-outperforms-reagan-on-jobs-growth-and-investing/
Despite Republican attempts to stop all progress, President Obama has overseen the greatest economic turnaround in over 75 years without any help from Republicans.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2014/09/05/obama-outperforms-reagan-on-jobs-growth-and-investing/
This chart shows the unemployment rate through 2013 and 2014 based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
15.
Republicans predicted that President Obama’s tax increase on the top 1%
in 2013 would kill jobs, increase the deficit and cause another
recession.
You
guessed it. Just the opposite happened. In the two years from January 1,
2013 when that tax increase went into effect, through January, 2015,
unemployment dropped from 7.9% to 5.6%, an average of more than 200,000
new jobs were created per month, Wall Street set new record highs and
the budget deficit was cut in half.
16. Republicans said President Obama would raise taxes sky high.
It
never happened. For over 95% of Americans, income taxes are the same or
lower than they were before Obama was elected. The only people whose
income taxes have increased are those who make more than $400,000 per
year, and their taxes increased only 3%.
For most Americans, taxes are still lower now than they were under Reagan.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/190499803/Fed-U-S-Federal-Individual-Income-Tax-Rates-History-1862-2013
For most Americans, taxes are still lower now than they were under Reagan.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/190499803/Fed-U-S-Federal-Individual-Income-Tax-Rates-History-1862-2013
17. Republicans have long promised that “trickle-down economics”, is the best way to stimulate the economy.
Trickle-down
economics is the practice of giving more money to the very wealthy so
they can reinvest it. It is supposed to cause a trickle-down effect that
creates jobs and benefits everyone. According to this theory, any tax
increase on the wealthy will hurt the economy and cause another
recession.
As mentioned previously, this theory has been disproven repeatedly. The huge tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans enacted by George W. Bush did not result in great job creation or a robust economy. In fact, our economy took the worst nosedive since the Great Depression.
Conversely, the tax increases on the wealthiest 1% passed by Presidents Clinton and Obama were followed by strong job growth, shrinking budget deficits and lower unemployment rates. During the 8 years after President Clinton raised taxes on the top 1%, the poverty rate went down. After Bush enacted Trickle-down economic policies, the poverty rate began rising again.
As mentioned previously, this theory has been disproven repeatedly. The huge tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans enacted by George W. Bush did not result in great job creation or a robust economy. In fact, our economy took the worst nosedive since the Great Depression.
Conversely, the tax increases on the wealthiest 1% passed by Presidents Clinton and Obama were followed by strong job growth, shrinking budget deficits and lower unemployment rates. During the 8 years after President Clinton raised taxes on the top 1%, the poverty rate went down. After Bush enacted Trickle-down economic policies, the poverty rate began rising again.
18.
In 2012, Republicans predicted that if we don’t approve the Keystone
Pipeline the price of gasoline would go sky high and large numbers of
jobs would be lost
Even
though the Keystone Pipeline was not approved, the price of gasoline
continued to drop below $1.90 per gallon, millions of new jobs were
created and unemployment dropped from 8% to 5.6% by January, 2015.
The most optimistic predictions say that the Keystone Pipeline would only create a few dozen long term jobs and would do nothing to lower the price of gasoline.
The most optimistic predictions say that the Keystone Pipeline would only create a few dozen long term jobs and would do nothing to lower the price of gasoline.
19. Republicans insist that their policies create more jobs than Democrats and claim Democratic policies are “job killers”.
History,
however, has proven them wrong. According to numbers from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, under the last 3 Republican presidents there were a
total of 21 million new jobs created during their combined 20 years in
office (Reagan - 16 million, George H. W. Bush - 2 million, George W.
Bush – 3 million).
However, under the last 3 Democratic presidents there were a total of 38 million new jobs created during their combined 18 years in office (Carter – 10 million, Clinton – 22 million, Obama – 6 million).
So the last three Democratic presidents have seen the creation of nearly twice as many jobs in 18 years as the last three Republican presidents did in 20.
However, under the last 3 Democratic presidents there were a total of 38 million new jobs created during their combined 18 years in office (Carter – 10 million, Clinton – 22 million, Obama – 6 million).
So the last three Democratic presidents have seen the creation of nearly twice as many jobs in 18 years as the last three Republican presidents did in 20.
20. Republicans claim that raising the minimum wage would kill jobs and hurt the economy.
There
is far more evidence to the contrary. Cities and states that have
higher minimum wages tend to have better rates of job creation and
economic growth.
Detailed analyses show that job losses due to increases in the minimum wage are almost negligible compared to the economic benefits of higher wages.
Previous increases in the minimum wage have never resulted in the dire consequences that Republicans have predicted.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/03/06/286861541/does-raising-the-minimum-wage-kill-jobs
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/states-that-raised-their-minimumwage-in-2014-had-stronger-job-growth-than-those-that-didnt
Detailed analyses show that job losses due to increases in the minimum wage are almost negligible compared to the economic benefits of higher wages.
Previous increases in the minimum wage have never resulted in the dire consequences that Republicans have predicted.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/03/06/286861541/does-raising-the-minimum-wage-kill-jobs
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/states-that-raised-their-minimumwage-in-2014-had-stronger-job-growth-than-those-that-didnt
Republicans have accused President Obama of "cutting defense
spending to the bone". This chart of 2014 discretionary spending firmly
disproves that argument.
21.
Republicans routinely accuse Democrats of wanting to cut defense
spending to the bone and leave us defenseless against our enemies.
History
has repeatedly proven them wrong. Under Democratic presidents and
Congresses the United States still spends more on defense than the next
ten countries combined.
Republicans frequently insist on spending hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons systems that the Pentagon doesn't even want in order to benefit the multi-billion dollar defense contractors. Democrats who criticize this unnecessary spending, are accused of trying to cut defense spending to the bone.
These links below give more information about our military spending on weapons systems that the Pentagon doesn't want or need.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/military-spending-cuts/u-s-military-spending-dwarfs-rest-world-n37461
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-end-of-the-tank-the-army-says-it-doesnt-need-it-but-industry-wants-to-keep-building-it/2014/01/31/c11e5ee0-60f0-11e3-94ad-004fefa61ee6_story.html
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/congress-pushes-for-weapons-pentagon-didnt-want/nRC7w/
Republicans frequently insist on spending hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons systems that the Pentagon doesn't even want in order to benefit the multi-billion dollar defense contractors. Democrats who criticize this unnecessary spending, are accused of trying to cut defense spending to the bone.
These links below give more information about our military spending on weapons systems that the Pentagon doesn't want or need.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/military-spending-cuts/u-s-military-spending-dwarfs-rest-world-n37461
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-end-of-the-tank-the-army-says-it-doesnt-need-it-but-industry-wants-to-keep-building-it/2014/01/31/c11e5ee0-60f0-11e3-94ad-004fefa61ee6_story.html
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/congress-pushes-for-weapons-pentagon-didnt-want/nRC7w/
Just for fun, here's a lightning round of more things Republicans have been wrong about.
- Republicans said that Obamacare would have “Death Panels” to decide who would live and who would die. Wrong. No such death panels were ever proposed and nothing of the kind ever happened.
- They said the 2009 laws to improve automobile fuel efficiency standards would kill the US auto industry. Wrong. The new standards were followed by a resurgence of the US auto industry enabling them to hire back tens of thousands of workers.
- They said environmental protection laws requiring companies to clean up their pollution would create undue burden and kill businesses. Nope, it never happened.
- They said Ebola would spread across the country because President Obama allowed American Ebola patients to be treated in the US. The outbreak never happened. Only 3 people contracted Ebola in the US and all 3 survived the disease.
- They said President Obama would open our borders to illegal immigrants. Wow, were they wrong. Under Obama we set new records for most illegal immigrants stopped at the border and sent home.
- They said Obama would drive up the Federal budget deficit. Didn't happen. Obama cut the $1.4 trillion deficit he inherited by two-thirds.
Please don’t take my word for any of this. I encourage you to fact-check everything in this article.
While
someone could no doubt find instances where Democrats engage in
over-the-top rhetoric, nothing compares to the consistently false and
erroneous claims made by the GOP in recent years.
When a political party has been so dismally wrong about nearly everything over the past 30 years, that party should lose all credibility.
My hope is that in the future, when Americans hear Republicans make predictions about Democratic policies that are doomed to failure, we will remember the fact that they have been utterly wrong about virtually everything they've predicted in recent years.
When a political party has been so dismally wrong about nearly everything over the past 30 years, that party should lose all credibility.
My hope is that in the future, when Americans hear Republicans make predictions about Democratic policies that are doomed to failure, we will remember the fact that they have been utterly wrong about virtually everything they've predicted in recent years.
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