Romney: My ads have been 'spot on'
Vandalia, Ohio (CNN) – Mitt Romney defended his campaign's television ads Tuesday, saying they've been "absolutely spot on," including ads deemed false by independent fact checkers.
"Anytime there's been anything that's amiss we correct it or remove it," Romney told CNN.
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Ads from Romney's campaign have hammered President Barack Obama for supposedly "gutting welfare" by removing the work requirement from the federal assistance program.
An independent and non-partisan fact-checking organization, PolitiFact, rated the ad's claim as "Pants on Fire." CNN also rated the ad 'false." And the Obama campaign, the White House and former President Bill Clinton, who signed the original legislation into law, all attacked the Romney spot, saying the claims were false and misleading.
On Tuesday, Romney said those analyses were flawed.
"It has been shown time and again that the president's effort to take work requirement out of welfare is a calculated move, the same thing that he did in regard to food stamps," Romney said.
Pushed on the fact checks that claim Romney's ads are false, the GOP nominee maintained that Obama's administration was making a concerted move to remove work requirements from welfare.
"You look at the facts," Romney said. "Did he take the work requirement out of welfare?"
The Obama administration directive, issued July 12, allows individual states to experiment with changes to their welfare-to-work programs, which are federally funded. The intent, according to the directive, is to "challenge states to engage in a new round of innovation that seeks to find more effective mechanisms for helping families succeed in employment."
The welfare-to-work program affected by the directive – the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) – was created by the welfare reform law signed by Clinton in 1996. That measure was considered a win for conservatives, who long pushed for a provision that required work training for Americans receiving government assistance.
The Obama administration argues the potential changes would help people move quickly from welfare rolls to paying jobs by reducing burdensome requirements, including excessive paperwork.
Romney said Tuesday that argument was bogus.
"You always have the capacity to add work," Romney said. "There's never been a requirement that you can't have more work. The requirement that they're waiving was saying that people don't have to work to get welfare. That's the change that they proposed. I disagree with that direction."
"Taking work requirements out of government assistance is a very bad course to take and creates a culture of dependency," the Republican nominee concluded. "We help people who need help, we want to help people who need help, but the idea of removing work requirements I think is a mistake."
In Tuesday's interview, Romney also hammered Obama again for suggesting that recent events in the Middle East, including the killing of the American ambassador to Libya, were merely "bumps in the road."
"I'm not sure what developments in the Middle East he would consider bumps in the road," Romney said. "I consider the developments in the Middle East a very troubling course."
The GOP candidate also said Obama's wasn't treating Iran "like the pariah that they are," saying more could be done to prevent the nation from developing nuclear weapons.
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The crap he spews is indefensible. His rationale is mind boggling.
I keep wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt but simply
cannot. There is something WRONG with this man. It's more than
the "business as usual" political wrangling to me. It is very
unsettling. There's something almost creepy about him. I realize
politicians stretch the truth at the very least during the elections.
Both sides. But I get the sense that Romney is actually starting to
believe what his puppet masters are telling him to say. Like he
doesn't know the difference now. As much as I want to keep an open
mind, I can't vote for somebody who seems devoid of empathy and
separated from reality.
It's getting so bad for Romney I almost feel sorry for the poor guy. Almost.
Another lie. How many more lies is this joker going to make ?
This is why he is losing-he is shown that he is a liar and he doubles down-LOSER
So Mitt Romney gets caught lying, and lies about it?
Is this "journalism"?
With each passing day, Mitt Romney looks more and more like a cross between a middle-aged Ken doll and C. Montgomery Burns.
Mr. Romney views life through the lens of what he'd like it to be rather than facing up to the reality of things. Just the quality we all want in our next president!
The name of Romney's theme song is "Desperation" sung to the tune of Carly Simon's "Anticipation". Once again, the ends justifies the means, the very same reason the GOP's "Job One" since 2010 has been mking Obama a One term President, instead of passing legislation with proper funding to create jobs, and rebuild our economy. The excuse was no more "deficits", but now we have the "Romney/Ryan Marvelous" Budget, suddenly, 5 trillion in new deficits are OK. Go Figure.
Obama gave the states more flexibility to adapt the work requirements to fit their states and their needs. States liked it and none have any plans to eliminate work requirements.
I thought Romney wanted less federal regulation and more flexibility for states to innovate and adapt. He thought so, too. I guess we were both wrong.
This guy is simply a horse's rearend. If Romney would stop wasting precious time criticizing and start problem solving – a lot more folks might be willing to listen to him. He is his own worst enemy.
I would like for one of the talking heads to aske robme who he gave those millions in charity to? I'll bet it was his cult. I don't considering perpetuating a cult a charitable donation. The money goes to his sainted cronies!
If Romney wants war, he should say so!
Mitt Romney himself is as fake and false as all his ads. Period! Obama 2012!!!
Ha Romney can you fell the fall ,truth like sand is hard to hold back keeps , sliping through your fingers....
Yet another example of how Mitt Romney and the Repubs think they can make a lie true if they just repeat it often enough. How many independent voices will it take to make him admit that the work rules are unchanged by the new approach? No wonder he's losing!
what does everyone really expect the rich want to remain in control of the poor. And thats how you simplify all this Romney talk as long as corporate america has people that are recieving tanf and this particular work initative in place big business benefits, they place these people to work instate ang government facilites such as wefare centers nursing home mental hospitals etc while participants learn develop and suceed at which position they only recieve their government stipend simple math BIG BUSINESS BENEFITS THE RICH GET RICHER THE POOR REMAIN THE SAME
Not to worry kids. Mitt "Neocon" Romney knows how to handle Iran.
So a left leaning "fact checker" is quoted on a left leaning "news" site saying that Romney's ads are misleading just days after Obama ADMITS during a 60 minutes interview (CONVENIENTLY not aired on TV but on the i'net) that his campaign ads are misleading and wrong and this is journalism?
Noooo, what this is is more MSM in bed with the Obama campaign whitewashing and propagandizing, heck, I wonder if this article wasn't written on a whitehouse computer.
So it's OK from him to lie as long as it has the outcome that he wants. Even when he has been proven wrong he still continues to stand by the lie. Just want to make sure I got that straight. Sorry but I want a President that I can trust. Wow, Paul Ryan was right – there is a "stench" around him.
Find a paragraph, take one sentence out of context, spin it your way, and hammer that point relentlessly. The world according to Karl Rove.
Desperate Romney will do and say anything to get in the white house. By nov 6 everyone will know who mitt romney is . Some idiots still will vote for him just because they want the black family out of the white house
This Is all Mitt Romney does Is LIES or twisted word around or Flip-Flop his. This man has no Business running this Country.
Yep. ANother Tea Party Republican lie. Romney is pathetic, especially when he admits he doesn't care for facts. He lies like a cheap rug.
Since the states requested that the welfare work requirement be released to them, Romney's ads are a complete fabrication.
I wouldn't trust the man with a dead dog, much less the presidency.
Typical Mitt – "saying more could be done to prevent the nation from developing nuclear weapons." OK, perhaps that is a fair criticism but how do we know unless you SPELL out WHAT you would do different. Stop complaining and provide us a solution!