By Pam Spaulding
Cross-posted at Pam’s House Blend

UPDATE: It’s hard to keep up with the lies. Additions are below the fold. Jeebus H. Christ, from the man who needs his wife to surf the Internets, this breathtaking boast from a spokesbot:

Move over, Al Gore. You may lay claim to the Internet, but John McCain helped create the BlackBerry. At least that’s the contention of a top McCain policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

Waving his BlackBerry personal digital assistant and citing McCain’s work as a senator, he told reporters Tuesday, “You’re looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create.” McCain has acknowledged that he doesn’t know how to use a computer and can’t send e-mail, one of the BlackBerry’s prime functions.

Paging Al Gore…Ari Melber at the Washington Independent:

Within the hour, [Obama] chief spokesperson Bill Burton released a statement putting the falsehood in context: “If John McCain hadn’t said that ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong’ on the day of one of our nation’s worst financial crises, the claim that he invented the BlackBerry would have been the most preposterous thing said all week.” Now let’s briefly correct this latest McCain campaign whopper.

McCain did not “help create” the “miracle” of the BlackBerry — he does not even know how to use email or a computer. The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee was not even pivotal: the BlackBerry was invented by a Canadian company, Research In Motion. So this claim is false and absurd, obviously, and it may seem like a distraction from the current debate over the candidates’ economic agendas.

And the damage control begins:

According to a McCain campaign pool report, senior aide Matt McDonald said that McCain “laughed” when he was told about Holtz-Eakin’s comment. “He would not claim to be the inventor of anything, much less the BlackBerry. This was obviously a boneheaded joke by a staffer,” McDonald said.

There’s already a Facebook group up, Thank You John McCain for inventing the BlackBerry!

The latest collection of lies, from the Obama fact checkers:

MCCAIN MYTH: I NEVER SAID I DIDN’T WANT TO HELP PEOPLE WHO WEREN’T ABLE TO PAY THEIR MORTGAGES.

ANCHOR: And out on the campaign trail, one of the things that links the problems on Wall Street and on Main Street, are of course mortgage obligations. Now you’ve said in the past, you didn’t want to do too much to help out people who weren’t able to pay their mortgages. Are you thinking about rethinking that now with the problems that we’re seeing?

JSM: Actually, I’ve never said that. [ABC, "Good Morning America," 9/16/08]

FACT: MCCAIN SAID, “IT IS NOT THE DUTY OF GOVERNMENT TO BAIL OUT AND REWARD THOSE WHO ACT IRRESPONSIBLY.”

Amid Housing Crisis, McCain Argued Against Government Relief, Blamed Homeowners Who He Said Acted “Irresponsibly.” On March 25, 2008, John McCain delivered a speech on the housing crisis. According to the New York Times, “McCain appeared to be trying to confront questions about his dexterity in dealing with the economy, a subject that he has admitted is not his strongest suit.” During the speech, McCain said, “I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.” The New York Times reported, “Mr. McCain argued this week against a vigorous federal intervention to address the crisis, saying Washington should not bail out banks and homeowners who in his view had knowingly taken on risky mortgages.” [New York Times, 3/26/08; McCain Housing Speech, 3/25/08, emphasis added; New York Times, 3/28/08]

McCain Blamed Homeowners. According to the New York Times, “But in a departure from Democrats, who have focused on the lending industry’s role in the crisis, Mr. McCain suggested that some homeowners had also engaged in dangerous practices, including borrowing too much in hopes that a rising market would cover their mortgages. [New York Times, 3/26/08]

McCain Rejected “Activist Approaches” To Mortgage Crisis, Placed Blame On Homeowners. The Los Angeles Times reported, “John McCain said Tuesday that he understood Americans’ anger about the mortgage foreclosure crisis and was open to ideas for addressing the problem, but he rejected the sort of activist approaches proposed by his Democratic rivals for the presidency. … McCain – who has been trying to shore up his economic credentials – placed some of the blame on homeowners themselves, while also scolding ‘complacent’ lenders.” [Los Angeles Times, 3/26/08]

MCCAIN MYTH: MCCAIN WILL FIGHT FOR AMERICAN WORKERS BETRAYED BY GREED & CORRUPTION

JSM: I know that the American worker is the strongest, the best, the most productive and most innovative. They’ve been betrayed by a casino on Wall Street of greedy corrupt excess, corruption and excess that has damaged them and their futures. And we’re going to fix it. [ABC, "Good Morning America," 9/16/08]

FACT: MCCAIN HAS NOT BEEN ON THE SIDE OF WORKING FAMILIES

McCain’s Plan To Cut Taxes Leaves Out 101 Million Middle Class Households. “McCain’s plan is tilted toward corporations and the most affluent, neglects middle-class Americans and lacks immediate solutions, Obama’s advisers said today in a conference call with reporters held to unveil a report critical of the Arizona senator’s proposals. … McCain’s plan to cut taxes for the middle class by increasing the dependent exemption leaves out 101 million households without children, according to Obama’s report. His plan gives tax cuts to the nation’s wealthiest 2 percent and to large corporations, the report said.” [Bloomberg, 7/6/08]

McCain Has Voted At Least 19 Times Against Increasing The Minimum Wage. Since arriving in the U.S. Senate in 1987, McCain has voted against increasing the minimum wage at least 19 times. [2007 Senate Vote #23, 126; 2006 Senate Vote #179; 2005 Senate Votes #26, 257; 2000 Senate Vote #76; 1999 Senate Votes #94, 239; 1998 Senate Vote #278; 1996 Senate Votes #58, 184, 186; 1995 Senate Votes #344, 519; 1989 Senate Votes #29, 39, 68, 1988 Senate Votes #335, 336]

McCain Was The Only Senator To Skip A Key Economic Stimulus Vote That Would Have Made 20 Million Seniors and 250,000 Disabled Veterans Eligible For Rebate Checks. At a decision that “appeared to come last minute” on the tarmac in Washington, Senator McCain was the only Senator to skip a difficult Senate vote in February “on whether to make 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans eligible for rebate checks as part of a proposed economic stimulus package.” The Associated Press noted that the measure failed by only one vote, as Senator Reid changed his position at the last moment in a parliamentary move, and McCain was the only Senator absent. “The Arizona senator’s decision to miss the vote appeared to come at the last minute, after his plane had landed at Dulles International Airport outside Washington just before the proceedings opened on the Senate floor.” [Associated Press, 2/7/08]

McCain Repeatedly Voted Against Repealing Tax Breaks That Encourage American Corporations To Ship Jobs Overseas. In 1995, 2004, and 2005, John McCain voted against repealing the deferral clause in the U.S. tax code that has provided an incentive for American companies to locate production facilities outside of the United States. Under the current tax code, U.S. companies are required to pay a 35 percent tax on any income earned inside the United States. However, under the deferral clause, U.S. corporations can defer paying taxes on any active income earned by a foreign subsidiary until it is repatriated to the United States. And as USA Today has noted, these transfers “often don’t happen for years. General Electric, for example, has $62 billion in ‘undistributed earnings’ parked offshore, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Drug giant Pfizer boasts $60 billion. ExxonMobil has $56 billion.” [USA Today, 3/20/08; Senate Vote #63, 3/17/05; Senate Vote #83, 5/5/04; Senate Vote #517, 10/26/95]

Tags: Blackberry, DNC, economy, Election 08, John McCain, Republicans

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