# Debunk Letters to the Editor **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 13, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-letters-to-the-editor/268939 "2004-10-13T02:13:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rillian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rillian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rillian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-letters-to-the-editor/268939/1 "2004-10-13T02:13:15Z")
Help me debunk/dispute/fact check/refute the following Letters to the Editor: 1. Having It Both Ways > [@](#): > > Earlier this year, George W. Bush claimed that the reduced violence in Iraq meant we were winning the fight against the insurgents. Now with over 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed and the number of attacks increasing every month, he claimed in the debate that the increased violence meant we were winning the fight, since the insurgents are scared of the upcoming elections. > > When will George W. Bush speak honestly with the American people and stop trying to have it both ways? 1. Little Lies and Big Lies > [@](#): > > They say that those who lie about little things will lie about big things. > > Little Lie: Vice President Cheney lied when he said he had never met Senator Edwards before their debate last week. Big Lie: Cheney lied when he said that he had never implied there was a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks. > > Little Lie: President Bush lied when he said that he didn’t have an $84 interest in a timber company that qualified him as a “small business” in tonight’s debate. Big Lie: Bush lied when he said that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. > > When will this administration be honest with the American people? 1. Reality Check on Bush Spending > [@](#): > > In the second debate, President Bush lied when he said that non-homeland, non-defense discretionary spending is growing at less than 1% under his administration. A quick look at the government’s own records shows that this expense category has grown at 8.2% per year, the highest of the past six administrations. This president hasn’t met a spending bill that he won’t sign. > > Bush took a balanced budget with a rising surplus and turned that into record deficits - $422 billion in 2004 alone. The ten year projection for the national debt is now nearly $2.3 trillion, $300 billion worse than projections from this past March. > > Four more years? We can’t afford four more months! That’s why this fiscal conservative is voting for Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-letters-to-the-editor/268939/2 "2004-10-13T06:49:16Z")
I’ll tackle the second one, though off the top of my head the otherletters appear accurate as well. _Little Lie: Vice President Cheney lied when he said he had never met Senator Edwards before their debate last week._ Yup. They met at least three times – when Cheney swore in Elizabeth Dole (using Edwards’ Bible, no less), at a 2001 prayer breakfast, and backstage at a 2001 taping of “Meet the Press” ([confirmed by host Tim Russert](http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-0/1097065742239920.xml&storylist=cleveland)) _Big Lie: Cheney lied when he said that he had never implied there was a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks._ True. If you thought Cheney was being honest, you must have missed statements like these: > [@](#): > > “He [Saddam Hussein] had long established ties with al Qaeda.” ([March 14, 2004](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html)) > > “I think there’s overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government” ([January 22, 2004](http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-06-16-al-qaeda-comments-by-bush_x.htm)) > > “[Iraq is] the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11.” ([September 8, 2002](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10244-2004Oct5.html?sub=AR)) > > “Well, what we now have that’s developed since you and I last talked, Tim, of course, was that report that’s been pretty well confirmed, that he [Mohammed Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April.” ([December 9, 2001](http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/9160157.htm)) _Little Lie: President Bush lied when he said that he didn’t have an $84 interest in a timber company that qualified him as a “small business” in tonight’s debate._ Mostly true, though odds are Bush simply forgot. To quote [FactCheck.org:](http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx@DocID=265.html) > [@](#): > > President Bush himself would have qualified as a “small business owner” under the Republican definition, based on his 2001 federal income tax returns. He reported $84 of business income from his part ownership of a timber-growing enterprise. However, 99.99% of Bush’s total income came from other sources that year. (Bush also qualified as a “small business owner” in2000 based on $314 of"business income," but not in2002 and 2003 when he reported his timber income as “royalties” on a different tax schedule.) _Big Lie: Bush lied when he said that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction._ True. I sure haven’t seen any Iraqi WMDs, do you? As far as the [official report](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12115-2004Oct6.html) is concerned, Saddam didn’t have WMDs, Saddam didn’t have the means to make WMDs, and Saddam could only _cream_ of having WMDs. _When will this administration be honest with the American people?_ Does the phrase “When Hell freezes over” mean anything to you? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-letters-to-the-editor/268939/3 "2004-10-13T06:54:35Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Saddam could only _cream_ of having WMDs. See, that’s why we had to go after him! The boy’s a dang pervert! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-letters-to-the-editor/268939/4 "2004-10-13T09:30:54Z")
Moving this from IMHO to Great Debates.