Lies peddled in Las Vegas for political purposes
Since we know Trumps performance will be comprehensively fact-checked by the entire media lets talk about three of Clintons biggest whoppers.
First was there anything more ridiculous in the debate than Clintons answer on guns? When pressed by Wallace to explain her opposition to the 2008 landmark District of Columbia v. Heller decision Clinton went through a checklist of platitudes before saying You mentioned the Heller decision and what I was saying that you reference Chris was that I disagreed with the way the court applied the Second Amendment in that case because what the District of Columbia was trying to do was protect
toddlers from guns."
Clinton brought up toddlers" a few more times because little children are mostly adorable and no one wants to see them shot. The thing is the Heller case revolves around Richard Heller the then-66-year-old police officer in Washington D.C. who was allowed to carry a gun in a federal office building to protect politicians and strangers but not in his home to protect himself his family or his property.
Also of note the Heller decision had nothing to do with toddlers or saving toddlers lives or toddler gun safety or toddlers shooting at one another. As my colleague Sean Davis has pointed out the word toddler" doesnt appear anywhere in either the majority or dissenting opinions in the case.
After she was done fearmongering Clinton went on to say theres no doubt that I respect the Second Amendment that I also believe theres an individual right to bear arms."
No she does not. Heller ended the total ban on handguns" in Washington D.C. which was the Supreme Courts description of the gun control laws in the district. It codified the Second Amendment as an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. Clinton admits she supports an effective ban on all handguns (for the toddlers) which is what instigated Heller. What application of the decision does she oppose if not the individuals right to own a gun?
Second lets move to the only constitutional right" Clinton believes shouldnt have any constraints: abortion. Last night Clinton reiterated her support for legal abortion on demand for any reason throughout the entire pregnancy. Although Clinton is free to hold this position shes not free to make stuff up.
For starters the idea that Clinton the woman who in 2008 argued that President Obamas health care plans were too modest wants to keep government out of health care decisions is worthy of 8000 Pinocchios. While one hopes that those who are anti-abortion remain sensitive to the heartbreaking painful decisions women make Clintons insinuation that most late-term abortions are to save the life of the mother is not backed up by evidence.
Dr. Leroy Carhart nationally known for performing late-term abortions was taped admitting that he often performs elective late-term abortions at 26 weeks or more." Dr. Martin Haskell the pioneer of partial-birth abortion was once taped acknowledging that 80 percent of partial-birth abortions are purely elective."
The evidence comports with Haskells claim. The anti-abortion Charlotte Lozier Institute using data from medical literature and late-term abortion providers found that the majority of late-term abortions are not performed for maternal health complications or lethal fetal anomalies discovered late in pregnancy." The pro-choice Guttmacher Institute found that in many ways women who had later abortions were similar to those who obtained first-trimester procedures." Which is to say the decisions based on convenience not health.
Though Clinton acknowledges that Roe v. Wade allows for some limits on abortion she has never supported a single one. Today the health exemption is being used to end the life of a viable fetus for nearly any reason at all.
Third these kinds of deceits have long been a part of the culture wars. But I was a bit taken aback by Clintons dare I say Trumpian dishonesty on economics. For instance she said word for word I also will not add a penny to the debt."
Clinton could tax the wealthy at a 90 top-marginal rate raise rates on corporations and enact every other trickle-down tax on consumers she desires and theres still no way she would not add to the national debt. If she failed to enact her agenda and did absolutely nothing as president (we should be so lucky) Clinton would still add to the debt.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget which accepts her economic plan on its face estimates that her policies would cost $200 billion and cause public debt to rise from over $14 trillion to more than $23 trillion over the next decade.
Like me you might find this estimate implausibly low. But even in the fantastical world of contemporary progressive economics $200 billion is a lot more than a penny."
Like many of the contentions we heard in Las Vegas it was a lie peddled for political purposes.
David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist and the author of The People Have Spoken (and They Are Wrong): The Case Against Democracy." Follow him on Twitter @davidharsanyi.
