Quayle Hunt: Ben Quayle’s ‘$14 Trillion Mistake’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Press release from the Jon Hulburd for Congress campaign:

Ben Quayle’s ‘$14 Trillion Mistake’ is Just One of Many Blunders

Quayle Repeats False Claim on Campaign Trail, Makes New Economic Mistakes

PHOENIX (Sept. 27, 2010) – National and local media outlets reported last week that Ben Quayle’s new TV ad falsely claims “government in America is today spending well over $14.5 trillion dollars a year.” It’s just one of many errors Quayle is making regarding our nation’s spending.

KPNX’s NBC-12’s Brahm Resnik called the ad a “$14 trillion mistake” on the station’s Sept. 24 newscast and reported the Quayle campaign said the ad was “accidently” posted online before being taken down.

If Quayle campaign admits it “accidently” posted the false claim online, then why is Ben Quayle repeating it when talking to voters? View the KPNX report and see Quayle’s additional mistakes.

“Ben Quayle says in his own ad that ‘every American can and must understand the numbers I’m about to describe’ before bungling the facts himself,” Hulburd spokesman Josh Abner said. “His understanding of the American economy appears to be somewhere south of an 8^th grader’s.”

• Quayle again used the incorrect $14 trillion figure at a candidate forum hosted by employees of the Salt River Project on Sept. 23. During that appearance he went on to claim that the U.S. government spending levels are $800-900 billion more than 2008 levels. The FY2008 federal budget had $2.9 trillion in expenditures[1], while the FY2010 budget has $3.55 trillion in expenditures. [2] This results in $450 billion in spending increases, roughly half the amount Quayle claimed.

• Quayle later claimed that the nation spends more each year to finance its debt than it does on the Pentagon’s budget. Again, another false claim: in FY2010, $164 billion was spent financing the debt.[3] The Department of Defense spending was $663.7 billion.[4]

• These missteps come on the heels of another false economic claim from Quayle. AZ FactCheck reported on Sept. 18 that Quayle’s claim that President Obama has loaded every child with more debt than any President in history was completely false. AZ FactCheck gave the statement its lowest factual rating: just one out of five possible stars.[5]

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[1] http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/browse.html (Full document, Page 151)

[2] http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy10/browse.html (Full document, Page 119)

[3] http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy10/browse.html (Full document, Page 119)

[4] http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy10/browse.html (Full document, Page 54)

[5] http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/azfactcheck/fact-story.php?id=77