The First Debate
The first debate took place this morning at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia. Here is our fact check report from the debate, which highlights the mischaracterizations that were made.
Oil & Natural Gas
RHETORIC: In a press release, the Gilmore campaign says that Mark Warner is "on the record repeatedly opposing efforts" to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas [Gilmore campaign release, 7/15/08].
REALITY: Governor Warner has said that he is in favor of off-shore exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas, and he has consistently said that it is not a long-term solution and is just one piece of a broader range of actions designed to promote America’s energy independence.
Budget Mess
RHETORIC: Delegate Kirk Cox wrote an op-ed in the Progress-Index defending Jim Gilmore's budget record while distorting Mark Warner's record.
REALITY: Governor Warner inherited a $6 billion budget shortfall thanks to Jim Gilmore's budget gimmicks, and turned it into a surplus by cutting spending and reforming the tax code.
Drilling for Oil
GILMORE RHETORIC: Jim Gilmore told reporters that drilling will immediately drop the price of oil:
Oil prices will drop immediately if they know we’re going to bring in more oil. [Bristol Herald Courier, 7/9/08]
REALITY: According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the government’s resource for energy statistics:
… annual crude oil production in 2030 is projected to be 7 percent higher–2.4 million barrels per day in the OCS access case compared with 2.2 million barrels per day in the reference case. Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant. [U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2007 ]
Law Enforcement
GILMORE RHETORIC: Gilmore claims that he was able to “invest in public safety… by careful investing” [Daily Press, 7/1/08].
REALITY: The Republican-led Senate Finance Committee said his 2001 budget proposal would “weaken” Virginia’s public safety [Report of the Subcommittee on Public Safety, 2/4/01].
Drilling Spills After Katrina
GILMORE RHETORIC: On Monday, Jim Gilmore said there were no offshore drilling spills after Hurricane Katrina [Lynchburg News & Advance, 6/24/08].
REALITY: In fact, a study commissioned by the U.S. Minerals Management Service stated there were 70 spills.
Energy
GILMORE RHETORIC: "There is no substitute for decisive action right now to do domestic oil production in the United States in ANWR and offshore. Mark Warner will not do these things, and I will" (WSET-TV, 6/23/08).
REALITY: Mark Warner is with Republican presidential nominee John McCain in opposing drilling in ANWR. Mark Warner is with Republican U.S. Senator John Warner and Democrat Jim Webb in supporting the exploration for natural gas 50 miles off Virginia’s coast. In both instances, every expert agrees any oil is at least a decade away, and would only reduce gas prices by less than a nickel a gallon. Governor Warner believes Jim Gilmore’s "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less" slogan is a short-sighted, 20th century solution to America’s 21st century energy challenges, and would only further our addiction to oil.
Scare Tactics on Taxes
GILMORE RHETORIC: During his announcement speech, Jim Gilmore said:
“In 2001 and 2003 we put federal tax cuts in place. And now, I say that they should stay. Mark Warner says that they should go. Let me tell you the consequences of this, this constant tax policy that we’re seeing out of Mark Warner. What are the consequences of it? ...
REALITY: Mark Warner supports rolling back the Bush tax cuts for only the very top income brackets. For example, in 2008, millionaires will receive an average tax cut of $130,000 -- while a person making between $50,000 and $75,000 will only receive $1,200 in tax relief. That's an unfair ratio of 108-to-1. [Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, "Distribution of the 2001-2006 Tax Cuts," Nov. 2006]
Iraq
GILMORE RHETORIC: Gilmore charged that Governor Warner supports a ‘date-certain’ for troop withdrawal from Iraq in January 2009. [Daily Press, 4/17/08]
REALITY: Mark Warner has never supported a “date-certain” for troop withdrawal. He has consistently stated that we need to work with our military leaders to develop a responsible plan - without artificial timelines - to begin to bring our brave military men and women home from Iraq. Mark Warner believes that will place real pressure on the Iraqis to step-up and take more responsibility for their own country.
Jim Gilmore, on the other hand, called on President Bush to abandon the troop
surge in June 2007 and called for a "limited deliberate drawdown" of
military forces -- just months after he publicly supported the surge. [Washington
Post, Gilmore Open Letter to the President, 6/18/07; Washington Post, 3/15/07]