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Russ Carnahan plays fast and loose with the facts, gets national notice

July 22, 2009

Russ Carnahan has had a bad few weeks. First, he gained national notoriety when a St. Louis business, upset over his vote for a massive new national energy tax, put his name in lights—literally. Then, FOX News reported that Carnahan’s staff hung up (twice!) on a reporter who called to ask questions about the cap-and-trade vote. Last week, Congressional Quarterly released a study showing that Carnahan has acted as a true rubber-stamp, voting with Barack Obama 100% of the time.

Now, Carnahan is again under fire for his claims at a forum that Obama’s health care experiment will create a $6 billion surplus.

The National Review called Carnahan’s statement “wild, crazy, transparently implausible lies.” A front-page RedState.com post noted that Carnahan and Pelosi have resorted to untrue statements because “their bill can’t stand on its own merits.” And Real Clear Politics posted video of Carnahan being mocked by the audience for his claims.

In reality, the Congressional Budget office estimates that the Democrats’ plan for government-run health care will end up costing more than $1 trillion—and adding (not removing) $239 billion to the national debt.

The video, with reaction from the audience, is available below.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the citizens of Missouri’s 3rd district deserve better.