Wrongometer

The POLITICO Wrongometer

Our policy reporters truth-squad the Republican debate.

By POLITICO Staff

UM, SEN. CRUZ, WHAT 'BLEND WALL'?

Ted Cruz has been playing defense in Iowa for months over his opposition to the federal ethanol mandate. Thursday night, he promised to “tear down the EPA’s blend wall” – a move that he said could get the corn byproduct’s market share “up by 60 percent.”

But here’s the problem with that argument: EPA does not enforce a blend wall. In fact, it’s the opponents of ethanol who say the nation's gasoline supply cannot accommodate more than 10 percent ethanol. The EPA has agreed that such a blend wall presents a problem for ethanol sales, but it has sought to push through it.

Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is made up of 10 percent ethanol, and EPA has approved E15 — gasoline with 15 percent ethanol — to be sold by gas stations for most cars on the road today. EPA has also sought to help retail stations pay for new equipment that would enable them to sell higher ethanol blends.

-- Darren Goode

RUBIO'S SELECTIVE CAP-AND-TRADE MEMORY

Sen. Marco Rubio is displaying a bit of selective memory by pushing back on the assertion that he flip-flopped in his opposition to cap and trade.

Back when he was speaker of the Florida state House, Rubio in March 2008 did indeed say the Sunshine State "should position itself, for what I believe is inevitable, and that is a federal cap and trade program." The state should be an early mover on the issue, Rubio said on the Florida Face to Face program, and he supported giving the state's environmental agency "a mandate that they go out and design a cap and trade or a carbon tax program and bring it back to the legislature for ratification sometime in the next two years."

Rubio’s remarks all those years ago came during a different moment in climate politics, a pre-Barack Obama period when many Republicans were supportive of putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions, including Sen. John McCain and Florida’s own governor (who still flew under the GOP banner) at the time, Charlie Crist. The Florida senator has long stated that he generally opposes cap-and-trade programs, however he decided not to use his power to kill such legislation during his time in the state legislature leadership. Instead, he opted to pass a bill that he later said would result in no action, which never took place.

-- Darren Goode

KASICH'S FLINT ANSWER OVERLOOKS HIS OWN BACKYARD

When asked in tonight’s debate about the water crisis in Flint, Mich., Ohio Gov. John Kasich said it was important for government officials to take quick action — but he didn’t mention his state is dealing with a similar problem in which his administration has faced accusations of acting too slowly.

“Well, you’ve got to be on top of it right away … the fact is that every single engine of government has to move when you see a crisis like that,” Kasich said when asked about the lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint.

He cited storms, as well as a water crisis in Toledo, as events that he had dealt with in Ohio. “You go the extra mile,” he added.

But the Ohio village of Sebring is dealing with its own lead contamination. Though it’s not as dangerous as the situation in Flint, it has prompted sharp criticism of Kasich’s appointee to the head the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Craig Butler — and a call by Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for Butler to resign.

“The men, women, & children of Sebring deserve better. I call for the immediate resignation of the Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler,” Ryan said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. He cited a Columbus Dispatch story that said the state EPA knew in October that Sebring’s water had elevated lead levels, but it didn’t warn the public there until Jan. 21.

-- Matt Daily

MEMO TO RUBIO: U.S. NOT AS GENEROUS AS GERMANY

Marco Rubio said the U.S. is the most generous country on Earth when it comes to immigration, accepting 1 million people a year, far more than anyone else.

He’s right about the number. But as of 2013 (the most recent data available from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), Germany took in slightly more migrants.

-- Isaac Arnsdorf

CRUZ'S MILITARY STATS MISLEADING

Ted Cruz ticked through a litany of statistics to question American military readiness, saying that fewer planes and warships than during the 1991 Persian Gulf War meant the U.S. was "sending our fighting men and women into combat with their arms tied behind their backs."

The facts may hold up to scrutiny but they are nonetheless misleading. Military technology has advanced significantly in the last quarter century and combat aircraft and warships are much more precise and pack a more powerful punch. Meanwhile, the first Iraq War targeted the large conventional military of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, its bases and headquarters, as well as Republican Guard units in open formation in the country’s western desert. The Islamic State terrorist group that has seized large swaths of Iraq and Syria is operating largely in populated areas where the likelihood of civilian deaths is highly likely in massive air attacks – and does so expressly to avoid attacks on the scale of the Gulf War.

Cruz’ definition of “carpet bombing” has also been singled out as inaccurate in the past. He has said the air attacks he would order against the Islamic State would not be designed to attack an entire city “but the location of the troops," with "embedded special forces to direct the air power."

“Since the defining characteristic of carpet bombing is the dropping of bombs indiscriminately, Cruz’s definition is essentially the opposite of carpet bombing,” concluded the political fact-checking website Politifact. “We rate his claim False.”

-- Bryan Bender

CRUZ NOT ONLY GOP SENATOR TO MISS 'AUDIT THE FED' VOTE

Rand Paul said his Senate colleague, Ted Cruz, was the only Republican to skip a vote on an "Audit the Fed" bill earlier this month.

Actually, Cruz wasn't the only GOP lawmaker who failed to participate in the Jan. 12 vote on the measure that Paul wrote. Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) didn't cast a vote on the bill, either. Democrats blocked the bill in a 53-44 vote. The bill needed 60 votes to advance.

Cruz responded to Paul's attack by saying the bill didn't have the votes to pass anyway and that he had commitments in New Hampshire.

"I look forward to signing that bill as president," Cruz said.

-- Zachary Warmbrodt

BUSH MUDDIES CLINTON'S RECORDS: THEY'RE ONLINE

Jeb Bush bragged about how many years of tax returns he's released, trying to draw a contrast with Hillary Clinton. Getting records out of her, he said, takes an FBI subpoena.

It’s a cute line, riffing on the ongoing investigation of her private e-mail service But it’s not correct. Clinton’s health and financial records are on her website for anyone to see.

-- Isaac Arnsdorf

WHAT'S TED CRUZ'S DEFINITION OF AN INSULT?

Ted Cruz says he’s committed to running a substantial campaign and will not personally attack other candidates, including Donald Trump. “I have not insulted Donald Trump personally,” he said at the debate Thursday night.

So what exactly were these comments then? “Apparently Mr. Trump considers Megyn Kelly very, very scary,” Cruz said earlier this week. “Donald is a fragile soul. She might ask a mean question and who knows what could happen? I mean, his hair could stand on end.”

Sure sounds like a personal attack.