Obama Caught In Huge Whopper - Says Perry,Gingrich, Romney Would Cut All Aid to Israel

"Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich all say they would cut foreign aid to Israel — and every other country — to zero."

"Stand against ‘zeroing out’ aid to Israel," the web page says. "Republican candidates for president Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich all say they would cut foreign aid to Israel — and every other country — to zero. Stand up to this extreme isolationism and join the call to reject the Romney-Perry-Gingrich plan."

It says a great deal about President Obama's contempt for his fellow citizens that he'd even try getting away with this one.

The campaign cites as evidence a series of statements made at a Nov. 12, 2011, debate among the Republican presidential candidates moderated by CBS News’ Scott Pelley and National Journal’s Major Garrett.

What the candidates in question actually said is so far away from what the Obama campaign says they did beggars the imagination.

Rick Perry responded to a question by Pelly about foreign aid to Pakistan by saying this:

"Listen, I think we're having an interesting conversation here, but the deeper one (is about) foreign aid. And we need a president of the United States working with a Congress that sends a clear message to every country. It doesn't make any difference whether it's Pakistan or whether it's Afghanistan or whether it's India.

"The foreign aid budget in my administration for every country is going to start at zero dollars. Zero dollars. And then we'll have a conversation. Then we'll have a conversation in this country about whether or not a penny of our taxpayer dollar needs to go into those countries. And Pakistan is clearly sending us messages, Mitt. It's clearly sending us messages that they -- they don't deserve our foreign aid that we're getting, because they're not being honest with us. American soldiers' lives are being put at jeopardy because of that country. … It's time for us as a country to say no to foreign aid to countries that don't support the United States of America."

Notice Perry says that foreign aid should be cut to "countries that don't support the United States of America." And notice that he specifically says that he'd start at zero dollars and then decide how much aid the US gives them, not that he'd 'zero it out' and eliminate it as the Obama website says.

Newt Gingrich was asked if he agreed with Perry by Major Garret and said this:

"What he said made absolutely perfect sense. … Consider the alternative. You're giving some country $7 billion a year .... or in the case of Egypt, $3 billion a year. So you start off every year and say, ‘Here's your $3 billion, now I'll start thinking’? You ought to start off at zero and say, ‘Explain to me why I should give you a penny.’...

"The Pakistanis hid Bin Laden for at least six years in a military city within a mile of their national defense university. And then they got mad at the people who turned him over to us? And we think those are the acts of allies? I think that's a pretty good idea to start at zero and sometimes stay there."

Mitt Romney later in the debate expressed the same views later talking about Pakistan: "One of the things we have to do with our foreign aid commitments, the ongoing foreign aid commitments -- I agree with Gov. Perry. You start everything at zero."

A sensible position, actually that has nothing to do with 'cutting foreign aid to Israel to zero'.

And guess what...when asked later specifically about aid to Israel, every one of the three GOP candidates made it quite clear where they stood.

Perry said during the debate, "Obviously, Israel is a special ally. And my bet is that we would be funding them at some substantial level."

After the debate a Perry aide e-mailed POLITICO columnist Ben Smith to say, "Perry believes Israel's an extraordinary friend and our greatest ally. … Under Rick Perry, Israel will set the bar for judging foreign aid to any country. Perry's Start at Zero is exactly the right policy -- no country stands to benefit more than Israel from merit-based foreign aid."

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, both of whom have taken consistently pro-Israel positions during the campaign made statements reiterating both their commitment to Israel as a valued ally and to continued military aid to Israel.

In fact, in Newt Gingrich's case, he cited a 2007 memorandum of understanding between Israel and the Bush Administration formalizing a 10-year commitment for U.S. military aid to Israel.

"We have a 10-year commitment that we have to live out," Gingrich said. "So I think because we’ve made this long-term commitment, you wouldn’t be able to go back to zero."

So the Prevaricator-in-chief is just flat out lying...again.

I'd love to see one of the candidates respond by mentioning that it was the Obama Administration that instituted what amounted to a de facto arms embargo on arms sales to Israel for eight months when President Obama first took office, and later threatened an aid cutoff in defiance of that 2007 MOU.

You'll also notice that th eObama website makes no mention of the one GOP candidate who does want to end all aid to Israel specifically and even introduced an amendment in Congress last February to that effect - Ron Paul.

But by now, I think we know why.

Ihave to admit I am disappointed by President Obama . I'm looking forward to more inventive lies and misstatements, not stupid ones like this. it belittles us both.

(h/t Politifact)