Steve Kagen: 'Pants on Fire'

It's no surprise that PolitiFact Wisconsin has given an ad from Democrat Steve Kagen a rating of "Pants on Fire."

Kagen, terrorist slayer on "injun time," is a liar.

Kagen intentionally calling First Lady Laura Bush "Barbara" was either stunningly boorish or one of the lamest lies ever told by a politician.

While meeting last month with a group of area peace activists, then Congressman-elect Steve Kagen told a story of his first visit to the White House that shows a feisty and humorous side to our new man in Congress.

"[W]e had an opportunity to take a picture with the president and his wife. I was feeling real good at this point.

“I said to my wife, ‘Honey, just follow my lead.’ She said, ‘Steven, it’s the president.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but he’s not any taller than I am.’ So the cameraman’s here. We’re introduced by a Marine. I said, ‘Mr. President , thank you for coming to Green Bay. My name is Dr. Multimillionaire. That was before the race. Now they call me Doctor Thousandaire. I couldn’t have won without you coming.’”

He said Bush gave one of his smiles and said, ‘I’ve lost a lot of money in my life, too.’ Then I go to his wife, ‘Hi Barbara, how are ya?’ I did that because I learned on the campaign that the meanest thing you can say to another gentlemen is, ‘he’s a fine fellow,’ and you then refer to his spouse by a different name.”

Kagen is really a disgrace.

But back to the subject at hand, Kagen's flaming pants and the ad attacking his opponent, Republican Reid Ribble.

Here's the ad:



PolitiFact Wisconsin gives this analysis:

We asked Kagen campaign spokeswoman Allison Jaslow to elaborate on the charge against Ribble, but she did not get back to us. PolitiFact Wisconsin also asked for an interview with Kagen, but he did not respond.

That leaves us with the ad itself, which includes no footnotes or backup for the statement other than the video of Ribble himself.

The footage of Ribble is from a campaign forum held Nov. 3, 2009 by the Fox Valley Initiative, a tea party group. Ribble did speak the 14 words in question -- and many more than that. The video actually cuts him off mid-sentence.

Here is what Ribble actually said, based on a longer video of the same statement posted on YouTube. We’ll highlight where the new words pick up.

"Somehow we have to establish a phase-out of the current Social Security system to a new system. And that will have to happen over time. It could happen in a single generation."

Ribble goes on to discuss how the life expectancy of Americans has grown since Social Security was established in the 1930s, and its effect on the system.

"It has to change," Ribble said of Social Security. "It will bankrupt this country if it doesn’t change."

That’s a far cry from getting rid of Social Security.

In an interview, Ribble said he favors a system of "personal accounts" that are linked to the individuals. "The government can’t take that money from you and give it to somebody else," he said. Ribble said he has been consistent in his statements about Social Security. "We’ve made promises to our seniors and we have to keep them."

Ribble said he is "uncomfortable with privatization" but favors "personalization of the system but within Social Security." He said he did not have any "hard and fast numbers" about how this would be accomplished -- or how it would stabilize Social Security finances.

Our search of the Internet could find no public statements by Ribble that contradict this statement. Though he survived a four-way primary, Ribble is a first-time candidate and has run a, well, lean campaign. His pre-primary campaign finance report showed about $71,000 on hand.

That brings us to Kagen’s labeling of Ribble as a "politician."

Ribble has never run for office before -- not even student council student, he joked.

"I’ve been in the construction industry my entire life," said Ribble, who sold his family-owned commercial roofing business to a relative in December.

Ribble is on the ballot and running now. But it’s the same situation Kagen -- an allergist by trade -- was in when he ran in 2006 and said told voters he was not a politician.

PolitiFact determines:

Kagen’s statement splices and dices -- and leaves the truth on the cutting room floor. Strike another match. We rate the statement Pants on Fire.

DR. Kagen should be ashamed of using this tattered old page from the Dem playbook, scaring seniors by telling them Ribble will take away their Social Security.

AD VOICE-OVER: Ribble wants to phase out Social Security, forcing Wisconsin seniors to fend for themselves.

What a liar!

At least Kagen didn't call Ribble's wife "Barbara."

Give him time.