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“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.” – Abraham Lincoln

Fact checking Mike Lee’s Flyer

Claim 1

Lee claims he is the only candidate who has never been a Washington DC lobbyist for foreign corporations.

Facts

In 2004 and 2005, Tim Bridgewater was registered while working to preserve an industry native to Utah, but only out of caution.  Tim’s client, the Tai Frozen Food Association, was fighting tariffs that if implemented would devastate Utah’s brine shrimp industry and cut Utah jobs.  Tim referred his client to a lobbying firm to handle the case and the firm put Tim’s name on the report (see Fox 13 Mike Lee Campaign Labels Tim Bridgewater a Lobbyist).

Tim’s involvement in fighting to save Utah’s brine shrimp industry was well documented by the press because at the time he was running for congress.

Shrimp controversy has big impact on Utah: Tim Bridgewater…who is also spokesman for the Utah Artemia (brine shrimp) Association, says if U.S. shrimp boaters win their trade claim, it could lead to tariffs on imported shrimp — raising their prices and cutting demand. That in turn would cut demand for Utah brine shrimp and cut Utah jobs.

Bridgewater’s group is part of a coalition, the Shrimp Task Force – – including groups representing restaurants, food stores, seafood processors and consumer groups –

At a press conference Tim Bridgewater stated, “We in the brine shrimp industry would like to know why the U.S. government believes our jobs are less important than the shrimp petitioners’ jobs. This case is nothing but an attempt by a small group of businesses who don’t want to compete in the marketplace to use the government to take money out of our pockets.”

With tens of millions of Utah dollars at stake and hundreds of jobs, it’s not just a shrimp of an issue. It is big — and Commerce should take steps to reduce the mystery and make comparisons as true, transparent and fair as possible.”

While Tim was an open opponent and spokesperson against the tariffs that threatened Utah jobs- he never met personally with law makers about the bill nor did he ever advocate to any lawmakers regarding the tariff.

Claim 2

Lee claims he is the only person in the race who has never profited from earmarks or stimulus money.

The Facts

Mike Lee claims that because Tim Bridgewater owns stock in companies that received stimulus funds Tim has personally benefitted from stimulus money.  However, Mike Lee has also benefited from stimulus money in the same way that he accuses Tim.

In Mike Lee’s personal financial disclosure, Mike discloses that he owned stock in Energy Solutions (S.L. Tribune Lee made 600K from law firm last year).  Energy Solutions received millions of stimulus funds which helped the company remain profitable during the recession, propping it up while many companies failed. The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Feb. 25, 2009 that Energy Solutions reported a boost of earnings to the tune of 57 cents per share due to large receipts of stimulus money.  As a stockholder, Mike Lee profited to the tune of 57 cents a share.  To hide how much profit he realized, Mike dumped his stock in Energy Solutions the DAY BEFORE he filed to run for the U.S. Senate (S.L. Tribune Lee made 600K from law firm last year).

Claim 3

Mike claims Tim Bridgewater has gambled tax payer dollars on risky “foreign business” ventures.

The “foreign business” is actually a local company that has created hundreds of jobs in Utah in the clean energy sector.  One of Tim Bridgewater’s clients was Raser Technologies, a company that develops geothermal energy.  As part of research and development, Tim Bridgewater and his company Interlink assisted Raser Technology to receive funds  from private investors as well as a grant from the United States Trade and Development Agency to partially fund a feasibility study. The study is being conducted in Indonesia, a country that holds the 2^nd largest reserves of geothermal energy.    Funded in part by the USTDA and in part by Raser Technologies, the study has since created hundreds of jobs in Utah that may unlock clean abundant energy reserves.  Tim wants government to be less involved in the energy sector of our economy, but as the government seeks to control this part of our economy Tim fought for a Utah based company to act independently of government support.

In a press release on April 29, 2010 Tim Bridgewater said, “I am confident that the companies I work with can compete in an unsubsidized market, and I look forward to the opportunity to let them prove it, by de-funding market-distorting federal government lending programs. When that happens, winners will be chosen by the marketplace, and not by political appointees at federal agencies.”

Claim 4

Mike Lee claims he is the only candidate who never supported No Child Left Behind.

The Facts

Tim is actually the only candidate to ever fight against government mandates like No Child Left Behind.  While Tim supported the concept of No Child Left Behind previous to passage, he did not support the final legislation. Tim’s record on NCLB is fully detailed in the press.

Deseret News: Bridgewater Said NCLB Falls Short Of The Promise Of Giving More Control To Local Educators And Parents. “I favor moving more control of our education system to local educators and parents. NCLB promised to do that but fell short. It is important that we receive the block grants from the federal government, but it needs to come without the strong federal mandates. We need local control all the way down to the parent and classroom level. Our parents and teachers in this state are second to none, and we need to trust them to make the decisions that are best for the children in our great state.” (“Tim Bridgewater’s Responses To The Morning News Questionnaire,” Deseret Morning News, 6/14/04)

Not only did Tim Bridgewater strongly criticize NCLB when it fell short of its promises, he helped Utah lead the country in fighting it.  No other candidate in this race has a stronger record of taking the federal government head on in favor of states’ rights.

(News articles detailing Tim’s fight against No Child Left Behind)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7713931/ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june05/nclb_4-14.html http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/55382 http://amsam.org/2005/05/utah-gov-defies-no-child-left-behind.html http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=15995

CLAIM 5

Mike Lee asserts Tim Bridgewater has supported “the reckless expansion of entitlements, subsides and generational debt; such as, The MMA bill of 2003 and its 18 trillion dollar unfunded liability.”

The Facts:

Tim Bridgewater opposes the reckless expansion of entitlements, subsidies, and generational debt.  Tim Bridgewater was not an enthusiastic supporter of the MMA bill commonly known as Medicare Part D.  In 2003, Tim was quoted as saying that the bill had flaws but that it was a “half step forward” towards the reform needed.

As a step in the right direction, Tim supported cutting waste and abuse to fund prescription drug coverage, but Congress failed to cut enough to pay for the changes.  Before Medicare Part D was passed, Medicare encouraged waste by preventing medications that would decrease hospitalizations, and thereby increasing the cost to tax payers, costs that Medicare Part D was intended to remedy. For example, Medicare covers the $28,000 cost of an ulcer surgery, but does not cover the cost of the medicine that treats the cause of most ulcers for about $500 a year.

Tim Bridgewater supports pay-as-you-go legislation and opposes unfunded liabilities.  It is well established that Medicare Part D eliminated massive waste in the system, a strong step in the right direction of eliminating fraud; however, it also added more waste in the application.  Medicare Part D should have been implemented and paid for with budget cuts, had Congress the political will to do so.

Raser Technologies

Raser Technologies is a Utah company that has created hundreds of jobs with the help of new technology that utilizes geothermal energy.  As a consultant for Raser, Tim did not seek nor obtain or benefit from any stimulus money. He is not an owner nor does he have any managerial role in the company. Tim Bridgewater has stated that as a consultant he partook in no part of any earmark request on behalf of Raser Technologies and has opposed the stimulus, despite any benefit Raser has received.

Interlink Capital Strategies/Business Dealings

Tim Bridgewater is a free market capitalist. In that vein, his company Interlink consults with a variety of clients on how to access capital, including SBA loans and government grants. Tim Bridgewater does not apply for nor received any funds accessed by those clients. He also knows first-hand what happens when government intervenes and is confident that the private sector would step-up if government would cease to intervene.

“Temple Mailer”

Tim Bridgewater has always run a campaign based on issues and facts. He was not involved in any last minute mailers prior to the state convention. Bridgewater surged in the 3 weeks leading up to the convention because state delegates realized that he was the experienced conservative in the race with a track record and a plan to address the pressing issues our country is facing.

Bridgewater had nothing to do with the so-called “temple mailer” and is opposed to such last minute campaign shenanigans.   Bridgewater’s message of restoring fiscal sanity, stopping the destruction of the free markets and his experience in the private sector is resonating with Utah voters. He believes Utah voters are smart enough not to fall for out-of-state negative campaigns based on innuendo and deceit.