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Viral Spiral
FactCheck Mailbag
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of May 7-13.
See letters from previous weeks“ Why is that worth noting? Does it change the facts? ” -
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2012 Players Guide
| The Wire | Featured Articles | |
Checking on Background ChecksMay 24
An ad from Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns accuses Sen. Jeff Flake of breaking a promise to strengthen background checks because he voted against a bill that would have expanded background checks. But Flake did not promise to expand background checks, and he voted in favor of a bill that he … A False Claim of Blame in Mass. Senate RaceMay 23
Republican Gabriel Gomez falsely claims his opponent in the Massachusetts Senate race blamed him for the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., and compared him to Osama bin Laden: Democratic Rep. Ed Markey did release a TV ad saying Gomez “is against banning high-capacity magazines like the ones used in the … Republican Overreach on IRSMay 21
While there has been plenty to find fault with in the revelation that the IRS targeted some tea party groups seeking tax exempt status, some of the Republican rhetoric has been an overreach. Rep. Michele Bachmann falsely claimed that Americans “most personal, sensitive, intimate, private healthcare information is in the … IRS Officials Misled Congress, PublicMay 21
IRS officials gave false or misleading information on numerous occasions regarding its now discredited practice of targeting conservative groups that sought nonprofit status. A Treasury inspector general’s report issued May 14 found the IRS used “inappropriate criteria,” beginning in March 2010, to identify potential political groups seeking nonprofit status based … IRS Not So ‘Independent’May 16
The Internal Revenue Service is not exactly an “independent agency,” as President Obama claimed during a May 13 press conference. In fact, it is a bureau of the Treasury Department, an executive agency within the federal government. And it is the president who nominates the head or chief executive of … Joe Biden’s Productivity PiffleMay 15
Vice President Joe Biden falsely claimed that U.S. workers “are three times as productive as any worker in the world.” He’s not even close. By the standard measure for productivity, American workers ranked third in the world behind Norway and Ireland in 2011. Biden also stated that the U.S. economy … Benghazi Attack, RevisitedMay 14
President Obama says the May 8 House hearing on Benghazi and subsequent reporting about it produced no new information. That’s largely the case, but the president misrepresented some facts at his May 13 press conference in dismissing the House investigation as a “political circus.” Obama said Republicans acted “as if … 9/11 Hijackers and Student VisasMay 10
Lawmakers on both sides of the immigration debate have falsely claimed that “some” or “all” of the 9/11 hijackers were in the U.S. on student visas. Only one of the 19 hijackers came to the U.S. on a student visa. The rest arrived here on tourist or business visas. Independent … McCain’s Gitmo ExaggerationMay 6
Sen. John McCain exaggerated when he claimed that about 25 percent of prisoners released from Guantanamo have returned to terrorist activities in “leadership positions.” He said May 5 on “Fox News Sunday“: McCain: And, by the way, about a quarter of those who have been released from Guantanamo have gone … |
 Obama’s Numbers (Quarterly Update)From jobs to debt to oil production, what's changed since Obama took office.April 16Reviewing some key statistical measures of Barack Obama’s presidency so far, we find: The economy has added more jobs since Obama took office than it did in his predecessor’s entire eight years in office. Despite the improved economy, the number of people receiving food-stamp assistance has continued to grow …  Obama’s Preschool StretchThe president makes misleading claims in his effort to sell a universal preschool plan.February 20President Obama exaggerates the potential benefits of his ambitious plan for universal preschool, as he first outlined in the State of the Union and repeated elsewhere since then: Obama says every dollar invested in “high quality” preschool can return “seven dollars later on” but that is based on an economic analysis of a small, two-year program that targeted disadvantaged youth …  FactChecking Obama’s SOTUThe president spins his accomplishments on jobs, health care and deficit reduction in annual address.February 13President Obama put a rosy spin on several accomplishments of his administration in his 2013 State of the Union address. The president claimed that “both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion.” But that’s only an estimate of deficit reduction through fiscal year 2022, and it would be lower …  Rand Paul’s Bin Laden Claim Is ‘Urban Myth’There’s no evidence the U.S. recruited, trained, armed or funded bin Laden in Soviet-Afghan war.February 8In two recent statements, Sen. Rand Paul made the unsubstantiated claim that the U.S. government once “armed” and “funded” Osama bin Laden. The CIA and several of its top officials deny that the U.S. ever recruited, trained, armed or funded bin Laden during the Afghan war over Soviet occupation in the 1980s. Bin Laden himself has denied it. …  Viral Spiral 2012The constant battle against crackpot claims, paranoid conspiracy theories and malicious lies.December 27We’ve long warned our readers to make good use of the delete key when emails spreading sketchy claims pop up in their inboxes. But we’ve found that old viral emails, unfortunately, never die — and new ones spread like a highly contagious disease. These overwhelmingly anonymous messages are, by and large, bogus.  Firefighters, Fact-Checking and American JournalismA (sort of) farewell message from our departing director.December 21When I came to Annenberg and launched FactCheck.org in December 2003, I had a single research assistant and practically no competition. Now, nine years later, FactCheck.org has an excellent staff, and so many other journalists are fact-checking politicians that one media critic calls it “the ever-growing factchecking industry.” So I think … |
