Author Archives: Brooks Jackson

Romney: Foggy on FactCheck

Mitt Romney is a little unclear on the facts when it comes to factcheck.org — and what we and other fact-checkers have said about Rick Santorum. In the same CNN interview in which he made a somewhat premature claim that Santorum was at the “desperate end” of his campaign (just …
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Democrats’ ‘End Medicare’ Whopper, Again

Can the “Lie of the Year” still be used to defeat Republicans? Democrats hope so, and a super PAC is using an Iowa congressional race to retest the claim that House Republicans voted to “end Medicare.” But we find the Iowa ads to be little improved from last year, when …
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Santorum’s Twisted Take on JFK & Religion

Rick Santorum misrepresented what John F. Kennedy said in 1960 about church-state separation. According to Santorum, Kennedy said that religious people could “have no role in the public square” and “should not be permitted . . . to influence public policy.” But Kennedy didn’t say those things. He said he …
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Fact-Mauling in Mesa

The four remaining GOP presidential candidates met in Mesa, Ariz., for another debate, and mauled a few facts. Rick Santorum claimed earmarks were done in an “open” process during his time in Congress. Mitt Romney said dispensing morning-after pills to rape victims was “entirely voluntary” for Catholic hospitals in Massachusetts. …
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Romney’s ‘Fiscal Conservative’ Whopper

Mitt Romney says, “If you want a fiscal conservative, you can’t vote for Rick Santorum, because he’s not.” Really? Three fiscally conservative groups rate Santorum’s lifetime voting record as better than most other Republican lawmakers, and one of them considers him a “Taxpayer Hero.” Romney is on paper-thin ice with …
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Another Bogus ‘New Taxes’ Claim

It didn’t take long after President Obama released his latest budget for the oil lobby to pick up the misleading cry that it’s being targeted for “new taxes.” That’s mostly not true. Energy Tomorrow, a project of the American Petroleum Institute, ran a print ad in Washington, D.C.’s Politico Feb. 14 …
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Wind Spin

The wind-power lobby is spinning the facts in a $1.4-million TV ad campaign aimed at extending a lucrative tax break worth billions to the industry. Its ads claim that Congress is “threatening new taxes” targeting wind power, which isn’t true. No “new taxes” are envisioned. Instead, Congress is …
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Dueling Debt Deceptions

Q: How much has the federal debt gone up under Obama? A: During his first three years in office, it rose $4.7 trillion, an increase of 45 percent. Partisan graphics circulating via email and Facebook are both incorrect.

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The Gingrich Counterattack in Florida

Now comes the counterattack. After weeks of taking it on the chin in Florida without throwing a punch, the Gingrich side has  finally begun to fight back with TV attack ads of its own. Among the new ads is one from a pro-Gingrich super PAC that takes the personal attacks …
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More Florida Fouls

Newt Gingrich falsely claimed he never favored a federal mandate requiring individuals to have health insurance. Romney repeated a false accusation that President Obama failed to denounce Hamas rocket attacks in a speech to the United Nations. And Santorum insisted that Muslim terrorists are seeking missile bases in Cuba — …
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