Author Archives: Brooks Jackson

Cleveland Clinkers

The Clinton-Obama showdown debate in Cleveland produced several false, twisted or dubious claims, most of which we’ve heard and debunked before. Both Obama and Clinton claimed their health care plans would cut costs more than the other’s, and that experts back them up on that. But experts we talked to said the plans are too similar to predict which would save more, and two experts said neither plan can save nearly as much as the candidates claim.
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Clinton-Obama Pillow Fight

The most recent Obama-Clinton debate drew little blood, but we noted a few factual claims that could use correcting or clarifying: Clinton wrongly implied that Obama had little or no accomplishments to his credit. Obama recited a list of achievements at both the state and federal level, which we found to be accurate.
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No WMDs in Iraq

Q: Were there really weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when the U.S. invaded in 2003? A: No. The Iraq Survey Group determined that Iraq had abandoned its quest to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and that it had already destroyed all of its existing stockpiles of chemical and …
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Wrong Paul

Ron Paul doesn’t have much of a chance of winning the Republican nomination, but he persists with his well-funded campaign and even talks of turning it into a permanent “Revolution” that will continue far beyond 2008. We’ve given his statements little attention until now. But here we look at some of his more outlandish claims.
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The Reason for the Electoral College

Q: Why does the U.S. have an Electoral College? A: The framers of the Constitution didn’t trust direct democracy.

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Huckabee an Evangelical

Q: Is it correct to refer to Mike Huckabee as an evangelical? A: Yes. Huckabee describes himself as an evangelical.

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Military Deaths Under Clinton and Bush

Q: Did more soldiers die during Bill Clinton’s term than have died fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan? A: Actually, even counting non-combat fatalities, more military personnel died during the first six years of George Bush’s tenure than during the entire eight years that Bill Clinton was in office.

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Peas in a Pod

Summary A radio ad sponsored by Hillary Clinton reprises her misleading claim that Barack Obama likes Republican ideas. Obama has responded with an ad that makes a half-true accusation that Clinton "championed" NAFTA. We find that both claims are misleading and that the candidates are, in fact, making mountains of …
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Clinton Passed on Killing bin Laden?

Q: Did Bill Clinton pass up a chance to kill Osama bin Laden? A: Probably not, and it would not have mattered anyway as there was no evidence at the time that bin Laden had committed any crimes against American citizens.

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Myrtle Beach Blarney

Summary Another debate, another round of fact-checking. The GOP meeting in South Carolina was the third for Republican candidates in a week, but they haven’t run out of exaggerations or misstatements: Romney claimed Massachusetts gained jobs "every single month" he was governor after hitting a low point. In fact the …
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