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Viral Spiral
FactCheck Mailbag
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of March 19-25.
See letters from previous weeks“ Criticizing the Democrats for citing the only available study on gun purchases for its age seems wide of the target. ” -
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2012 Players Guide
Author Archives: Robert Farley
Paying People to Play Video Games
House Speaker John Boehner tweets that the Obama administration is spending $1.2 million “paying people to play video games.” That’s misleading. The government did pay $1.2 million for university research that includes the study of how video games can stimulate the cognitive abilities of seniors. A fraction of that cost …
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Posted in The FactCheck Wire
Tagged debt, Eric Cantor, federal deficit, John Boehner, video games
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Rand Paul’s Bin Laden Claim Is ‘Urban Myth’
In 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. …
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Proposed Weapons Ban Exempts Government Officials?
TheTeaParty.net falsely claims in an email that Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s proposed assault weapons ban would exempt “all government officials” from the ban. While the bill would exempt military and law enforcement officials, it would not exempt legislators or administrative staff. The email further misrepresents the proposed bill, claiming that “she …
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Posted in The FactCheck Wire
Tagged assault weapons ban, Carolyn McCarthy, Dianne Feinstein, Guns
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Did the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban Work?
Both sides in the gun debate are misusing academic reports on the impact of the 1994 assault weapons ban, cherry-picking portions out of context to suit their arguments. Wayne LaPierre, chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association, told a Senate committee that the “ban had no impact on lowering …
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Posted in The FactCheck Wire
Tagged assault weapons, Dianne Feinstein, gun control, National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre
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Is Senate Immigration Plan ‘Amnesty’?
Opponents of a bipartisan Senate immigration plan say it includes “amnesty” for illegal immigrants, but that label is not strictly accurate. Although the Senate plan includes a “path to citizenship,” it also requires illegal immigrants to pay a fine, pay back taxes, learn English and then get in line for …
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Child Homicides
Q: Is it true that 85 percent of all the children killed by guns in the world are killed in the United States? A: No. This statistic, misused by the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, refers to a study of 23 high-income countries in 2003 that made up less …
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Haggling Over Hagel’s Record
An ad from a pro-Israel group oversimplifies Chuck Hagel’s foreign policy positions in an attempt to portray Obama’s choice for secretary of defense as soft on Iran. The ad claims Hagel voted against sanctions on Iran. It’s true that Hagel opposed unilateral U.S. sanctions, but he has voiced support for …
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Posted in The FactCheck Wire
Tagged Chuck Hagel, Emergency Committee for Israel, Iran, Secretary of Defense
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