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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
Tag Archives: chain e-mail
Illegal Backyard Garden?
Q: Would a new bill in Congress make my backyard organic garden illegal? A: A House bill proposes to split the Food & Drug Administration, creating a separate entity to oversee food safety. It’s aimed at food sold in supermarkets and doesn’t say anything about organic gardening, pesticides, farmers’ markets …
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FDR’s “Voluntary” Social Security
Q: Did FDR promise that Social Security would be voluntary? Did Democrats end tax deductions for Social Security withholding? A: Social Security has never been voluntary and taxes paid to support it have never been deductible from federal income taxes. A widely e-mailed "history lesson" gets nearly all its facts …
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Plane False
The conservative Web site Judicial Watch has made public e-mails to and from the Department of Defense regarding Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s travel requests. The organization claims in a press release that these e-mails show Pelosi "issue[s] unreasonable requests for military travel" and "treats the Air Force like …
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U.S. Oil Reserves
Q: Are anti-drilling forces blocking access to the world’s largest oil reserve in the western U.S.? A: The Bakken Formation touted in a chain e-mail isn’t the world’s largest oil reserve. The amount of oil it contains, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is less than one one-hundredth of the …
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Eminently Nonsensical
Every so often, we here at FactCheck.org get a slew of questions about some huge clandestine shadowy government conspiracy. Here’s the problem with those questions: If it’s a clandestine shadowy government conspiracy, it’s a little hard to confirm or deny absolutely. In fact, that’s what the people who generate these rumors …
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Free Money!!
The ads are popping up everywhere. We’ve seen them on the sidebar at Facebook and on the front page of The New York Times‘ online edition. The ads are enticing, promising to tell you how you can get your hands on a share of free government money. The pitch is …
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Sliming Pelosi
Pelosi has taken her place with Obama and Palin as a favorite target of false claims in chain e-mails, judging by the examples our readers send us. Here’s the truth about some of the bunk being thrown at her by anonymous Internet rumormongers. Her husband does not own a …
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Posted in Articles
Tagged chain e-mail, Nancy Pelosi, rumors, Speaker of the House, taxes
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Unreported Stats
Q: What’s the deal with Prof. Joseph Olson’s “unreported stats” from the 2008 election? A: This chain e-mail is a hoax. The “statistics” are grossly incorrect, and Prof. Olson says he didn’t write it.
Automakers and Charity
Q: Is it true that the Big Three American automakers made charitable contributions after 9/11, while foreign companies, by and large, did nothing? A: Actually, foreign car companies gave lots of money, too, despite what an old chain e-mail claims.
Nancy Pelosi’s Personal Jet
Q: Did Nancy Pelosi order up a 200-seat jet for her personal use? A: The Democratic House speaker normally flies in a 12-seat Air Force jet, just as her Republican predecessor did. This rumor stems from a request by the House sergeant at arms, not Pelosi, for a jet large …
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Posted in Ask FactCheck
Tagged campaign finance, chain e-mail, military, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, taxpayer
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