President Obama’s unexpected Nobel Peace Prize may end up being the story of the week, but it was the third-party groups that occupied most of our attention here at FactCheck.org. Once again, health care dominated the discussion, though we also saw some new ads on taxes and on climate change. We’ve seen both sides making false claims about Medicare. This week it was the conservative group Americans for Prosperity leading with the alarming claim that "Medicare will be bankrupt in... Click to Read the Full Post
Voters in New York’s 23rd congressional district – where a special election has been forced by the appointment of former GOP Rep. John McHugh to be secretary of the Army – may be finding themselves a bit confused. Dede Scozzafava is pro-choice and has supported gay marriage, and has been endorsed by Markos Moulitsas, creator of the liberal Daily Kos blog. But she’s the Republican in the race. The conservative Club for Growth, meanwhile, is backing a third-party candidate,... Click to Read the Full Post
Summary The campaign to fill the vacant House seat in New York’s 20th congressional district is the race that keeps on giving – giving false and misleading ads, at least. Two new spots, one from Democratic businessman Scott Murphy and another from his foe, Republican state Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco, both take liberties with the facts. Tedisco’s spot says Murphy "supported a loophole letting AIG executives keep their bonuses." That’s false. Murphy voiced... Click to Read the Full Post
The latest dust-up in the special election campaign for New York’s 20th district House seat, which we’ve written about here and here, involves the National Republican Trust PAC. It’s a twisted tale. We’ll start on March 13, when Politico.com’s Ben Smith reported that the National Republican Trust PAC was spending $190,000 to run an ad in the district attacking Democratic candidate Scott Murphy. But on March 16, the Albany Times-Union reported that the ad had been pulled... Click to Read the Full Post
The latest ad from New York State Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco, a Republican, says that the Albany Times-Union and FactCheck.org have called Democratic challenger Scott Murphy’s advertising "unfair" and "false," respectively. The two men are vying for an open House seat representing New York’s 20th congressional district. The ad doesn’t specify which "attack" the Times-Union was calling "unfair," or which claim from Murphy’s... Click to Read the Full Post
Two days ago on our main site, we analyzed several ads in the special election to replace now-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in New York’s 20th congressional district. But it looks like we missed some. Our Country Deserves Better PAC (a group we’ve chided in the past for an ad echoing claims found in false chain e-mails) has released a pair of TV spots in the district, attacking Democratic candidate Scott Murphy. One ad says that Murphy has a "shameful record of attacking our military men... Click to Read the Full Post
Summary New York Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, a Republican, and businessman Scott Murphy, a Democrat, are battling to fill a House seat in New York’s 20th congressional district that was vacated when its occupant was appointed to the Senate. The special election is scheduled for March 31. Recent ads have included some false and misleading claims: Murphy and the DCCC claim that Tedisco won’t say whether he supports capping salaries for executives of companies receiving... Click to Read the Full Post
Since President Obama plucked at least three advisers and cabinet members from elected positions, and some of those positions were then filled by other elected officials, we have a spate of special elections to watch as these empty posts are filled. Of particular note is the 20th House district in New York that was vacated when Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to replace Hillary Clinton as senator. The district had traditionally trended Republican before Gillibrand’s win in 2006, and Republicans... Click to Read the Full Post
In recent weeks, we’ve posted two articles on our main site on the misleading ad war being waged on Georgia airwaves. The Senate run-off election is set for tomorrow (Dec. 2) to determine whether Republican Saxby Chambliss holds onto his seat or challenger Jim Martin, a former state representative, adds to the Democratic majority. Before the votes are tallied, we wanted to give Georgians the low-down on one last suspicious claim we hadn’t addressed. A Chambliss ad says that Martin "tried... Click to Read the Full Post
