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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Year: 2009

Dueling Ads in Virginia Race, Part 2

September 21, 2009

Last week, we wrote about a TV ad from Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate to be the state’s governor, which misleadingly described his opponent’s role in utility rate increases over the last few years. Deeds’ Republican challenger, former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, responded with a misleading ad of his own.

The ad turns the tables on Deeds, saying that he "supports Washington’s cap and trade energy scheme that will dramatically increase utility rates for families and kill 56,000 coal and manufacturing jobs."

September 21, 2009

September 21, 2009

The word “democracy” is not used once in the Constitution.
Source: Annenberg Classroom

September 19, 2009

September 21, 2009

It wasn’t until the passage of the 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, that voters were able to directly elect their senators. Before that, senators were selected by the individual state governments, as outlined in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution.
Source: Annenberg Classroom

September 20, 2009

September 20, 2009

Only a very few federal cases, such as Engblom v. Carey (1982), have directly referred to the Third Amendment, which prohibits the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner’s consent during peacetime.
Source: Annenberg Classroom

Dueling Ads in Virginia Race

September 18, 2009

A TV ad from Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds, who’s running on the Democratic ticket in one of the nation’s two gubernatorial races this year, misleadingly describes his opponent’s role in utility rate increases over the last several years.
The Deeds campaign’s ad, "Power," asks viewers, "In tough times, what kind of politician sides with Appalachian Power?" The answer is "Bob McDonnell," according to the ad’s narrator. According to the narrator, McDonnell, the former state attorney general and GOP candidate,

Too Good to Check?

September 18, 2009

Slate writer Tim Noah ‘fesses up to, and dissects, his erroneous telling of an anecdote about an Illinois man whose insurance company canceled his coverage while he was in the middle of chemotherapy. Noah’s July 27 column – which said, wrongly, that "the delay in treatment eliminated [the man’s] chances of recovery, and he died" – was the source for President Obama’s careless repetition of the story in his health care address to Congress on Sept.

Denial of Claims

September 18, 2009

Insurance companies aren’t very popular these days, and it’s certainly not too difficult to dig up a horror story or two of how a patient’s medical claim was denied unfairly. But do companies really "deny payment for 1 out of every 5 treatments doctors prescribe," as a new ad says?
Health Care for America NOW, a liberal group supporting health care overhaul efforts in Congress, makes the claim in a new ad campaign:

The ad, airing for two weeks on national cable,

Bogus Brazilian Oil Claims

September 18, 2009

Q: Did Obama loan $2 billion to Brazil’s oil company to benefit China and George Soros?
A: The president had nothing to do with the loan, which the Export-Import Bank approved for Brazil to buy U.S.-made equipment and services.

September 18, 2009

September 18, 2009

The president can pardon any person who has committed a federal crime, except in cases of impeachment, as outlined in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution.
Source: Annenberg Classroom

September 17, 2009

September 17, 2009

The 27th Amendment, preventing members of Congress from granting themselves pay raises during the current session, was introduced in 1789 by James Madison, but not ratified until 1992.

Source: Annenberg Classroom