Q: Is Obama planning to increase the federal tax on gun ammunition by 500 percent?
A: No such proposal has been made by the Obama administration. And nobody in Congress has introduced any bill to increase the 11 percent federal excise tax on ammo.
Year: 2009
June 23, 2009
The first U.S. Open Championship was held in October 1895 on the nine-hole golf course of Rhode Island’s Newport Golf and Country Club.
Source: United States Golf Association
June 22, 2009
The voting age in Iran is 18.
Source: CIA World Factbook
Al Gore’s Mansion
Q: Is it true that Al Gore’s mansion uses significantly more energy than the typical home?
A: The main claim in a chain e-mail was true when the original message began making the rounds in 2007. Since then, the Gores have made several changes to their home.
June 21, 2009
The literacy rate in Iran is estimated at 77 percent (83.5 percent for men and 70.4 percent for women).
Source: CIA World Factbook
June 20, 2009
The word "solstice" comes from Latin and means "sun stands still."
Source: National Geographic
Reviewing Polls
Earlier this week we wrote about a television ad from Americans United for Change and found it to be misleading. The ad claimed that "a new poll shows that 62 percent of Americans support" President Obama’s "plan to reform health care." Americans United for Change disagreed with our analysis and Deputy Communications Director Lauren Weiner sent us an e-mail to say:
Weiner: Our "62%" ad is based on the Diageo/Hotline poll which asked voters if they supported Congress and the President enacting major overhaul of health care.
GAO Report: U.S. Source For “Large Portion” of Mexican Crime Guns
According to a new report issued by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, the United States is the source for a “large proportion of the firearms fueling Mexican drug violence”:
GAO, June 2009: Available evidence indicates a large proportion of the firearms fueling Mexican drug violence originated in the United States, including a growing number of increasingly lethal weapons. While it is impossible to know how many firearms are illegally trafficked into Mexico in a given year,
June 19, 2009
Prior to 1935, Iran was known as Persia.
Source: CIA World Factbook
WSJ: “GAO Ties U.S. Guns to Mexico Violence”
The Wall Street Journal reports that a new study by the Government Accountability Office says "most firearms recovered in drug violence in Mexico come from the U.S." The WSJ, which obtained and reviewed a draft of the study, says the full report is to be released later today.
This news might seem to confirm the claims made by President Barack Obama and others that "more than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States."