It’s always fascinating to watch history being rewritten before one’s very eyes. A fresh example comes courtesy of the National Republican Congressional Committee, in a cookie-cutter press release attacking Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia and a slew of his fellow Democrats.
We were sent a version of the release headlined "New Poll: Americans at Odds with Connolly’s [or other Democrat’s] Stimulus." It cites a new Pew Research Center poll that shows most Americans don’t believe the $787 billion stimulus bill,
Month: April 2010
Blackwell Blasts FactCheck
In an interview on "The Daily Show," Family Research Council fellow Ken Blackwell disagreed with host Jon Stewart about whether the Obama administration has an unprecedented number of "czars." (This is part two of the interview, available only online.)
Stewart: Not all the so-called czars were appointed by Obama, and again — and this is just from an organization called FactCheck.org, and just because they have "fact" in their title doesn’t necessarily mean anything — but again,
Twitter, and the Pennsylvania 12th
In episode 9 of FactCheck Radio, we debunk false tweets from the political parties on Twitter, and we look at dueling ads in a special election to fill a House seat in Pennsylvania.
(Click the play button below to listen to the podcast. Or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.)
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Mis-Tweets on Twitter April 28
A False Hit on Critz April 22
Another False Tax Attack (And One That’s Just Deceptive) April 21
Mis-Tweeting in the News
In light of our article yesterday about false and misleading political claims on Twitter, we found this story on media mis-tweetment amusing:
Mediaite.com: Just after 9:30 @ABCWorldNews twittered this: BREAKING: President Obama will name Elena Kagan his nominee for the Supreme Court, @jaketapper reports. As you will see, he did not, and the tweet has since been deleted.
It was picked up by one @lensmith22 who RT’d it.
Shortly thereafter Jake Tapper responded…on Twitter: “@ABCWorldNews no I dont.”
National Day of Prayer: Still On
Q: Has President Obama canceled the May 6 National Day of Prayer?
A: No. This widely circulated falsehood echoes similar claims made last year when the president issued a pro-prayer-day proclamation but didn’t hold White House services as President Bush had done.
Mis-Tweets on Twitter
Mis-tweet
v. To use Twitter to mislead your followers.
For providing false and misleading information, a 30-second TV spot crafted by a seasoned media consultant is still king. But there’s another medium this campaign year that makes …
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of April 20-April 26
This week, readers sent us comments about sales taxes on home profits and the Webby awards.
In the FactCheck Mailbag, we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.
Just the Facts 2010: Attack Ads
The 2010 elections are heating up. In California’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Steve Poizner launched a false ad attacking Meg Whitman. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was wrong when it accused a Republican House candidate in Hawaii of pledging to protect tax breaks …
Sunday Replay
We found a few claims worthy of comment on the Sunday political talk shows.
On NBC’s "Meet the Press," Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said that President Obama was being "misleading" when he boasted about General Motors and Chrysler repaying the government:
"Meet the Press" host David Gregory: The president was boasting yesterday that GM and Chrysler have paid off their debts, not completely, but, but, but way ahead of schedule. TARP is now $186 billion back.
Retrofit, Energy License Not Required
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act in June 2009. A chain e-mail that has been forwarded to us repeatedly in recent days says that the bill would require homeowners to retrofit their houses to meet new energy standards, and obtain a license from the Environmental Protection Agency before they could sell a home. Don’t believe it. The claims are false.
In fact, we said last summer that claims that the bill requires such things were false in our Ask FactCheck titled "Energy Bill and Exisiting Homes."