Democratic Rep. John Adler calls his GOP opponent an "irresponsible tax dodger" in a campaign flier. His claims are misleading.
Property taxes are a major political issue in New Jersey, which has the highest median tax burden in the country, according to The Tax Foundation. Its median property tax is $6,320 on a home, outpacing runner-up Connecticut by almost $2,000.
‘Fail to pay?’ Not really.
But did Jon Runyan, a former Philadelphia Eagles lineman,
First, it was Sarah Palin. Now, it’s former Sen. Fred Thompson. They’re both touting a highly misleading Republican talking point on the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.
Thompson, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, warns in a new ad sponsored by the conservative League of American Voters: "Folks, America’s economy is struggling and Congress is about to make it a whole lot worse." He’s talking about the "massive automatic tax increase at the end of this year, when the Bush tax cuts expire,"
In his second TV ad, Republican challenger J.D. Hayworth continues to distort Arizona Sen. John McCain’s record on immigration policy.
McCain ‘Made It Worse’?
The ad, which started to air July 29, opens with an announcer saying: "The illegal alien invasion, and John McCain made it worse." In rapid fire, the ad lists a few of the ways McCain supposedly made things worse, beginning with: "McCain wrote the amnesty bill." The words "Wrote the amnesty bill"
An attack ad from a Republican-leaning group accuses Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of abusing "families" and "children" — but provides no support for those claims. The group’s website even criticizes Murray for casting a vote in favor of expanding health insurance to millions of children — a vote also cast by the group’s own CEO, former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
The ad by the American Action Network began airing July 13 in Washington state with an initial buy of more than $750,000.
This week, readers sent us gripes about our criticism of a Medicare ad, and a couple of nice compliments.
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.
In a Senate race chock full of attack ads, the Florida Democratic primary pits Rep. Kendrick Meek against billionaire investor Jeff Greene. Both men carry heavy political baggage; Meek did favors for a developer who is now under indictment, and Greene …
It may be August, but there is no vacation from politicians getting things wrong on the Sunday talkfests. We found Sen. Jon Kyl misstating facts about immigration and Sarah Palin miscasting the Democratic position on the Bush tax cuts – as well as overestimating how much it would cost Americans if they were allowed to expire.
Palin’s Palm Wrong on Tax Cuts
Sarah Palin misrepresented the Democratic position on extending the expiring Bush tax cuts.
Would the sheriff of Mayberry mislead you about Medicare? Alas, yes.
In a new TV spot from the Obama administration, actor Andy Griffith, famous for his 1960s portrayal of the top law enforcement official in the fictional town of Mayberry, N.C., touts benefits of the new health care law. Griffith tells his fellow senior citizens, "like always, we’ll have our guaranteed [Medicare] benefits." But the truth is that the new law is guaranteed to result in benefit cuts for one class of Medicare beneficiaries —
In episode 22 of FactCheck Radio, we look at an ad attacking Sen. John McCain in the Arizona Republican Senate primary, a spot falsely claiming Florida Gov. Charlie Crist supports the new federal health care law, and a whopper of a statement by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Hayworth’s Misleading Attack on Immigration July 28
Rubio Misfires on Crist’s Health Care Shift July 29
Geithner’s GDP Whopper
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s position on the new federal health care law has shifted, but not as much as Marco Rubio’s latest ad says.
In the highly competitive race for the U.S. Senate, Rubio — the presumptive GOP nominee — released an ad July 22 titled “The People,” which claims: “Charlie Crist now says he supports Obamacare.” That’s not true.
The Rubio campaign cites a July 20 Wall Street Journal article describing how Crist has tempered his positions since deciding to drop out of the Republican primary and run in the general election as an independent.