Rep. Paul Ryan’s claim that Medicare will be "bankrupt in nine years" goes too far. The trust fund that primarily supports one part of Medicare is projected to be exhausted come 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees said it might not actually happen until 2029. That still doesn’t mean the system will be "bankrupt," though.
The House Budget Committee chairman was making the case for his 2012 budget proposal,
Month: April 2011
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of April 12-18
This week, readers sent us comments about Donald Trump, Social Security, balanced coverage, congressional reform and Sarah Palin.
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.
Planned Parenthood
Q: How much of Planned Parenthood’s services are dedicated to abortions? Does the federal government fund those procedures?
A: Abortions represent 3 percent of total services provided by Planned Parenthood, and roughly 10 percent of its clients received an abortion. The group does receive federal funding, but the money cannot be used for abortions by law.
FactChecking Obama’s Budget Speech
President Barack Obama misrepresented the House Republicans’ budget plan at times and exaggerated its impact on U.S. residents during an April 13 speech on deficit reduction. Obama claimed …
Vote for FactCheck.org in 2011 Webby Awards
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April 15: Budget Cuts, Tax Cuts, Medicare
Biggest Budget Cut in U.S. History?
Democrats and Republicans alike are making grandiose — and unsupportable — claims that the budget deal contains the biggest spending cut in U.S. history.
Under the bipartisan agreement, the proposed budget for this fiscal year would be $38.5 billion less than last year’s budget. The federal government spent nearly $3.5 trillion in 2010, so the cut is a little more than 1 percent of total spending.
President Barack Obama called it "the biggest annual spending cut in history."
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of April 5-11
This week, readers sent us comments about Donald Trump, the Massachusetts health care law and the FactCheck quiz.
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.
Donald, You’re Fired!
If Donald Trump worked for us, we’d have to say: “Donald, you’re fired — for incompetence.” The successful developer and TV celebrity says he’d make a good president, and maybe he would — we take no stand either way about that. But when it comes to getting facts straight …
April 8: Medicare, Social Security, Abortion