This week, readers sent us comments about the Rev. Franklin Graham and President Barack Obama’s budget speech.
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.
Rev. Graham’s Claims
I appreciated your attempt to fact check the Rev. Franklin Graham ["Rev. Graham and the Signs of Armageddon," April 25], but do you really think it’s a good idea to expend your resources on a mission to validate the ravings of preachers? At some point, shouldn’t we just concede that nothing they say makes any factual sense, and then move on? I suppose when they hold political sway, preachers should be held accountable. It’s a nice idea, but you’re gonna need boatloads of new researchers and interns.
David M. Kalman
San Mateo, Calif.
Just a note to say thank you for extending your fact-checking net to the extra-political arena with "Rev. Graham and the Signs of Armageddon." I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s hearing that wars, famines and earthquakes were increasing and that this was a sign of the end times. Now an adult agnostic, I’m glad to hear facts answer that assertion with a firm, "No, they’re not."
Luke Hughett
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Wrong Exaggeration
In your analysis["FactChecking Obama’s Budget Speech," April 15], the section on "Medicare Exaggerations," Obama’s statement that seniors will "be at the mercy of the insurance industry” is less of an exaggeration than your contention that insurance companies will cover seniors for the amount of the government subsidy. Do you actually believe that in 2022 any insurance company will join an exchange if they have to insure a 65-year-old for only $667 a month? They wouldn’t do that now!
Scott Mansfield
San Francisco, Calif.
FactCheck.org responds: Our article said seniors would receive an average government subsidy of $8,000 beginning in 2022 under the GOP plan to help toward the purchase of private insurance on a new Medicare exchange, not that the $8,000 would cover the full cost. Under the GOP plan, beneficiaries would have to pay a greater share than they current do.