We are proud to announce that FactCheck.org has won the 2011 Webby Award in the Politics category.
We Won a Webby
Year: 2011
Rubio Inconsistent on Medicare
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida offered a wildly inconsistent view of what constitutes a "cut" from Medicare. Rubio claimed that Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan "doesn’t cut Medicare" but that the federal health care law does.
Actually, Ryan’s plan leaves in place many of the Medicare "cuts" in the health care law. And over the long-term, Ryan’s plan would "cut" or "save" (we’ll leave the word choice to our readers) even more by requiring future beneficiaries to pay a higher percentage of health care costs.
Trump 100 Percent Wrong on Egyptian ‘Vote’
Donald Trump falsely claimed that 99 percent of Egyptians voted to end the peace treaty with Israel. There was no such vote, although a recent poll found that 54 percent do support ending the treaty.
Obama and the ‘Pigford’ Cases
Q: Did then-Sen. Barack Obama get a law "passed in dead silence" that allowed black farmers to file "unlawful" discrimination claims against the USDA totaling $1.25 billion?
A: No. Obama supported the 2008 bill, but did not sponsor it or vote on it. It was not "passed in dead silence"; there were six floor votes. All claims are pending judicial review and approval.
April 29: Armageddon, Obama’s Birth, Health Care
60 Plus Wrong on Rationing
The chairman of the conservative 60 Plus Association made the bogus claim that the Food and Drug Administration has "declassified" a breast cancer drug "because of cost and cost alone," an example, he said, of the "rationing" of Medicare because of the federal health care law.
Jim Martin, the head of 60 Plus, made the inaccurate statement in an interview with ABC News in which he also claimed that "ending Medicare as we know it happened a year ago in March …
Indeed, Born in the U.S.A.
President Barack Obama released the long-form version of his birth certificate today, yet another piece of concrete evidence that shows he was born in the United States. The White House said he received a special exemption from the Hawaii Department of Health, which keeps the long-form documents confidential.
The pdf version of the document can be seen here.
In remarks to the press today, Obama said that his campaign had already released his birth certificate in 2008.
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of April 19-26
This week, readers sent us comments about President Obama’s budget speech and more on Donald Trump’s claims about Obama’s birthplace.
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 and the Signs of Armageddon
On ABC’s “This Week,” the Rev. Franklin Graham was wrong when he said that earthquakes, wars and famines are occurring “with more frequency and more intensity.”
The preacher, who is the son of the Rev. Billy Graham and president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, discussed the prophecy of Armageddon with host Christiane Amanpour during a special Easter edition of the Sunday talk show.
Graham, April 24: I believe we are in the latter days of this age.
April 22: Medicare, Abortion, Webby Awards