We caught a few candidates off base at the third debate among Democratic contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination.
Featured Articles
Don’t Veto the Truth
In an ad, Mitt Romney said he “vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as governor.” What he doesn’t mention is that over 700 of his vetoes were overturned by the Massachusetts Legislature.
Gingrich Distorts Immigration Bill
Newt Gingrich made false claims about the Senate immigration bill in a TV ad for a conservative group.
Audacious Ethanol Hopes?
Gas prices have hit record highs this year as 2008 presidential candidates outline their hopes for renewable fuels. In this story, we take a look at the reality.
Supply-side Spin
John McCain has said that the major tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 have “increased revenues.” He also said that tax cuts in general increase revenues. That’s highly misleading.
Third Time ‘Round for GOP Hopefuls
Pollsters will inform us whether the third time was the charm for any of these candidates in the eyes of potential voters. All we can do is remind you not to believe everything you hear.
Dems Debating, the Sequel
Amid barbs on Iraq, there were exaggerations on energy, insurance and other issues in the second debate of candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Unspinning the FairTax
Summary
In our recent article on the second GOP debate, we called out Gov. Mike Huckabee as well as Reps. Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter for their support of the FairTax. We wrote that the bipartisan Advisory Panel on Tax Reform had “calculated that a sales tax would have to be set at 34 percent of retail sales prices to bring in the same revenue as the taxes it would replace, meaning that an automobile with a retail price of $10,000 would cost $13,400 including the new sales tax.”
Counter-rotating Tax Spin
Summary
The Democrats’ proposed 2008 budget is being spun by both sides. Democrats claim it will not raise taxes by even a penny, while Republicans say it will impose the largest or second-largest tax increase in history.
Obviously, the budget can’t be the largest tax increase in history and zero tax increase simultaneously. So which is it? The answer depends on a couple of questions: What constitutes an increase? And an increase compared with what?
GOP Candidates Debate, Round 2
Summary
Claims, facts and figures flew at the second GOP presidential debate of 2008. Not all were true. For example:
Mitt Romney claimed he didn’t raise taxes when he was governor of Massachusetts, failing to note that he increased government fees by hundreds of millions of dollars and shifted some of the state tax burden to the local level.
Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado claimed scientific reports on whether humans are responsible for global warming are split 50-50,