Q: Does Illinois pay a grandmother $1,500 per month per child to be the foster parent to her eight grandchildren?
A: No. State officials have no record of such a case, and state law would not allow it. This second-hand story spread by a Danville urologist isn’t true.
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Health Care Law Waivers
Q: Has the Obama administration allowed corporations to "opt out" of the new health care law?
A: No. The government has granted more than 200 waivers, but these merely give companies a temporary delay before being required to improve the coverage of cheap, bare-bones plans they currently offer.
Blame Jane Falsehoods
Q: Is President Obama honoring Jane Fonda as one of the women of the century?
A: No. That was done 11 years ago by Barbara Walters of ABC News.
Muslims Appointed to Homeland Security
Q: Has the Obama administration appointed two Muslims to serve in the Department of Homeland Security?
A: Yes, in 2009. One was a senior Justice Department aide during the Bush administration. Another is a former head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and was appointed as a civil-rights adviser.
Trip to Mumbai
Q: Is President Obama’s trip to India going to cost $200 million per day?
A: This highly doubtful claim originated with one Indian news agency quoting an anonymous source in Mumbai. The White House says it is "wildly exaggerated," and there’s no evidence to support such a huge figure.
Stimulating the Dead
Q: Were stimulus payments made to dead people and prison inmates?
A: Yes, 89,000 of them, according to an official audit. About half of the $22 million was returned. The audit blamed both Congress and the Social Security Administration.
The Chamber and Foreign Contributions
Q: Is illegal foreign money being filtered through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to fund ads attacking Democrats?
A: The chamber says dues money paid by overseas companies "is not used for political ads," but won’t discuss how it segregates those funds. Democratic and liberal groups want an investigation of "likely" or "possible" legal violations.
Bo’s Private Plane?
Q: Did President Obama have his dog, Bo, flown to Maine in his own private jet for the family vacation?
A: No. The family and staff took two small jets because the airport couldn’t accommodate the usual presidential plane. Bo flew with several staffers.
1% Transaction Tax
Q: Is “Obama’s finance team” recommending a 1 percent tax on all bank transactions, as a chain e-mail claims?
A: No. This idea was first floated in 2004 by one House member, who says it would replace the federal income tax and eliminate the national debt. So far it has gone nowhere.
2011 Tax Increases
Q: Will "the largest tax hikes in the history of America" take effect next year? Will ordinary taxpayers see taxes "skyrocket"?
A: That’s not likely. A scary e-mail lists "Tax hikes in 2011" that probably won’t take effect, or won’t apply to families making under $250,000 a year. One "tax hike" is pure fiction.