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Q: Do I have to answer Census questions? Isn’t this an invasion of privacy and a violation of the Fourth Amendment?
A: A widely circulated anti-Census commentary makes several false claims. The law requires truthful answers and states that they will be kept confidential. Courts have upheld its constitutionality.
Q: Has Nancy Pelosi spent $100,000 on food, booze and "partying" during her air travel?
A: No. Pelosi’s congressional delegations do eat well and drink pricey alcohol. But the costs are not as high as critics claim, and they’re comparable to those of her Republican predecessor, Dennis Hastert.
Q: Is it true that nobody remembers Obama attending Columbia University?
A: At least one of his classmates remembers him well, and the university proudly claims Obama.
Q: Did President George W. Bush drop everything to visit Ft. Hood victims? Was he ordered away by the Obama administration?
A: Bush did visit the wounded at Ft. Hood, but a Bush spokesman says that his visit was coordinated with base officials and that he was not asked to leave by the White House.
Q: Is Congress exempt from “many” laws including one against sexual harassment?
A: No. The latest e-mail rant against Congress — proposing a “28th Amendment” to the Constitution — is full of false and outdated claims.
Q: Is federal judge David O. Carter starting a trial on Jan. 26 to determine whether Obama is qualified to be president?
A: No. This is yet another bogus claim circulated by persons who cling to a belief that Obama was not born in the U.S.A. The judge threw the case out of court back in October.
Q: How does health care legislation propose to enforce the individual mandate?
A: The Internal Revenue Service would verify whether individuals meet the requirement to have health insurance, and collect a tax if they don’t.
Q: Does the health care bill specifically exempt members of Congress and their staffs from its provisions?
A: No. This twisted claim is based on misrepresentations of the House and Senate bills, neither of which exempts lawmakers.
Q: What’s up with “Columbo” and his questions for Obama?
A: The interrogator in a chain e-mail gets his facts fouled up and makes false accusations.
Q: Does the Senate’s health bill contain a provision that can’t be repealed?
A: No. It would create an Independent Medicare Advisory Board that could be repealed by a vote of three-fifths of the Senate.