Stories by Eugene Kiely
Former Director, FactCheck.org
The Final Attack Ads
Both sides in the presidential race are making one last push for votes with false and distorted claims on television, radio and even in text messages:
A liberal super PAC’s radio ad in Ohio twists Mitt Romney’s words by having him say six times: “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” He actually said: “I’m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.”
A conservative super PAC falsely claims in a TV ad that President Obama’s health care law “creates an unaccountable new board that can cut Medicare benefits with no notice —
Romney Distorts Facts on Jeep, Auto Bailout
Mitt Romney falsely claimed in a recent speech that “Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.” Chrysler says it is considering adding Jeep production sites in China to address rising demand in that market. But the company says it is “a leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats” to suggest that it would close U.S. facilities and move all operations to China.
Despite Chrysler’s admonition,
Benghazi Timeline
The question won’t go away: Did President Obama and administration officials mislead the public when they initially claimed that the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi began “spontaneously” in response to …
Oct. 26: Jobs, Pakistan, Terrorism,
Smearing Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin Senate Race
A false and vicious TV ad attacks Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin for voting against “honoring the victims of 9/11.” The fact is, she voted to award three Congressional Gold Medals to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
So what’s the ad talking about? It cites her 2006 vote against a ceremonial resolution on the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 — which Baldwin opposed because she said the GOP-drafted resolution “politicized”
False Claims in Final Debate
In the third and final Obama-Romney debate, the candidates again contradicted each other, while each offered incorrect or twisted factual claims. President Obama erred when he accused Mitt Romney of saying during the 2008 campaign that “we should ask Pakistan …
Pro-Israel Group Misleads Wisconsin Voters
A Senate candidate says a pro-Israel group is airing a “false” TV ad about her record and urges stations not to run it. The ad does mislead voters in some — but not all — of its claims:
The ad says Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin called “terrorists who attacked Israel ‘innocent victims’ ” — a claim it illustrates with photos of masked men carrying weapons. That’s nonsense. Baldwin said those killed and injured while attempting to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip were “innocent victims.”
Oct. 19: Second Presidential Debate
Will Romney Increase Defense Spending By $2 Trillion?
Paul Ryan insisted in the Oct. 11 debate that Mitt Romney will not increase defense spending. Joe Biden interrupted Ryan twice to say Romney will increase it by $2 trillion. Who’s right? The answer depends on another question: compared with what?
Romney would spend $2 trillion more than Obama over the next 10 years on the Pentagon’s base budget — which excludes war funding. But Romney won’t increase total annual defense spending as a percentage of gross domestic product compared with fiscal year 2012.