A Republican TV ad falsely claims that businesses “are forced to drop health care coverage” and families are “losing health care benefits” under the new federal health care law. “That’s what’s happening,” the ad says. But that’s not happening now. The claim is based on a July survey of corporate executives and human-resource officers who were asked if they expect their companies to drop insurance coverage in the next one to five years.
The survey found that “9% of companies representing 3% of the workforce anticipate dropping coverage in the next 1-3 years.”
Stories by Eugene Kiely
Romney’s Bogus ‘Apology’ Claim
FactCheck.org Director Brooks Jackson talks to WCBS radio about a false claim that Mitt Romney repeatedly made after the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya and the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
Romney said the Obama administration issued an “apology for American values” after the attacks. That’s not true. Romney was referring to a statement issued before mobs attacked either in Egypt or Libya. Furthermore, the word “sorry” or “apologize” doesn’t appear in the statement.
Sept. 14: Bill Clinton, G.M., Embassy Attacks
Sept. 7: Democratic Convention
Aug. 31: Republican Convention
Santorum’s Distorted ‘Dependency’ Claims
Rick Santorum blames President Barack Obama for “a nightmare of dependency with almost half of America receiving some sort of government assistance.” But the same could have been said of George W. Bush. In fact, the Census Bureau reported that in the third quarter of 2008, under Bush, “nearly half of U.S. residents live in households receiving government benefits.”
Back then, Census reported that 44.4 percent of Americans received some sort of government benefits. That has risen to 49 percent under Obama as of the most recent figures available,
Christie’s Fact-Free Keynote
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie largely avoided factual claims in a Republican convention keynote address that was heavy on generalities, opinion and platitudes. The pugnacious former prosecutor exaggerated a bit, though, when he bragged about his accomplishments as governor, and he repeated the common but false claim that the president’s health care law interferes with the doctor-patient relationship.
Christie said he delivered “three balanced budgets with lower taxes.” Actually, he cut the state Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income residents and the popular property-tax rebate program for renters and homeowners.
About Those ‘Republican Cuts’
GOP Platform on Abortion
The Republican Party’s 2012 platform calls for a ban on abortion, but is silent on exceptions — leaving that decision up to Congress and the states. However, as FactCheck.org Director Brooks Jackson tells WCBS radio, the Obama campaign falsely claims the GOP platform calls for banning abortions even in cases of rape or incest.
See “Another Abortion Falsehood from Obama’s ‘Truth Team‘” for more information about what the Republican platform says about abortion.