Stories by Eugene Kiely
Former Director, FactCheck.org
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’
Q: Would a “list of Republican budget cuts” by the “new Republican House” slash $2.5 trillion from federal spending over 10 years?
A: The list is real. But so far, there has been no action on the bill, which was sponsored by 33 conservative GOP House members.
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.
Aug. 24: Abortion, Super PACs, Health Care Law
GOP Attack on Tim Kaine’s ‘Shortfall’ Falls Short
A conservative group claims former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine “left us with a $4.2 billion shortfall.” Not exactly. The state did face a $4.2 billion gap in the biennial 2010-2012 budget, but Kaine submitted a balanced budget proposal days before leaving office, as required by law.
And the last budget Kaine signed into law ended with a surplus. In fact, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell praised Kaine for making “tough cuts” in state spending and relying on “conservative”
NRCC Taxes Logic in North Carolina House Race
A Democratic congressman who has reliably supported extending the Bush tax cuts is now being attacked by a GOP TV spot claiming he “voted for higher taxes on Social Security, small businesses, middle-class families, even marriage.” All those claims are false or, in the case of Social Security, misleading.
The target of this deceptive attack from the National Republican Congressional Committee is Rep. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, a conservative “Blue Dog” Democrat who bucked his party by voting for every extension of Bush’s cuts,