Rep. Michele Bachmann officially joined the presidential campaign trail, but made a flurry of false and misleading claims along the way. The Minnesota Republican appeared on two …
Stories by Eugene Kiely
Former Director, FactCheck.org
Sleazy, False and ‘Racist’ Hit in LA
A conservative group falsely claims in a web ad that Democrat Janice Hahn "hired hardcore gang members with taxpayer money to be gang intervention specialists" in South Los Angeles. It's true that Hahn, a city councilwoman running in a special election for Congress, supports the city's gang intervention programs, but she made no direct payments to gang members. It's also true that the city funds nonprofits that use ex-gang members to help settle gang disputes, but the city money is used to fund administrative costs,
June 17: Oil Drilling, GDP, Jobs
DCCC Dials Wrong Number
Democrats make false and misleading claims about the impact of the House GOP budget plan on Medicare and the federal debt in automated phone calls placed in 13 districts. The robocalls, paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee …
June 10: Paul Revere, Bailouts, Misery Index
Romney Wrong on Deficits, Auto Bailout
Mitt Romney wrongly claimed deficits “multiplied … by a factor of four or five” under President Barack Obama. He also incorrectly stated that auto companies have repaid only a "small" share of the government bailout money.
The deficit was already running at $1.2 trillion when Obama took office, and it grew to more than $1.4 trillion during his administration — an increase of far less than 400 percent to 500 percent. As for the auto bailout money,
Chrysler Paid in Full?
Taxpayer beware: You have to read the fine print to know what the president means when he says Chrysler has paid back "every dime" of loans it received "during my watch." The company got $12.5 billion in bailout funds under the Bush and Obama administrations, but — despite what the president said — isn't expected to pay about $1.3 billion of it.
President Barack Obama visited a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, on June 3 to discuss the recent announcement that the Chrysler Group LLC repaid $5.1 billion in outstanding loans.
June 3: Debt, Medicare, Fuel Standards
DNC Chair Throws Truth to ‘Wolves’
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz falsely claimed that seniors with preexisting medical conditions would be denied Medicare coverage under the GOP's plan. The House GOP plan specifically says insurance companies “must agree to offer insurance to all Medicare beneficiaries.”
She also repeated a false Democratic talking point that future beneficiaries — those who are now younger than 55 — would be left on their own to buy insurance in the private market. The GOP plan, as we have written before,