FactCheck.org Author: Eugene Kiely

Tax Cuts and Americans: It’s Complicated

November 20, 2010

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell misrepresented public opinion about the Bush tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of the year. In his weekly remarks Nov. 20, he made this unequivocal statement:

McConnell, Nov. 20: Americans don’t think we should be raising taxes on anybody, especially in the middle of a recession.

But American opinion on the Bush tax cuts is not as clear as McConnell portrays it. Of five recent polls, only one shows a majority favored extending the tax cut for all Americans.

Pelosi Pablum on ‘Fiscal Discipline’

November 10, 2010

In a Nov. 9 opinion piece for USA Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presented a lengthy list of Democratic accomplishments since assuming control of the House and Senate in January 2007 — including "restoring fiscal discipline to the Congress." That one stopped us.
The fact is the federal government ended fiscal year 2009 with a $1.4 trillion deficit — the highest deficit as a share of the gross domestic product since 1945. And it only dipped slightly to $1.3 trillion in the fiscal year that just ended on Sept.

Stimulus Jobs in China?

October 29, 2010

In a bit of political payback, several Republicans are running false or misleading TV ads accusing their opponents of shipping jobs to China — a charge that Democrats have frequently and often incorrectly leveled against Republicans. …

Tortured ‘Terror Ties’ in West Virginia

October 27, 2010

In a TV ad based on innuendos and half-truths, a GOP challenger accuses his Lebanese American opponent, Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall, of taking campaign cash from “a convicted terrorist” and “a group with terror ties.”

Rahall is a Presbyterian whose grandparents immigrated from Lebanon. The ad by his Republican opponent, Spike Maynard, first aired Oct. 20 in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District. It also claims Rahall is "bad for America," attempting to tie Rahall to terrorism using the classic guilt-by-association fallacy.

Tall Tax Tales

October 22, 2010

Republican Sharron Angle says in a TV ad that Nevada Sen. Harry Reid “voted to raise taxes” 300 times. A “staggering 300 times.” He didn’t. We reviewed the 304 votes provided by the Angle campaign and found its final tally was padded …

Toss-ups: Pennsylvania Cash Attack

October 19, 2010

Two independent groups are spending heavily in the Pennsylvania Senate race, and we find both are airing TV ads that go a bit too far: VoteVets.org, a left-leaning veterans group, is up with an ad that claims Republican Pat Toomey supports letting Wall Street …

Sunday Replay

October 18, 2010

This week, we resolve two disputes about who said what, and find that a government report cited as support for a charge about ineffective government programs is nonexistent.
NBC’s "Meet the Press" hosted a debate between Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and the Republican who is trying to unseat him, tea party favorite Ken Buck. We’re reviewing their exchange, and, if we find they have their facts wrong, we’ll post a piece on Tuesday.
Did He Say That?

NRCC Overstates Dems’ Voting Record with Pelosi

October 15, 2010

A number of new TV ads by the National Republican Congressional Committee purport to tell us how often a Democratic incumbent voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But the ads overstate …

Would Miller ‘Destroy’ Alaska’s Economy?

October 13, 2010

In Alaska, a new group founded and financed by for-profit native corporations falsely charges in an ad that Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller’s proposals "would destroy a third of Alaska’s economy" by erasing "our fair share of federal dollars." A conservative, Miller advocates less federal spending — but he hasn’t said he would eliminate it, and that’s what would have to happen to "destroy a third of Alaska’s economy."
The ad also raises the possibility —

Toss-ups: Missouri Mudslinging

October 12, 2010

Ethics has become a theme in the Missouri Senate race, and we find that both candidates are distorting the facts in TV ads that make accusations of serious ethical lapses: Republican Rep. Roy Blunt claims without evidence that Democrat Robin Carnahan’s …