Howard Dean falsely claimed that "60 percent of the deficit is due to the Bush tax cuts." Last year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that allowing the tax cuts to expire at the end of 2010 would decrease the deficit from $1.3 trillion in 2010 to $1.07 trillion in 2011. That's a 17.7 percent drop. It's sizable. But it's not 60 percent.
Dean, the former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee chairman, made his claim on CBS'
Stories by Lori Robertson
Managing Editor, FactCheck.org
More Mediscare
Newspaper ads from a conservative group make the disputed claim that "Obama's Medicare Plan Will Increase Medicare Premiums." The "plan" it refers to is actually designed to produce lower prices for low-income Medicare Part D beneficiaries and taxpayers. And whether drug companies would increase prices to others in response is a matter of conjecture, not fact. Experts have differing views. And the sponsor of the ad — whose sister organization produced a study supporting the claim —
Debt Limit Debate Round-Up
The last few weeks have been filled with debate, accusations, stalemate and false claims about the debt ceiling and how — and whether — it should be raised. As the Aug. 2 default deadline looms, here’s a look at the less-than-factual talking points …
Medicare Message in Spanish
A Democratic ad in Spanish says Republicans "would end the Medicare guarantee." That requires context. Viewers might interpret the message to mean that Medicare would end completely. That's not the case. The ad refers to the system's guarantee of a certain level of benefits covered by the government.
[TET ] DNC ad, English translation: Behind the ads that pretend to care about our children, it's the Republicans who would end the Medicare guarantee while protecting tax cuts for the very rich.
Medicare Misrepresentation
The liberal group Patriot Majority distorts a Republican plan to change Medicare, claiming the GOP proposal says “no to Medicare, no to seniors.”
The plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin would radically change Medicare, but it wouldn’t put an end to government health care for seniors. Instead, it proposes a new program starting in 2022.
The attack comes in two ads airing in Montana and Missouri and designed to counter ads launched by the conservative Crossroads GPS.
Barrasso’s Subsidy Speculation
Sen. John Barrasso engaged in wild speculation in claiming that lower-income subsidies will cost $900 billion a year under the federal health care law. He assumes that all employer-based insurance in the United States will disappear.
In an op-ed for Roll Call, the Wyoming Republican and orthopedic surgeon said that "incentives in the health care law will encourage businesses to drop insurance coverage," adding that those employees will join state-based exchanges, increasing the cost of subsidies:
Barrasso,
Crossroads Targets Dems for Budget Woes
The conservative group Crossroads GPS has launched a $7 million ad campaign targeting President Obama, five Democratic senators and 10 representatives. A lot of the content in the ads …
Obama’s Mis-tweets
In a "Twitter Town Hall" event, President Barack Obama repeated a disputed claim about the electric car battery market, and he claimed that the payroll tax holiday is worth $1,000 to "almost every single American" when many will get less than that.
Obama took questions from Twitter users — limited to 140 characters, of course — and gave more verbose answers in the July 6 televised event at the White House. He touted the fact that the U.S.
Dueling Economic Ads
A conservative group's ad makes the rise in unemployment under President Obama appear worse than it actually is. And in a counter-attack ad, a liberal group offers its spin on GOP economic plans.
Crossroads GPS, which spent heavily in the midterm elections to defeat Democrats, is spending $5 million to air its latest ad in 10 states and on national cable channels. It says it will spend a total of $20 million on similar messages in the next two months.
FactChecking Bachmann
We are periodically taking a look at past claims from the 2012 presidential candidates. Today's topic: Michele Bachmann.
The Republican representative from Minnesota announced during this week's debate that she was running for the nation's highest office. Several claims from Bachmann have appeared on our site before, including:
Earlier this year, Bachmann falsely claimed that $105 billion in spending was "hidden" in the federal health care law and that this was done "secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress."