Less than a month after the new Congress convened, House Democrats and a conservative outside group traded accusations (some bogus, some not) in the first ads of the 2012 campaign. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee started …
Issues: medicare
Sunday Replay
The first set of Sunday shows since the midterm elections featured a number of Republicans talking about how they’ll exercise their increased power. We’d just like to set the facts straight — on the budget, the health care law, taxes and other subjects. Democrats, too, weren’t immune from making a misleading statement or two.
Taxes and Revenues: Up and Up
GOP Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana made a wildly false supply-side tax claim on ABC’s "This Week"
Health Care Spin — Again
As the election draws near, some conservative groups are making ever-wilder claims about the new health care law: An elderly man in a Crossroads GPS ad makes the death-panel-esque claim that the law “threatens our lives.” The 60 Plus Association …
Misleading Onslaught by 60 Plus
The conservative 60 Plus Association has launched a flurry of ads against 16 Democrats, many of them in tight House races. The group is spending more than $5 million – from donors whose identities it doesn’t have to disclose – to run the ads saying the lawmakers “betrayed” their constituents by voting …
Misdirection from Crossroads GPS
A group with ties to Karl Rove sends viewers astray in a $2 million ad campaign attacking Democratic Senate candidates in Pennsylvania, California and Kentucky. The ads make badly misleading claims about the health care legislation …
Reid, Angle Trade Familiar Charges
In Nevada’s Senate race, Republican Sharron Angle and Democrat Harry Reid began airing new commercials Aug. 26. Angle’s attack ad pictures Reid in a "love triangle" with President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and repeats some familiar but misleading claims.
Like Angle’s, Reid’s ad covers familiar ground. All of its claims are rooted in true statements or proposals. But Reid goes too far in one case. Angle did not say that "Medicare and Social Security violate the Ten Commandments."
Tax Cuts, Medicare and Florida Democrats
In episode 23 of FactCheck Radio, we debunk a Republican talking point on the Bush tax cuts being spread by Sarah Palin and former Sen. Fred Thompson. Plus, we examine actor Andy Griffith’s misleading ad for Medicare, and false charges in the Democratic Senate primary in Florida.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Sunday Replay Aug. 2
Thompson Wrong on Tax Cuts, Too Aug. 5
Mayberry Misleads on Medicare July 31
Democrat-on-Democrat TV Attacks in Florida
Mayberry Misleads on Medicare
Would the sheriff of Mayberry mislead you about Medicare? Alas, yes.
In a new TV spot from the Obama administration, actor Andy Griffith, famous for his 1960s portrayal of the top law enforcement official in the fictional town of Mayberry, N.C., touts benefits of the new health care law. Griffith tells his fellow senior citizens, "like always, we’ll have our guaranteed [Medicare] benefits." But the truth is that the new law is guaranteed to result in benefit cuts for one class of Medicare beneficiaries —
McCollum’s Misleading Accusations
There’s more misinformation in the ugly Florida governor’s race, this time from Attorney General Bill McCollum. He claims his GOP primary opponent Rick Scott "personally" got millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds.
The ad, titled “Inner Tube,” says: “Scott tried to hide the fact that he personally bagged millions from the Obama stimulus.” That refers to $63 million in stimulus funding that went to a company named XFone, to expand broadband service to rural areas.
Kagan, Afghanistan and NH Senate Race
In episode 18 of FactCheck Radio, we look at claims from the Sunday political talk shows about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, health care, Afghanistan and kidnappings in Phoenix. Plus, we talk about a false ad from Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes, targeting Republican Kelly Ayotte in the New Hampshire Senate race.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Sunday Replay June 28
Hodes Deletes Truth in NH Senate Race June 30