FactCheck.org

Romney’s Big Night

August 31, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. — In a speech heavy on anecdotal history but short on policy details, Mitt Romney avoided major falsehoods in making his case to the American public while accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention.
Even a key Democratic strategist, Bill Burton, a former press secretary for President Obama, tweeted shortly after the speech ended: “Romney actually avoided almost all of the lies from Ryan’s speech.” That was a reference to Rep. Paul Ryan’s address the night before,

Ryan’s VP Spin

August 30, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. — Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained several false claims and misleading statements. Delegates cheered as the vice presidential nominee:

Accused President Obama’s health care law of funneling money away from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” In fact, Medicare’s chief actuary says the law “substantially improves” the system’s finances, and Ryan himself has embraced the same savings.
Accused Obama of doing “exactly nothing” about recommendations of a bipartisan deficit commission — which Ryan himself helped scuttle.

Santorum’s Distorted ‘Dependency’ Claims

August 29, 2012

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

August 29, 2012

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.

Republican Retreads from Tampa

August 28, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. — On the first day of the Republican convention — marked by a delegate vote making former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the party’s official nominee for president — we’re already hearing a lot of exaggerated, misleading or downright false claims that we’ve heard before.
The theme of the day centered on repeated misrepresentations of a quote from President Obama. From the various speakers we also heard:

A misleading statistic about women’s job losses that has grown so stale it is now wholly false.

Spin Detectors: Help Us Monitor the Conventions

August 27, 2012

Political conventions are like shopping malls of political spin — one-stop bazaars brimming with suspect claims from politicians. And we want you to do a little window-shopping for us this year.
Spin Detectors is asking readers to help us monitor both political parties in Tampa and Charlotte.
Robert Farley, FactCheck.org’s deputy managing editor, is on the scene in Tampa. And Managing Editor Lori Robertson will be covering the Democratic convention in person in Charlotte. So, you don’t have to be there.

Winning? Super PAC Compares Republican to Charlie Sheen

August 27, 2012

In a new TV spot called “Tiger Blood,” a Democratic super PAC compares a Florida Republican Senate candidate to party boy actor Charlie Sheen. Winning? Not really.
The video ties together a shocking list of allegations against Connie Mack IV, and most are true. But when closely examined, there’s less here than meets the eye.

The ad says Republicans call Mack “the Charlie Sheen of Florida politics.” One Republican said that. And he was one of Mack’s primary opponents and later dropped out of the race.

Again with the Wheelchair

August 24, 2012

First the Republicans claimed President Obama’s health care law taxes “sick puppies,” and now Mitt Romney’s campaign claims the law taxes “wheelchairs.” Wrong again.
At issue is a new 2.3 percent excise tax on certain medical devices. The tax is set to kick in next year to help offset the cost of expansion of health coverage for the uninsured in the new health care law. According to the Romney ad, the law will mean “taxing wheelchairs and pacemakers.”

GOP Attack on Tim Kaine’s ‘Shortfall’ Falls Short

August 24, 2012

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”

Medicare’s ‘Piggy Bank’

August 24, 2012

Republicans claim the president’s $716 billion “cuts” to Medicare hurt the program’s finances. But the opposite is true. These cuts in the future growth of spending prolong the life of the Medicare trust fund, stretching the program’s finances out longer than they would last otherwise.
Mitt Romney has claimed that President Barack Obama has “robbed” Medicare. Rep. Paul Ryan, Romney’s running mate, said Obama “turned Medicare into a piggy bank to fund Obamacare,” promising to “stop the raid on Medicare.” And the Republican National Committee is promoting on its website a feature it calls “Obama’s Countdown to Medicare’s Bankruptcy,”