Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Sununu’s Out-of-this-World Outsourcing Claim

Sununu’s Out-of-this-World Outsourcing Claim
July 17, 2012

John Sununu claimed President Obama “outsourced a major portion of the U.S. space program to the Russians.” But it was President Bush who set NASA on a path eight years ago to retire the Space Shuttle and rely on the Russians for space travel.
“[Bush] Administration policy is to retire the shuttle in 2010 and purchase crew transport from Russia,” as then-NASA Administrator Michael Griffin once explained.
To be sure, Obama ended the Space Shuttle program,

Romney’s Bain Years: New Evidence, Same Conclusion

Romney’s Bain Years: New Evidence, Same Conclusion
July 12, 2012

New reporting cites strong evidence that Mitt Romney wasn’t actively managing Bain Capital while he was running the Olympics, despite what the Obama campaign (and some news reports) would have voters believe.
Dan Primack, a senior editor at Fortune Magazine, reports on previously confidential “offering documents” that Bain circulated to potential investors in June 2000, September 2000 and again in January 2001. And he says that in each of those three documents Romney’s name is conspicuously absent from lists of senior investment managers at Bain.

Tax Facts: Lowest Rates in 30 Years

Tax Facts: Lowest Rates in 30 Years
July 11, 2012

Politicians talk about the burden of taxes incessantly. Now comes a rare chance to check the facts. And the fact is that federal tax rates had fallen to the lowest in 30 years when President Barack Obama took office — and fell again in his first year in office.
This news comes from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which just issued the latest update of its invaluable series on “Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes,”

Obama, Romney Surrogates Spin Jobs Data

Obama, Romney Surrogates Spin Jobs Data
July 10, 2012

A lackluster jobs report for June generated a flurry of false and misleading statements on the Sunday talk shows by surrogates for Obama and Romney:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, falsely claimed U.S. automakers “had a record June … 7,000 auto jobs created.” It’s true that 7,000 automotive jobs were created, but it’s not a record for June or any other month.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley challenged Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s statement that the U.S.

Twisting Romney’s Abortion Stance

Twisting Romney’s Abortion Stance
July 9, 2012

An Obama campaign ad twists Mitt Romney’s stance on abortion, claiming Romney “backed a law that outlaws all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.”
During a 2007 debate, Romney was asked if he would sign legislation to ban “all abortion” — assuming, hypothetically, that Roe v. Wade had been overturned. He said he’d be “delighted to sign it,” if there was a national consensus for it. But, he said, “that’s not where America is today.”

No End to ‘End Medicare’ Claim

No End to ‘End Medicare’ Claim
July 6, 2012

Democrats are still hammering an old, and since replaced, GOP proposal, claiming it  would “end Medicare,” and cost seniors $6,000 more a year for their health care. The newest Republican budget, proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, keeps traditional Medicare — unlike his plan from 2011 — and the increased cost claim is no longer applicable to it.
The latest string of “end Medicare” claims comes from the liberal Patriot Majority, a 501(c)(4), a nonprofit advocacy group,

FactCheck to Obama Camp: Your Complaint is All Wet

FactCheck to Obama Camp: Your Complaint is All Wet
July 2, 2012

The Obama campaign complains that we got a key fact wrong in our June 29 article, “Obama’s ‘Outsourcer’ Overreach.” We strongly disagree. We find the Obama campaign’s evidence to be weak or non-existent, and contrary to statements Romney has made on official disclosure forms under pain of federal prosecution.
The Obama complaint claims we erred in saying Mitt Romney gave up active management of Bain Capital in early 1999 to run the 2002 Winter Olympics,

PAC’s Email Spreads Energy Conspiracy Theory

PAC’s Email Spreads Energy Conspiracy Theory
June 27, 2012

In a fundraising email, a conservative PAC claims President Barack Obama is raising natural gas prices to pay for failed green energy companies. But the letter offers only false claims and twisted facts to support this conspiracy theory.

The email says Solar Trust of America, a now-bankrupt company, received “the second largest loan ever handed out by the Department of Energy.” STA never took a government-backed dime. The firm was conditionally approved for the financing, but ultimately turned it down.

Rick Perry’s Whopper on Job Losses

Rick Perry’s Whopper on Job Losses
June 26, 2012

Texas Gov. Rick Perry falsely states that President Barack Obama “has overseen the loss of 1.4 million jobs.” Perry is referring to job statistics in 34 states that have lost jobs since Obama took office, ignoring the 16 states that have gained jobs. The total job loss in all 50 states under Obama is about 552,000 through May 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Perry also exaggerates when he blames the nation’s high deficit solely on “uncontrolled spending that has gone on with the stimulus program.”

Stretching on Romney’s Fees

Stretching on Romney’s Fees
June 22, 2012

An ad from the Obama campaign exaggerates the truth about fees and tax hikes imposed by Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts.
It lists numerous fees hiked by Romney, but we found that a number of them are misleading — seeming to be more far-reaching and broad than they really are.
The ad also repeats a misleading claim about Romney cutting taxes “on millionaires like himself,” and botches the figure for the revenue gained by Romney imposing higher fees and closing corporate tax loopholes.