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Executive Payola

December 17, 2009

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has unleashed a radio ad campaign targeting five Republican members of Congress. The ads claim that the Republicans "voted to allow the big banks to pay high-rolling executives unchecked compensation and bonuses." But that’s not quite right.

The ads are not based on any explicit vote for "unchecked compensation and bonuses." Rather, the Democrats are referring to Republican votes against H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,

Extras: iPhone Death Panels, Newton, UFOs

December 14, 2009

This week’s political tidbits range from a new iPhone app to 17th century scientists’ correspondence.
There’s an App for That
OMG! We thought we’d seen it all. But an iPhone app designed to test your knowledge about the overhaul of the health care system? Seriously?
To play "Death Panel," the new game from People Operating Technology, players assume the role of a local official who must answer questions about health care. According to the creators,

A Short Piece on Obama’s Peace Speech

December 11, 2009

Yesterday President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, and made some remarks that could use a bit of context and explanation.
Obama said that "billions have been lifted from poverty." Though he didn’t provide a time frame, he was discussing the effects of the United Nations and the Marshall Plan, both of which began in the late 1940s. We haven’t been able to find any reliable statistics that go back that far,

We’re in the Record

December 7, 2009

Saturday’s Senate debate on the health care bill included a few mentions of yours truly, FactCheck.org.
Our work was cited on Dec. 2 by Sen. John McCain, who quoted from our Oct. 20, 2008, article. Three days later our article made the Congressional Record yet again. This time, it was prompted by Sen. John Kerry who said this on the Senate floor, quoting from a Wall Street Journal news story from last year:

Kerry,

Robocall Rumble

December 5, 2009

It’s the battle of the voice mail messages.
First, Sen. John McCain launched a robocall this week, claiming that spending cuts to Medicare in the Senate health care bill would eliminate “vital Medicare coverage for our seniors” and promoting his amendment to strip the bill of all those Medicare cuts. He recorded a similar call for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Thursday night, the liberal group Americans United for Change launched a counter-call, which tells recipients: "You may have received a political call that tries to frighten seniors —

McCain Robocall Sounds Familiar

December 2, 2009

Last year, Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign proposed cuts to Medicare spending to finance his health care overhaul proposal. This year, Senate Democrats have proposed cuts to Medicare spending to finance their health care overhaul proposal.
Last year, the Obama camp promptly attacked McCain, falsely claiming, as we pointed out, that the Republican was going to reduce benefits and that seniors would "receive fewer services, and get lower quality care." This year (this week, in fact),

Public Financing Comes to Wisconsin Supreme Court

December 2, 2009

Prompted by escalating campaign spending and the increasing use of attack ads, Wisconsin state legislators and Gov. Jim Doyle have enacted a bill to provide public financing for the Supreme Court’s candidates.
Would-be justices would qualify for the funds by agreeing to limit spending and by raising small sums totaling between $5,000 and $15,000 from 1,000 different contributors. They could then receive up to $100,000 for a primary race and up to $300,000 for a general election – which,

Stimulus Jobs, Re-revisited

December 1, 2009

Reports from journalists and the Government Accountability Office last month about problems with the data on Recovery.gov cast doubt on the site’s claim that more than 640,000 jobs had been created or saved by the Obama administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Meanwhile Obama upped the ante, putting the figure at more than 1 million. On Nov. 12, for example, in announcing this month’s jobs summit, he said that the stimulus had “created and saved more than a million jobs.”

New Ad, Old Claims

December 1, 2009

Conservatives for Patients’ Rights is out with a new ad, airing on CNN and Fox News, that repeats a few of the group’s claims about a federal health insurance plan: that it could prevent people from keeping their doctor or their health insurance.

The narrator of the ad says that 14 senators’ votes "on the government-run public option plan could decide" whether you keep your doctor or your insurance plan. The "could" makes the claim squishy, but the implication is that the inclusion of a so-called public option in the health care bill will put the public’s ability to keep their current doctors in jeopardy.