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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Ryan’s Budget Spin

Rep. Paul Ryan spreads some false and misleading information in a series of “Setting The Record Straight” web posts, in which he criticizes the president’s proposed budget and promotes …

Trump 100 Percent Wrong on Egyptian ‘Vote’

Donald Trump falsely claimed that 99 percent of Egyptians voted to end the peace treaty with Israel. There was no such vote, although a recent poll found that 54 percent do support ending the treaty.

Obama and the ‘Pigford’ Cases

Q: Did then-Sen. Barack Obama get a law "passed in dead silence" that allowed black farmers to file "unlawful" discrimination claims against the USDA totaling $1.25 billion?
A: No. Obama supported the 2008 bill, but did not sponsor it or vote on it. It was not "passed in dead silence"; there were six floor votes. All claims are pending judicial review and approval.

Indeed, Born in the U.S.A.

President Barack Obama released the long-form version of his birth certificate today, yet another piece of concrete evidence that shows he was born in the United States. The White House said he received a special exemption from the Hawaii Department of Health, which keeps the long-form documents confidential.

The pdf version of the document can be seen here.
In remarks to the press today, Obama said that his campaign had already released his birth certificate in 2008.

Obama Misrepresents Ryan Plan

President Barack Obama has been hammering away at Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare proposal, misrepresenting what it would mean for seniors.
Since his deficit speech April 13, Obama has continued to claim that the Republican plan would throw Medicare beneficiaries to the open insurance market. But, as we said last week, the plan would create a new Medicare exchange, with rules for participating insurance companies.
Obama, April 20, Facebook town hall: And if the health insurance companies don’t sell [retirees] a policy that covers your illnesses,

FactChecking Obama’s Budget Speech

President Barack Obama misrepresented the House Republicans’ budget plan at times and exaggerated its impact on U.S. residents during an April 13 speech on deficit reduction. Obama claimed …

Biggest Budget Cut in U.S. History?

Democrats and Republicans alike are making grandiose — and unsupportable — claims that the budget deal contains the biggest spending cut in U.S. history.
Under the bipartisan agreement, the proposed budget for this fiscal year would be $38.5 billion less than last year’s budget. The federal government spent nearly $3.5 trillion in 2010, so the cut is a little more than 1 percent of total spending.

President Barack Obama called it "the biggest annual spending cut in history."

Donald, You’re Fired!

If Donald Trump worked for us, we’d have to say: “Donald, you’re fired — for incompetence.” The successful developer and TV celebrity says he’d make a good president, and maybe he would — we take no stand either way about that. But when it comes to getting facts straight …

Premium Nonsense On Medicare

Q: Will the new health care law raise Medicare’s basic monthly premium to $247 in 2014, as a viral message claims?
A: No, Medicare officials project the basic premium will be less than half that. But the law will eventually cause 14 percent of seniors with incomes over $85,000 a year ($170,000 for couples) to pay higher “income-related” premiums, up from 5 percent currently.

GOP Exaggerations in Iowa

Several Republicans testing the presidential waters in Iowa made more than a few statements that we found all wet. Among the dubious claims …