Q: Is President Obama’s trip to India going to cost $200 million per day?
A: This highly doubtful claim originated with one Indian news agency quoting an anonymous source in Mumbai. The White House says it is "wildly exaggerated," and there’s no evidence to support such a huge figure.
Person: Barack Obama
Stimulus Jobs in China?
In a bit of political payback, several Republicans are running false or misleading TV ads accusing their opponents of shipping jobs to China — a charge that Democrats have frequently and often incorrectly leveled against Republicans. …
Tortured ‘Terror Ties’ in West Virginia
In a TV ad based on innuendos and half-truths, a GOP challenger accuses his Lebanese American opponent, Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall, of taking campaign cash from “a convicted terrorist” and “a group with terror ties.”
Rahall is a Presbyterian whose grandparents immigrated from Lebanon. The ad by his Republican opponent, Spike Maynard, first aired Oct. 20 in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District. It also claims Rahall is "bad for America," attempting to tie Rahall to terrorism using the classic guilt-by-association fallacy.
Foreign Money? Really?
Democrats, from President Barack Obama on down, are trying to turn an evidence-free allegation into a major campaign theme, claiming that foreign corporations are “stealing our democracy” with secret, illegal contributions funneled …
FactChecking ‘The Pledge’
The Republican “Pledge to America,” released Sept. 23, contains some dubious factual claims. It declares that “the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.” Not true. . . .
Obama, Ohio Jobs and Bailout Bonuses
In episode 29 of our podcast, we debunk a claim made by President Obama about Afghanistan, dueling ads about jobs in the Ohio Senate race, and an Arizona ad that makes an overblown assertion about executive bonuses and the stimulus.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
'Second Poorest' Nation? Sept. 13
Bush Years Revisited in Ohio Senate Race Sept. 10
A Record Jobs Loss? Sept. 16
Bailout Bonuses Are Back Sept. 16
Fish Stories
Even when a fisherman catches a big one, the fish tends to grow each time the story is told. Politicians are like that, too, especially when Election Day approaches. President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave us recent examples of that kind of hyperbole. Pelosi improved on reality, when she claimed Bush created fewer jobs in eight years than Democrats have done in eight months. And Obama exaggerated the GOP’s stalling tactics,
‘Second Poorest’ Nation?
In a September 10 press conference, President Barack Obama characterized Afghanistan as "the second poorest country in the world." It’s an impoverished country indeed, but second poorest? The CIA World Factbook doesn’t think so.
It lists Afghanistan as number 210 of 227, with a per capita gross domestic product of $1,000 in 2009. That’s orders of magnitude lower than the richest country, Liechtenstein, with a GDP of $122,100 per person — but it’s much higher than the per capita GDP of the actual second poorest country,
What’s a ‘Small Business’?
Politicians often talk about "small businesses." But how small is a small business? Fifty employees? One hundred? Two hundred?
Actually, it’s often much more than that. The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy defines a small business as one with fewer than 500 employees. And that’s the standard politicians often use.
For example, President Barack Obama repeated a familiar claim on Aug. 19: that "small businesses … create two out of every three new jobs in this country."
‘Privatizing’ Social Security?
In episode 25, we debunk President Obama’s claim that leading Republicans in Congress want to privatize Social Security. Plus, we look at dueling ads from the Pennsylvania Senate race, and we tackle claims related to the controversy over the Islamic center and mosque in New York.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Obama’s (Latest) Social Security Whopper Aug. 16
Toomey’s Stimulus Charge Doesn’t Add Up Aug. 13
DSCC Wrong on Toomey’s Wall St.