Parsing the political claims on wages is an exercise in fun with statistics. There are several different ways to measure what’s happened to workers’ paychecks, leading to disparate and conflicting claims, and confusing messages to voters.
In this video, we review some of claims made on June 27 during round two of the first Democratic debate.
The second of a two-part debate offered a new crop of spin.
Sen. Bernie Sanders says his Medicare for All plan “would provide comprehensive and cost-effective health care for everyone,” while the White House has said it would “mandate a decrease or elimination of choice and competition.” Let’s look at the details of this proposal.
A popular meme takes aim at prominent lawmakers by referencing the number of bills they’ve had passed. But it uses an erroneous number — and omits context.
Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said that all of the congressional Republican health care plans had “covered preexisting conditions,” adding that “the debate about preexisting conditions is over.” But the protections in the 2017 plans were not as comprehensive as those in the ACA.
Democratic lawmakers claim the president’s proposed 2020 budget would “ransack” or “slash” Medicare and Medicaid, likening it to an “assault on Medicare” and “the health care of seniors and families across America.” Experts agree the proposed cuts to Medicaid are significant, but many of the Medicare proposals echo those of Barack Obama and wouldn’t directly affect beneficiaries.
A viral hoax claims that Sen. Bernie Sanders was arrested in 1963 for “throwing eggs” at black civil rights protesters. He was arrested while protesting on behalf of civil rights.
In a televised town hall, newly announced presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders repeated several misleading claims that we have written about in the past.
Democrats have embraced a new talking point: “7 million Americans have become uninsured” under President Donald Trump. That’s backed up by a Gallup survey. So far, one other measure has picked up a statistical change in the uninsured rate, but others haven’t. We’ll go through the numbers.