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Raphael Warnock and Catherine Cortez Masto "voted to allow hundreds of millions of dollars of COVID relief funds to be squandered" on leisure projects.

July 16, 2022

nevada;federal budget;ad watch;coronavirus

one nation

One Nation is a nonprofit that shares resources with the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

georgia

ads

One Nation PAC claimed that Warnock and Cortez Masto "voted to allow hundreds of millions of dollars of COVID relief funds to be squandered" on leisure projects.  Both senators voted for the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that gave $350 billion to state and local governments, but did not earmark the $350 billion for particular projects. One state and two counties approved spending the funds for hotel, soccer and ski projects as part of efforts to revive tourism. We rate the . RELATED: Fact-checking ads in the 2022 campaigns RELATED: Georgia fact-checks RELATED: Nevada fact-checks

COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.

July 11, 2023

race and ethnicity;public health;coronavirus

robert f. kennedy, jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024. Kennedy has worked as an environmental lawyer, author and anti-vaccine activist. 

national

a video

Kennedy claimed that COVID-19 "is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people," while sparing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. There is no that the virus attacks Caucasian or Black people while sparing Jewish and Chinese people because of their genetics, public health experts said.  They added that most disparities in COVID-19 infection and mortality, as well as for other health problems, result from severe social, economic and health inequities. Scientists and U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly rejected the that COVID-19 was created as a bioweapon.  Kennedy’s is !

One industry in America has increased its employment base in the last four years by 176,000 people: the United States government.

October 12, 2012

johnny isakson

Johnny Isakson, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Georgia

georgia

an article

The increase was 178,857, which is slightly more than what Isakson cited in his speech in Cobb County. The biggest increases during this time period were in the Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security departments. To sum up, Isakson said the federal workforce has increased by about 176,000 between September 2008 and June 2012. His is accurate if you examine full-time workers and include those working for Uncle Sam on a part-time or seasonal basis. Our rating: .

The National Institutes of Health "states that regular marijuana use can reduce IQ by 8 points.

December 3, 2020

drugs;marijuana

david rouzer

David Rouzer represents North Carolina's 7th Congressional district.

north carolina

a tweet

Rouzer said the "NIH states that regular marijuana use can reduce IQ by 8 points." The NIH itself has not actually established a link between marijuana use and loss of IQ points — and it says so explicitly in the report Rouzer cited.  Rouzer cherry-picked a stat in a study from another country. He then mischaracterized it as the NIH’s findings and tweeted it without proper context, failing to note that it applied only to people who started marijuana use in their adolescence. His tweet contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it .

Maricopa County intentionally reduced the polling places.

November 8, 2022

corrections and updates;elections;arizona

charlie kirk

Charlie Kirk is the founder and president of Turning Point USA, a conservative group that advocates for limited government and free markets.

national

a tweet

Maricopa County’s 2022 elections plan called for up to 225 voting centers by Election Day.   RELATED: No, Maricopa vote tabulators didn’t lead to ballots with ‘no chain of custody’ RELATED: Tucker Carlson about people not being able to vote in Arizona's Maricopa County RELATED: All of our fact-checks about Arizona

The student debt that is out there, almost 60% of it is graduate school debt.

April 29, 2022

debt;education;florida

ron desantis

Ron DeSantis announced on May 24, 2023 that he is running for president in the Republican primary. DeSantis won the race for Florida governor in 2018 and 2022. DeSantis was first elected to Congress in 2012 and resigned in September 2018 to focus on his campaign. He represented Florida's 6th Congressional District which is south of St. Augustine and north of Orlando and includes Daytona Beach. DeSantis initially ran for U.S. Senate in 2016 but dropped out after Marco Rubio decided to seek re-election.

national

a press conference

He’s got it backward. About 60% of the outstanding student loan debt came from undergraduate school, according to a 2017 analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. On average, graduate students borrow more money than their undergraduate counterparts, but more people pursue undergraduate degrees. DeSantis’ statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it .

A measure to repeal the state's prevailing wage law would "make it easier for state contractors to hire illegal workers for Wisconsin construction jobs" through an "illegal worker loophole in the state budget.

May 5, 2015

labor

protect american jobs

Protect American Jobs is a 501(c)4 group that has aired television ads opposing a repeal of Wisconsin's prevailing wage law.

wisconsin

a television ad

Our rating A television ad from a group against repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law says such a measure would "make it easier for state contractors to hire illegal workers for Wisconsin construction jobs." This "illegal worker loophole," it says, is in the state budget. But the bill doesn’t have any direct impact on immigration laws and the group’s own references to potential problems -- down the road -- describe workers who would be here legally, not illegally. It also fails on the basic of the stand-alone measure being in the state budget. We rate the .

I led the fight to require the Coast Guard to buy their engines from us, not foreign companies.

July 30, 2012

federal budget;jobs;message machine 2012;military

tammy baldwin

Tammy Baldwin was elected to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 6, 2012. She represented Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District from January 1999 to January 2013. She served as a member of the Wisconsin Assembly from January 1993 to January 1999. She was a Dane County supervisor from 1986 to 1994 and briefly served on the Madison Common Council, filling a vacancy, in 1986.

wisconsin

a TV ad

Our rating Baldwin said: "I led the fight to require the Coast Guard to buy their engines from us, not foreign companies." Although there isn’t of much of a fight, her statement contains an element of in that she introduced three amendments aimed at benefiting a Wisconsin manufacturer. But the ad is in suggesting that her fight was successful, when none of the measures she introduced became law. What’s more, it suggests it was part of a broader "Buy American" push, not measures aimed at helping a company in her district. We rate Baldwin’s statement .

Says President Joe Biden promoted "mandatory vaccines for everybody" in his March 11 address.

March 11, 2021

public health;pundits;facebook fact-checks;punditfact;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook video

A Facebook post said Biden promoted "mandatory vaccines for everybody" in his March 11 address. That’s . In his address, Biden said the White House would direct state, local and tribal governments to make all American adults eligible to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1. He urged Americans to get the vaccines, but he did not make them mandatory. Biden previously said he would not institute a federal vaccine requirement. In any case, the federal government’s authority to do so is limited. We rate this Facebook post .

Obama, Biden and their liberal allies oppose clean coal.

October 1, 2008

energy

john mccain

John McCain was a U.S. senator from Arizona, a post he held from 1987 to his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the U.S. House. He was the Republican nominee for president in 2008. McCain was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and spent his career in the military, as his father did. He was a combat pilot in Vietnam who was shot down and spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He was born in 1936 in Panama. 

national

a radio ad

Carbon capture and storage technologies hold enormous potential to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions as we power our economy with domestically produced and secure energy... Barack Obama and Joe Biden will instruct DOE (the Department of Energy) to enter into public private partnerships to develop “first-of-a-kind” commercial scale coal-fired plants with carbon capture and sequestration." So no, Obama and his "liberal allies" do not oppose clean coal. Nor does Biden, unless you interpret comments he made off the cuff on a rope line overly broadly, and give them more credence than the energy plan he developed during his presidential campaign. We find McCain's to be .

Says six eradicated diseases such as whooping cough and the bubonic plague are making a comeback "thanks to refugees and illegal immigrants.

May 5, 2019

immigration;public health;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A viral social media post claims that six eradicated diseases are making a comeback due to "refugees and illegal immigrants." First, global health leaders have only ever declared one human disease has been declared eradicated, not six. And there is no to back up the suggestion that refugees and undocumented immigrants are to blame for any disease making a comeback. We rate this infectious post .

Video shows Hillary Clinton being arrested.

November 9, 2021

facebook fact-checks

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

She was flanked by several Secret Service agents "who are regulars on her detail," the Post said. A campaign spokesperson told the newspaper that Clinton got overheated.  We rate claims that this video shows her getting arrested ! RELATED: Another Clinton body count hoax — this one starring JFK Jr. — is

Says Texas GOP platform calls for end to teaching "critical thinking" in public schools.

August 1, 2012

education

gail collins

Gail Collins is a columnist with the New York Times. She previously served on the New York Times editorial board and as a columnist for the New York Daily News and Newsday.

texas

her New York Times column

As Collins says, the Texas GOP platform does state that the party opposes "critical thinking." But Collins leaves out some important context. The platform makes it clear that its opposition is centered on one type of education model: outcome-based education. That’s just the kind of situation addressed in PolitiFact’s definition of : "The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context." By those lights, Collins’ statement is .

Says replacing NC Supreme Court Chief Justice with most experienced justice is a "longstanding, nonpartisan tradition.

February 12, 2019

supreme court

north carolina republican party

The N.C. GOP is a political party in North Carolina

north carolina

a press release

The NC GOP has a kernel of , but distorts the partisan nature of chief justice appointments over the last 50 years. We rate this . This story was produced by the North Carolina Fact-Checking Project, a partnership of McClatchy Carolinas, the Duke University Reporters’ Lab and PolitiFact. The NC Local News Lab Fund and the International Center for Journalists provide support for the project, which shares fact-checks with newsrooms statewide. To offer ideas for fact checks, email  [email protected] .

Says Joe Biden "has issued more executive fiats than anyone in such a short period of time, ever, more than Obama, more than Trump, more than anyone.

January 22, 2021

history;coronavirus

marco rubio

Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016 and then dropped out and won re-election to the Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and took office Jan. 5, 2011. Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008 and is a former Speaker of the Florida House. He served on the West Miami City Commission from 1998 to 2000. He is from Miami and holds a law degree from the University of Miami.

a tweet

Still, the available on the number of directives issued supports Rubio’s . We rate it . RELATED : Which campaign promises did Joe Biden tackle first? RELATED : Here's what Donald Trump did his first week as president of the United States

Says he has nearly 200 delegates bound to support his candidacy at the Republican National Convention.

June 6, 2012

candidate biography

ron paul

Ron Paul, a Texas physician, served two stints in the U.S. House. He also was the Libertarian Party nominee for president in 1988 before later seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2012. He didn't seek re-election to the House in 2012.

texas

an online message to supporters

If enough yet-to-be-chosen or yet-to-declare delegates go Paul’s way, he could land nearly 200 delegates. However, we rate claims based on what’s known when the claims are made. Paul had 137 delegates when he wrote supporters about shattering predictions. We rate his statement .

DISGRUNTLED EX-EMPLOYEE? Twitter CEO Elon Musk's account is presently suspended.

November 4, 2022

facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

Instagram post

Other independent fact-checking organizations, including The Associated Press and Lead Stories , have also debunked the . The erroneous Nov. 4 post is just the latest iteration of an old . Similar Musk’s-account-is-suspended claims surfaced in July when he tried to back out of the deal to acquire Twitter; PolitiFact determined those claims were bogus, too.  There is no merit to the that a "disgruntled ex-employee" suspended Musk’s Twitter account. We rate this !

Says Donald Trump campaigned on not cutting Medicare and Social Security, but his nominee for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, "made his career on cutting Medicare and Medicaid.

January 3, 2017

candidate biography;medicaid;medicare;social security

charles schumer

Charles Schumer is a Democratic senator from New York and the Senate majority leader.

national

an interview on MSNBC

Schumer said, "Donald Trump said when he campaigned he wouldn't cut Medicare and Social Security" but his nominee for the Secretary of Health and Human Services "made his career on cutting Medicare and Medicaid." Price, Trump’s HHS pick, has supported reducing the government’s role in Medicare and block granting Medicaid, which would amount to spending reductions to both programs. While it’s clear these proposals would reduce federal spending on the health safety nets, experts say it’s not the same thing as gutting the programs entirely. Trump did pledge to leave Medicare and Social Security alone, and Price’s positions seem at odds with that. (It’s worth noting that Social Security isn’t administered by HHS). We rate Schumer’s .

Says more Austinites voted in the city's 1973 election featuring a mayor's race than in the city's most recent mayoral election.

April 23, 2013

elections;history

bee moorhead

Bee Moorhead, executive director of a nonpartisan statewide group, Texas Impact, was fact-checked in April 2013 after she made a comment as a private citizen about voting patterns in Austin.

texas

a civic summit

Moorhead tweeted that more Austinites voted in the city’s 1973 election featuring a mayor’s race than in the city’s most recent mayoral election. Nearly 63,500 voters cast ballots in April 1973. Less than 49,400 participated in May 2012. We rate this as .

It is shocking to me that Police Commissioner Richard Ross and Mayor Jim Kenney allowed this illegal occupation to go on for hours without taking any action to enforce the law…

August 31, 2017

crime

martina white

PA State Rep.

pennsylvania

In a statement to the Northeast Times

White said protesters rallying outside the home of Pownall, who shot and killed Jones, were engaged in an "illegal occupation." The protesters, which numbered no more than 10, had not applied for a permit. But Philadelphia doesn’t require demonstrations featuring less than 75 people to apply for permits. The protesters were also not blocking the streets or the sidewalks of the neighborhood, actions that would also call for a permit.    We rule the .

Says Rep. Matt Gaetz and Sen. Ted Cruz took two weeks paid sick leave to self-quarantine. Gaetz "voted in 2013 to make it illegal for any city in Florida to enact paid sick leave," and Cruz "voted in 2015 in the U.S. Senate against paid sick leave.

March 12, 2020

congress;public health;facebook fact-checks;texas

occupy democrats

Occupy Democrats, founded in 2012, is an advocacy group created to counterbalance the Republican tea party, and to "give President Obama and other progressive Democrats a Congress that will work with them to grow the economy, create jobs, promote fairness and fight inequality, and get money out of politics!"

florida

a Facebook post

A Facebook post by Occupy Democrats said Gaetz and Cruz took two weeks paid sick leave to self-quarantine. Gaetz "voted in 2013 to make it illegal for any city in Florida to enact paid sick leave" and Cruz "voted in 2015 in the U.S. Senate against paid sick leave." The post correctly notes that Gaetz and Cruz have voted against paid sick leave. But it goes in saying that the two men are on paid sick leave now. They’re actually working from home, and their positions give them that discretion. However, it’s important to note that they can’t vote remotely on matters before Congress.  The is partially accurate but leaves out important context. We rate it . 

An April 7, 2015 referendum would take "the choice of chief justice" of the Wisconsin Supreme Court "away from the people.

March 30, 2015

elections;legal issues;states;supreme court

greater wisconsin committee

The Greater Wisconsin Committee is a liberal group active in Wisconsin state politics, from legislative races to statewide offices. It receives money from a variety of sources, including labor unions. Its campaign ads are typically done through the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund.

wisconsin

a radio ad

Currently, the justice who has served longest is automatically made chief justice. If the chief comes up for re-election for a seat on the court, voters can, in effect, make that person the chief for 10 more years by re-electing him or her to a new 10-year term. However, often voters never get such an opportunity. A justice becomes chief by virtue of seniority, but may then leave the court altogether before facing re-election, as has occurred several times in recent history prior to Abrahamson. For a statement that contains some element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, our rating is .

CDC "will revoke the emergency use authorization" of the PCR COVID tests because those tests don't differentiate between COVID and flu viruses. "Translation: They've been adding flu cases to Covid cases when using that test.

July 25, 2021

public health;health check;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

social media

Social media posts claimed the CDC was revoking its emergency use authorization request for its COVID test because it couldn’t differentiate between the COVID virus and flu viruses. While the CDC is withdrawing its EUA request for the 2019-nCoV RT-PCR test, it is not because the test is faulty. Rather, it’s because the agency is concerned that, with flu season approaching, patients with respiratory illness symptoms should be screened for both the flu and COVID. The patients shouldn’t be tested for COVID alone, because flu cases might be missed. The statements made in these Facebook posts are not accurate. We rate this .

A CDC study found that "mask mandates made no statistical difference" on coronavirus case rates.

March 13, 2021

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

an article

Texas Scorecard wrote that a CDC study found that "Mask Mandates Made No Statistical Difference" on coronavirus case rates.  That’s and amounts to a reading of a study that actually found the opposite: Mask mandates were associated with statistically significant decreases in county-level daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates. ! ​

Says Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, after police shooting of Jacob Blake, "did not call for peace. They did not encourage calm.

August 25, 2020

legal issues;guns;wisconsin

howard marklein

Howard Marklein of Spring Green represents the 17 district in the Wisconsin State Senate.

national

News release

Marklein claimed that Evers and Barnes,  after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, "did not call for peace. They did not encourage calm." The governor did not call for peace and calm in his statement hours after the incident. But in a video statement posted the next day, Evers urged people planning to protest to "do so peacefully." That said, his most direct comments -- saying the Kenosha protests went too far -- didn’t come until after Marklein’s statement.  We rate Marklein’s .

In the last decade, 73% of new jobs (in Wisconsin) have come from Madison.

December 8, 2016

jobs

mark pocan

Mark Pocan was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2nd Congressional District on Nov. 6, 2012. He is from Madison and previously served as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin state Assembly. 

wisconsin

an appearance on Fox News

But the symposium occurred with three months left in 2014. Full-year data for 2004-14 shows Dane County accounted for 55 percent of the job growth statewide in that span. Our rating In his defense of Madison, Pocan highlighted the area’s job creation by saying the city is responsible for 73 percent of new jobs in the state over the last decade. But his attributed Dane County data to Madison, referred to "new jobs" when he meant job growth and was built on two-year-old data that is itself. We rate his .

In 2010 alone, 1,270 infants were reported to have died following attempted abortions and notably that is only one year.

April 9, 2013

abortion

americans united for life

Americans United for Life is an anti-abortion law firm and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

florida

a committee hearing on SB 1636

Yoest said 1,270 infants in 2010 "were reported to have died following attempted abortions." The figure is based on an "other" category of perinatal deaths, but it does not mean what she says it means. Included in this category are babies who die of various other issues, mainly heart problems. We rate her statement .

America is No. 1 in wind power.

January 20, 2015

energy

barack obama

Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

national

the State of the Union address

Obama said "America is No. 1 in wind power." China is actually the leader in the overall capacity for generating wind power. But the United States has overtaken China in terms of the actual amount of electricity wind power it generates.  Both countries plan to continue to expand wind capacity -- China more than the United States --  but they also both face challenges to expanding capacity and generation. We rate the .

Quotes Ronald Reagan as saying, "Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempts to disarm the people must be stopped, by force if necessary.

August 17, 2019

history;facebook fact-checks;guns

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

Melissa Giller, the organization’s chief marketing officer, told us that they searched all of their archival records and couldn’t find a reference to the quote.  Searching online we also couldn’t find a credible source attributing it to Reagan, though in 1983 he told the NRA he would "never disarm any American who seeks to protect his or her family from fear and harm," according to Newsweek.  But several sources, like The Collegian , Walla Walla University’s student newspaper in Washington state, cited German philosopher Karl Marx as the author of the Facebook post quote.   According to the Collected Works of Karl Marx , he said it during an 1850 address to the Communist League in London.  The Facebook post is , so we rate its .

Says state Senate candidate Aaron Bean voted to give health care subsidies to illegal immigrants.

August 13, 2012

immigration;health care

floridians for ethics and truth in politics

Floridians for Ethics and Truth in Politics is a group that supports Sen. Mike Weinstein.

florida

an attack ad

Floridians for Ethics and in Politics says Bean voted to give health care subsidies to illegal immigrants. The group, however, misrepresents the bill’s intent by saying "not qualified legal aliens" is the same as "illegal immigrants." That’s not . The bottom line is HB 7189 -- which never passed -- would have applied to children legally allowed to be in the United States. We rate the .

Under Tom Barrett's leadership, violent crime in Milwaukee has decreased by over 20% -- to its lowest levels in more than 20 years.

September 21, 2010

crime

tom barrett

Tom Barrett served as the 44th mayor of Milwaukee from 2004 until 2021. The mayoral position is non-partisan. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly (1984–1989), Wisconsin Senate (1989–1993) and U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2003). Barrett lost bids for governor in 2002, 2010 and in the 2012 recall race against Gov. Scott Walker. He was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg on Dec. 23, 2021.

wisconsin

a statement on campaign web site

In , the 20-year high point for violent crime was in 2006, two years into Barrett’s term. All that cherry-picking leaves voters with a impression -- and leaves us with a sour taste. We rate the statement . Note (Sept. 23, 2010) : In response to this item, the Barrett campaign changed the statement in question to make it accurate.

Says Democratic candidate for state school superintendent Alisha Thomas Morgan voted to slash funding for the preschool programs for disabled and special needs students.

May 14, 2014

education

valarie wilson

Valarie Wilson, a Democrat, is a candidate for Georgia school superintendent. Wilson is a former chairwoman of the Decatur school board, former president of Georgia School Boards Association, served on Governor Nathan Deal’s Education Advisory Board and was a member of the Decatur Education Foundation. 

georgia

a pamphlet

These programs represent a small fraction of the state’s multibillion-dollar annual budget. PolitiFact has encountered many cases where candidates accuse elected officials of supporting cuts without noting that these votes were parts of larger budget decisions. Wilson’s attack against Morgan omits key context. It is accurate but .   We rate the statement as .

The economy began its nose dive when Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007.

March 9, 2010

economy

virginia foxx

Virginia Foxx is a Republican member of the House of Representatives from North Carolina.

national

a speech on the House floor

We agree. The shows that the economy did not "nose dive" for at least a year after the Democrats took control of Congress, and experts of various ideological backgrounds agree that long-term trends in the housing and energy markets played a bigger role in directly causing the recession. While what happens in Washington can certainly influence the economy, it is only one of many factors. We believe it is the height of partisan wishful thinking to imply that one party's accession to power in Congress is to blame for a major recession. !

Mehmet Oz "was a spokesman for a group who wanted to defund the police.

April 21, 2022

candidate biography;criminal justice;ad watch

pennsylvania conservative fund

Pennsylvania Conservative Fund is a super PAC that was formed to oppose Dr. Mehmet Oz’s 2022 run for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

pennsylvania

an ad

Pennsylvania Conservative Fund claimed that Oz "was a spokesman for a group who wanted to defund the police." This is not accurate. The is tied to a group called California Endowment. Oz did one ad sponsored by the group, but it was to promote the Affordable Care Act in 2010, not in favor of defunding the police. Oz’s involvement was limited to that one ad; he did not work directly for the California Endowment. California Endowment has not endorsed defunding the police, but its president has advocated for transferring resources from police to other services. Regardless of the organization’s stance on police funding, the ad in which Oz appeared was unrelated to this issue. We rate the . RELATED: Fact-checking a super PAC attack on Dr. Oz over defunding police, Obamacare, COVID-19, immigration RELATED: The race for the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat: A guide RELATED: Fact-checks in the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race

We get 30 percent of our oil from the Gulf (of Mexico).

June 16, 2010

energy;oil spill

orrin hatch

Orrin Hatch is a Republican senator from Utah.

national

an interview on the Fox Business network

If that spigot were shut off entirely, the economy would surely suffer. But the current moratorium does not involve shutting off the spigot entirely, only delaying new drilling projects for six months to grapple with the consequences of a disaster of historic proportions. More directly relevant for judging Hatch's statement, we think a reasonable person would conclude that the senator was saying that 30 percent of the oil used in the United States comes from the Gulf -- a comment that overstates the actual share by nearly a factor of four. That's not a trivial difference when Hatch is using the statistic to back up his contention that Gulf oil is simply too vital to the economy to overregulate. So we rate Hatch's comment .

Says Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele "eliminated" sheriff's office funding for providing security for presidential and presidential campaign visits.

February 19, 2012

county budget;county government;elections;crime

david a. clarke jr.

David A. Clarke Jr. served as Milwaukee County sheriff from 2002 to 2017.

wisconsin

a television interview

Moreover, Clarke’s total budget was trimmed, limiting his overall ability to provide various services. But despite the line-item cut, Clarke did provide some security services for Obama’s visit. And he has the authority, as an independently elected official, to reallocate funds allocated to him by Abele and the County Board. Clarke’s is partially accurate but leaves out important details. We rate it .

A study from the CDC and the WHO "proves face masks do not prevent the spread of a virus.

July 23, 2020

fake news;public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

"The kicker is," he added, "just weeks later, a group with the same senior author, plus some coronavirus specialists, produced a paper demonstrating that masks are indeed highly effective in stopping infected people from releasing airborne viruses." The post claims a CDC study proved that masks do not prevent COVID-19. But it wasn’t a CDC study, and it didn’t "prove" that masks were ineffective. Scientists are still studying masks and the prevention of COVID-19. We rate the statement .

Says of the GOP health care proposal, "pre-existing conditions are in the bill.

April 30, 2017

health care;government regulation;medicaid;medicare

donald trump

Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016.  He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024.

florida

an interview

Trump said of the GOP health care amendment, "Pre-existing conditions are in the bill." The amendment says that health insurers can’t limit access to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, but that insurers can charge people more if states agree. In some states, health insurers would be able to charge sicker people more. And experts warn that high-risk pools -- the mechanisms meant to keep premiums lower for sick people -- might not be effective. Overall, the latest proposal seems to weaken existing protections for people with pre-existing conditions, not strengthen them. We rate the statement .

The truth of the matter is that during my administration, the FBI's crime statistics show that violent crime was reduced in Massachusetts by 7 percent.

November 25, 2007

crime

mitt romney

Mitt Romney is a U.S. senator from Utah. He ran for president in 2012 as the Republican nominee, losing to incumbent President Barack Obama. Prior to that, Romney served one term as governor of Massachusetts, elected to the post in 2002. He was born in 1947 in Michigan, where his father was governor from 1963 to 1969. Romney graduated from Brigham Young University and received both a law degree and an MBA from Harvard University. Romney helped found the investment firm Bain Capital in 1984, which launched or rebuilt such companies as Staples and Dominos Pizza. Romney managed the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from 1999-2002. He ran for president in 2008 but lost the Republican nomination. He and his wife, Ann, have five sons, Tagg, Craig, Matt, Ben and Josh.

national

an interview

The robbery rate increased from 111.5 to 125. So what made the violent crime rate go down if murders and robberies went up? The biggest category decline under Romney was aggravated assault, which declined from 22,018 to 18,800, a drop of 14.6 percent. Given these numbers, Giuliani is right when he says murders and robberies went up, but when he says violent crime went up. Romney is correct when he says violent crime in Massachusetts declined, so we rate his .

The cap-and-trade bill will mean "2 million jobs lost.

October 4, 2009

environment;cap and trade;climate change;energy

energycitizens.org

EnergyCitizens.org is a coalition of business organizations, anti-tax groups and transportation companies that oppose a cap-and-trade plan.

national

the Washington Post

Of all these groups, we're inclined to believe the CBO, since it is independent. But we can't rule out the possibility that there could be gains or losses on either end, as the predictions aligned with supporters and opponents suggest. So we find the ad's to be .   Editor's note: This statement was rated when it was published. On July 27, 2011, we changed the name for the rating to .  

This 'infrastructure bill' on page 2,385 presents a federal property tax of 3 percent on all homes and land - both residential and commercial.

October 3, 2021

taxes;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

Facebook posts

Our ruling  Facebook posts that the "‘infrastructure bill’ on page 2385 presents a federal property tax of 3% on all homes and land - both residential and commercial." Three tax policy experts who have extensively reviewed the Biden infrastructure agenda said the was .  Pages 2,385 in both the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act don’t mention a federal property tax.  A direct federal property tax as described in the post would be very difficult to make constitutional.  We rate this !

When we passed (the stand your ground law), we said it portends horrific events when people's lives were put into these situations.

March 21, 2012

criminal justice;crime

arthenia joyner

Arthenia Joyner is a Democratic state senator from Tampa. Previously she was a member of the Florida House of Representatives.

florida

an interview

The vote to pass the bill was then unanimous, with Democrats, including Sen. Rod Smith, currently chair of the Florida Democratic Party, voting yes. "We’d be seen as Democrats soft on crime," Geller explained, according to an account from the Associated Press. Overall, the warnings comprised a slim opposition to a very popular law. But they were there. We rate Joyner’s .

Photo shows former first lady Michelle Obama as a man.

May 6, 2023

facebook fact-checks

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

an Instagram post

A May 6 Instagram post sharing the image was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta , which owns Facebook and Instagram.) Michelle Obama tweeted the original, unedited and undated image Dec. 25, 2014. The young couple were standing in front of a Christmas tree. We rate claims that the edited version is authentic !

In 1992, the Democratic Party had in their platform provisions that said that illegal aliens were coming in this country, committing felonies, sent back and then they were right back across the border to do the same thing.

February 7, 2019

immigration;crime;guns

matt gaetz

Matt Gaetz was elected to Congress in 2016 representing Florida's 1st District. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives serving District 4 in 2010. His father is former Sen. Don Gaetz.

florida

an interview on CNN

Gaetz said, "In 1992 the Democratic Party had in their platform provisions that said that illegal aliens were coming in this country, committing felonies, sent back and then they were right back across the border to do the same thing." He got the year ; he was was actually referring to the 1996 platform. That document touted Clinton’s efforts on stopping illegal immigration. Using similar words as what Gaetz described, it said that in 1992, "Drugs flowed freely. Illegal immigration was rampant. Criminal immigrants, deported after committing crimes in America, returned the very next day to commit crimes again." Gaetz accurately captured the party’s sentiment in the mid 1990s. More recent platforms have favored a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. We rate this statement .

On spending growth under Gov. Andrew Cuomo: "Despite the fact that you continue to suggest that you've been able to hold the two percent, you haven't.

October 23, 2018

marc molinaro

Marcus Molinaro is a Republican candidate for New York governor in 2018. He currently serves as the county executive in Dutchess County.

new york

New York City

Molinaro said that state spending under Cuomo has increased beyond the 2 percent cap, despite Cuomo’s claims. Cuomo has been in office since 2011. In the first six years, as PolitiFact New York and others have pointed out, Cuomo kept the growth in state spending to 2 percent.    But in the last two years, state spending has increased beyond 2 percent, though the Cuomo administration has shifted spending in the budget to make it appear as if the 2 percent cap has been honored, according to experts. We rate Molinaro’s .  

The average bonus [on Wall Street] is about $100,000...The bonuses on Wall Street are down 44 percent.

February 5, 2009

economy

fred smith

Chair and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx

national

appearance on ABC's This Week

And the total haul of $18.4 billion was the sixth highest on record. Both were around the same as 2004, a vastly better year for the securities industry and its investors. And although it's that bonuses generally make up a substantial portion of the compensation on Wall Street, $112,000 is still more than twice the average salary in the United States. But Smith is free to use statistics selectively — and the statistics he chose were off by just $12,000 and a few percentage points. We find his statement .

Says border patrol agent recently killed in ambush.

November 2, 2018

fake news;facebook fact-checks

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

The second Border Patrol Agent also made a statement to the effect of, 'We ran into a culvert,' 'I ran into a culvert,' or 'I think I ran into a culvert.' The dispatcher also wrote into a Border Patrol log, '[He] thinks they (both agents) ran into a culvert.'" The results of the FBI investigation were widely publicized. Nonetheless, Martinez and his picture are still being used as of the murderous intent of people who cross the border. We rate the .

The military arrested "bedridden Gavin Newsom.

November 7, 2021

fake news;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

california

a blog post

"Last week, Governor Newsom worked in the Capitol with staff on urgent issues including COVID-19 vaccines for kids, boosters, ports, the forthcoming state budget and California’s continued economic recovery," he said. Lead Stories reported that Newsom also attended the wedding of oil heiress Ivy Love Getty on Nov. 6, where he was photographed.  PolitiFact has debunked more than a dozen claims that originated on Real Raw News. In response to inquiries from PolitiFact in September, Facebook said it had removed Real Raw News’ page from its platform for violating the company’s COVID-19 policies.  We rate this about Newsom !

Powerful Houston Democrats Sylvia Garcia (Democrat county commissioner in Harris County) and Elyse Lanie(r) (wife of the former liberal Democrat mayor Bob Lanier) sponsored a Democrat fundraiser for Speaker (Joe) Straus with numerous Democrat officials and high-ranking union officials.

June 12, 2010

bipartisanship

david barton

David Barton of Aledo, vice chairman of the Republican Party of Texas from 1997 into 2006, is the founder and president of WallBuilders, which describes itself as a national pro-family organization that presents America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious and constitutional heritage.

texas

an open letter

It’s also the biggest single corporate donor to Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. We weren’t given a list of guests so we could not assess their partisan affiliations. At the least, the Straus event does not appear to have been planned as the Democratic fundraiser Barton portrays. To the contrary, it may have underscored a reality of Texas politics: It behooves players of all stripes to make merry with the speaker. We rate Barton’s sally .

President Obama . . . wants to mandate circumcision.

August 25, 2009

health care;pundits

rush limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh is a conservative radio talk show host. His website describes him as "America's Truth Detector; the Doctor of Democracy; the Most Dangerous Man in America; the All-Knowing, All-Sensing, All-Everything Maha Rushie; defender of motherhood, protector of fatherhood and an all-around good guy."

national

a radio broadcast

He says Obama "wants to mandate circumcision." But the CDC's eventual recommendations — if they even include circumcision — will be voluntary, not mandatory. In addition, we could we find no connection between Obama and the new guidance, and no that Obama had even used the word in a public forum. In fact, the recommendations were under discussion long before Obama took office. This one is enough to set the meter ablaze — !

Sherrod Brown "gave huge bonuses to executives.

May 23, 2012

economy;message machine 2012;stimulus;voting record

josh mandel

Josh Mandel, a Republican from Lyndhurst, is a Marine veteran who served two tours in Iraq. He served as Ohio treasurer from 2011 to 2019.  Before that, he was a state representative from the 17th Ohio House District. He unsuccessfully challenged Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in the 2012 US Senate race. Mandel is running for the GOP nomination for an Ohio U.S. Senate seat in 2022.

ohio

a campaign commercial

The legislation prohibited use of federal money for future bonuses. But the bill did not enable bonus-paying that would not have existed otherwise. More importantly, while the bill did not prevent the AIG bonuses, it is not accurate to say that the bill -- or Brown -- "gave" anything. AIG gave the bonuses to its executives before the stimulus legislation was approved. On the -O-Meter, the that Brown "huge bonuses to executives" rates .

Virginia's "education standards for math and reading are now the lowest in the nation.

January 17, 2022

education

glenn youngkin

Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected Virginia's governor in November 2021. He defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who was governor from 2014 to 2018. Youngkin was reared in Richmond and Virginia Beach and won a basketball scholarship at Rice University, where he earned an engineering degree. He earned a MBA from Harvard University. Youngkin worked 25 years at the Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm based in Washington with $230 billion in assets. He retired in 2020 as CEO after taking the company public. His net worth is estimated at $254 million, according to The Washington Post. Youngkin's 2021 campaign for governor is his first bid for public office.

virginia

a speech

The NCES stresses that its equivalency ratings on standardized tests in states do not reflect how well students are learning in each state. Youngkin omits that Virginia students score near the top on standardized national tests for fourth grade math and reading and eight grade math. Eighth grade leading levels are at the national average. Youngkin’s , without elaboration, wrongly suggests that Virginia students are being taught less than their colleagues across the county. So we rate his statement .  

The GOP lawyer who helped Kanye West get on the ballot in Wisconsin is actively working for Donald Trump's campaign.

August 5, 2020

elections;states

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

wisconsin

a tweet

Citing a tweet from a Vice reporter, an Instagram post said the GOP lawyer who helped Kanye West get on the ballot in Wisconsin is actively working for Donald Trump's campaign. West lined up help from several Republicans in Wisconsin in his effort to appear on Wisconsin’s presidential ballot, including a GOP lawyer who’s representing the Trump campaign in a federal lawsuit. We rate this .

The national economy was strong in its largest expansion of private sector jobs before President Trump came into office.

July 21, 2018

economy;jobs

tim kaine

Tim Kaine is a U.S. senator representing Virginia, elected to the Senate in 2012. He was the 2016 Democratic nominee for vice president. Kaine was governor from 2006 to 2010, lieutenant governor from 2002 to 2006, mayor of Richmond from 1998 to 2001, and city councilman of Richmond beginning in 1994. He was also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011. Kaine was born in St. Paul, Minn. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1979 from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a law degree from Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., in 1983. He took a year-long break during law school to work with the Jesuit order as a Catholic missionary in Honduras, becoming fluent in Spanish.  

virginia

a debate

Kaine said, "The national economy was strong in its largest expansion of private sector jobs before President Trump came into office." Data shows he’s right. We rate his statement .  

The Milwaukee Police Department has seized nearly as many firearms this year as the much larger New York City Police Department.

July 24, 2014

guns

edward flynn

Edward Flynn was the police chief in Milwaukee, Wis., from January 2008 to February 2018. He was police commissioner in Springfield, Mass., from 2006 to 2008. He served as secretary of public safety under then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney from January 2003 until taking the Springfield job.

wisconsin

a news conference

Our rating Flynn said his department’s gun seizures, through a mid-year point, were about to those of  much-larger New York City. New York’s numbers may be down a bit this year, so other factors may be at work. But Flynn’s didn’t get into the reasons why. It was a straightforward numerical . We rate it .

John McCain's health care plan "leaves you on your own to pay McCain's health insurance tax.

October 3, 2008

health care

barack obama

Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

national

a television ad

An independent analysis from the nonpartisan Urban Institute confirms that: "In general, lower-income people with health insurance would receive benefits from the credit that would be well in excess of the value that they receive from today’s tax exemption. The gains are much smaller for higher-income people." So the Obama ad gets its particulars correct, but ends with an unfair assertion. McCain's health plan does not leave you "on your own to pay McCain’s health insurance tax." We rate Obama's statement . 

Obamacare is a "massive, massive income redistribution" with "$250 billion a year in Medicaid expansion (and) in the subsidy structure that's basically being paid for by people on Medicare, through Medicare cuts, and a lot of tax increases.

December 1, 2013

health care;taxes;punditfact

james capretta

James Capretta focuses on health-care and entitlement reform, U.S. fiscal policy, and global population aging. He served in senior positions in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government for sixteen years.  From 2001 to 2004 during the George W. Bush administration, he was an Associate Director at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he had responsibility for health-care, Social Security, education, and welfare programs.

a broadcast of "Fox News Sunday"

Capretta said Obamacare represents a massive redistribution of income, with the expansion of Medicaid and premium subsidies paid for by people on Medicare and through a host of other taxes. He is correct that money is being redistributed to fund the expansion of public and private health insurance. It it also that higher income earners will pay an estimated $46 billion more in taxes. But that amount represents only about 15 percent of the total dollars generated by the Affordable Care Act. The rest of the burden will skew toward the upper half of the income ladder but those making less will also shoulder some of the burden. Massive is a subjective term but in this case, particularly relative to the total economy, the case is weak. Regarding the reduced payments to Medicare providers, there is a range of possible outcomes. Providers could get by with lower compensation, they could become more efficient, they could reduce access to services or they could reduce the quality of service. It is not a foregone conclusion that Medicare patients will suffer. The likely exception is for people who currently pay for Medicare Advantage, a program that loses its present subsidies. Capretta oversimplified a complex situation. We rate his .

Says "in Canada, the number of CT scan machines per 1,000 people is like one-tenth of what we have here in this country. That's why people have to wait.

March 17, 2011

health care

herman cain

Herman Cain is an author, columnist and talk radio host. Cain, a former pizza franchise CEO, ran for president as a Republican in 2012.

georgia

an interview

"They make trade-offs and we make trade-offs," Custer said. "It’s a matter of taste." If Cain had said Canada has one-third the number of CT scanners of the United States, he would have been correct and then we could have examined whether this lack of capacity really does make Canada’s system inferior. That’s not what he said, though, and it doesn’t take a 3-D X-ray imager to know that one-tenth is different than one-third. Prognosis: .

Rick Perry "has never lost an election and remains the only person to have won the Texas governorship three times in landslide elections.

June 1, 2011

candidate biography

ted nugent

Ted Nugent, who lives near Waco, performed after Gov. Rick Perry's 2007 inauguration. He is an ardent supporter of Second Amendment gun rights. In 2014, he stumped with Texan Greg Abbott for governor and chaired Republican Sid Miller's campaign for state agriculture commissioner.

texas

an oped column

And, Jillson said, he would not term Perry’s ‘06 win a landslide. Indeed, he said, the governor’s 39 percent amounted to a comeuppance; 60 percent of voters chose a different aspirant. Our take: Perry is the third--not first--Texas governor to win re-election thrice. Two of his wins were bona fide landslides but the third’s landslide status is at least debatable. We rate the .

Embalmers finding 'strange clots' in jabbed people

January 28, 2022

coronavirus

newswars

NewsWars is a conspiracy oriented website run by Alex Jones.

a news article

A news article claimed that embalmers are "finding ‘strange clots’ in jabbed people." The article gives the impression that the clots are linked to the COVID-19 vaccine. But there’s no scientific of such a link. Embalmers say they have noticed an uptick in unusual blood clots. But experts noted that the COVID-19 infection itself can cause blood vessel inflammation, damage to very small vessels, and blood clots. We rate this .

There are more guns in this country than there are citizens.

January 13, 2020

population;guns

scott jenkins

Scott Jenkins has been the sheriff of Culpeper County, Va. - about 75 southwest of Washington, D.C. - since 2012. He is an outspoken supporter of gun rights and border security.

remarks

Jenkins says, "There are more guns in this country than there are citizens." There is no actual count of the number of firearms in the United States. A 2009 study by the Congressional Research Service suggests Jenkins is right. A well-regarded 2015 study at Harvard suggests he’s . So we rate Jenkins’ statement .  

I'm well aware that medical marijuana is a recognized, medical, viable treatment for this sort of [pancreas] pain condition.

April 26, 2011

candidate biography;drugs;health care;legal issues;crime;public health;marijuana

robert watson

Robert Watson, a Republican from East Greenwich, was House Minority Leader from 1998 to 2011. He retired at the end of the 2012 session.

rhode island

a speech on the House floor

"This is a visceral pain syndrome and most cannabis studies have focused on neuropathic pain." The personal reports you can find on the web "have not been validated or evaluated." So as far as we could determine, it's neither recognized nor recommended by the medical community for this use. There are certainly no studies to support its use. We rate his statement .

Says the first word spoken from the moon was "Houston.

January 18, 2011

space

rick perry

Rick Perry is the U.S. Energy Secretary and was governor of Texas from late December 2000 through 2014. He was re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. He unsucessfully ran for president in 2012 and 2016.

texas

his inauguration address

Now, to the -O-Meter. We understand the everlasting appeal of Houston as the first word flung from the moon. However, we were surprised to learn, it's not so. Armstrong's call from the moon to mission control was preceded by various other and easy-to-overlook words. We rate Perry's statement as .

Joe Biden's $36 billion for a union pension fund is "the largest private pension bailout in American history.

December 8, 2022

federal budget;unions;coronavirus

kevin brady

Brady represents a Houston-area U.S. House district.

texas

a statement

Brady said Biden’s funding for a union pension fund is "the largest private pension bailout in American history." A bailout is the use of taxpayer funds to help certain institutions that are in financial distress.  The Central States Pension Fund, which provides pension benefits to union workers and retirees, said it applied for the money because the fund is in "critical and declining status." It called the $36 billion it received a "legislative rescue." The White House called the $36 billion "the largest ever award of federal financial support for worker and retiree pension security." We rate Brady’s statement . RELATED: Fact-checks on pensions RELATED: Fact-checks on labor

The Civics Secures Democracy Act "would allow the Biden administration to buy off states with $6 billion" if they adopt critical race theory.

June 30, 2022

congress;education;florida

ron desantis

Ron DeSantis announced on May 24, 2023 that he is running for president in the Republican primary. DeSantis won the race for Florida governor in 2018 and 2022. DeSantis was first elected to Congress in 2012 and resigned in September 2018 to focus on his campaign. He represented Florida's 6th Congressional District which is south of St. Augustine and north of Orlando and includes Daytona Beach. DeSantis initially ran for U.S. Senate in 2016 but dropped out after Marco Rubio decided to seek re-election.

national

a press release

Instead, it prioritizes grant proposals that improve civic knowledge among "traditionally underserved students." DeSantis also misrepresented the amount of grant funding reserved for the states. The bill would award $585 million to state education agencies for civics initiatives annually for six years — totaling about $3.5 billion, not $6 billion.  The rest of the funding would be given to nonprofit organizations, universities, researchers and a new fellowship program.  We rate DeSantis’ .

The largest low-wage employer "is not McDonalds or Walmart but the U.S. government.

September 22, 2015

corporations;federal budget;jobs

bernie sanders

Bernie Sanders is a senator from Vermont. Sanders was first elected to the Senate in 2007 and was re-elected in 2012 and 2018. The senator also ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016, losing the Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton. From 1991 until 2007, he was the representative of Vermont’s At-Large District of the House of Representatives. Sanders was the mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago. In 2019, he announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out in April 2020.

national

a tweet

Sanders said that "the largest low-wage employer is not McDonalds or Walmart but the US government." Measured by the raw numbers, more federal contract workers make less than $12 an hour than workers at Walmart and McDonalds combined. But he is to suggest these workers are directly employed by the U.S. government, as they actually work for private companies. In addition, a much smaller percentage of federal contract workers make less than $12 an hour when compared to McDonald’s and Walmart. In terms of actual government employees, the U.S. government has historically paid low-skill federal civilian workers more than similar occupations in the private sector. We rate this .

Almost 100,000 people left Puerto Rico last year.

May 3, 2016

global news service;bankruptcy;economy;population

jack lew

Jack Lew is secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department. He has served as White House chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget.

an interview with Bloomberg News

Lew said that "almost 100,000 people left Puerto Rico last year." That appears to be close. Airline data suggests about 89,000 more people departed Puerto Rico for the United States then entered it in 2015. While that’s not a perfect estimate to measure out-migration, all the population trends suggest Puerto Rico is experiencing a surge in out-migration, as residents leave for better jobs and prospects in the United States. Lew’s statement is .

In the United Kingdom, "81% of COVID-19 deaths are among the vaccinated.

October 5, 2021

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

an article

A headline widely shared on Facebook claimed that in the United Kingdom, "81% of COVID-19 deaths are among the vaccinated."  The statistic alluded to by the applies to Scotland, not the entire United Kingdom, and it gives a impression of what an official report says. The report says the rate of COVID-19 death in Scotland is much more likely among unvaccinated people. We rate the .

Most AGs don't go to court..

July 31, 2010

public service

holly benson

Holly Benson is a former secretary for the Agency for Health Care Administration. She campaigned to be Florida Attorney General and was defeated in the Republican primary on Aug. 24, 2010.

florida

a debate

Benson said that "most AGs don't appear in court." McCollum's AG office says he hasn't appeared in court and had no record of Crist appearing in court although we were able to find an example of a case in which Crist did appear. Butterworth said he might have gone to court 25 times in 16 years -- so less than twice a year. By looking at the three most recent examples in Florida, AGs rarely go to court -- but it does happen.  So we give Benson a .

Under Obamacare, "American families have seen an increase in premiums of $5,000.

January 4, 2017

health care

mike pence

Mike Pence is the former vice president of the United States. A Republican, Pence was elected governor of Indiana in 2012. Pence previously served for 12 years as a congressman from Indiana representing the Sixth Congressional District; he was first elected in 2000. During his time in the U.S. House of Represenatives, he served as House Republican Conference chairman and chairman of the House Republican Study Committee. Pence was born in Columbus, Ind. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1981 from Hanover College and a law degree in 1986 from Indiana University. After accepting Donald Trump's offer to be running mate, Pence ended his 2016 campaign to be re-elected as Indiana governor. 

national

comments to reporters on Capitol Hill

Pence said that under Obamacare, "American families have seen an increase in premiums of $5,000." Judged in context, Pence appears to be talking only about people who buy their insurance from HealthCare.gov. And in reality, the increase for the most common yardstick plan from HealthCare.gov has been smaller than that -- $3,612. Over the same time period, federal subsidies actually decreased what the average marketplace purchaser had to pay. On the other hand, $3,612 is not a trivial increase, and it’s valid to note that the premiums rose significantly faster for these plans than they did for employer-sponsored insurance over an equivalent period. We rate Pence’s statement .

I think if you look at the entire federal government and the president's commitment to (fighting opioid addiction), you'll see that there are actually hundreds of millions of dollars increase on this issue.

May 10, 2017

drugs;federal budget

tom price

Rep. Tom Price is the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration. Previously, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 6th District of Georgia, an area that includes Marietta and Canton.

new hampshire

press conference about opioid addiction

It’s worth noting that the president’s budget is just a blueprint; members of Congress have said they are unlikely to approve the spending plan as written. Our Ruling Citing Trump’s commitment to fight the country’s opioid crisis , Price said the government is already spending "hundreds of millions of dollars" more to that end. More funding was approved in the recent Congressional omnibus bill to keep the government running, but other policies he’s seeking to pursue -- notably cuts to Medicaid -- could wipe out that increase and then some. We rate the .

I spent only $36.29 on my campaign for governor.

November 5, 2014

campaign finance;elections;jobs

robert healey

Robert Healey is a lawyer and businessman who ran three times for governor and three times for lieutenant governor. During his 2014 run for governor, as a representative of the Moderate Party, he garnered 21 percent of the vote. He is founder of the Cool Moose party.

rhode island

interviews

"We did, but they all expired in 2003. We didn't want to be giving out expired condoms." So when Robert Healey says he spent only about $36 on his campaign, all the points to a truly shoestring operation. We rate his as . (If you have a you’d like PolitiFact Rhode Island to check, email us at [email protected] And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)

COVID-19 Jab: They skipped all animal trials because all animals were dying and went directly to people.

May 15, 2021

animals;public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

Posters on Instagram, where people share photos and graphics and sometimes add filters.

an Instagram post

An agency spokesperson pointed to guidance specifying that EUA requests "should address," among other things, "data from studies in a relevant animal model." Chris Magee , the head of policy and media at Understanding Animal Research , a British nonprofit, told Full Fact that if animals had actually started dying during the tests, any Phase 1 human trials happening concurrently would have immediately halted. That was not the case. Full Fact and other fact-checkers, including the Associated Press , Reuters , the Dispatch and the Journal, also determined the social media claims about animal trials being skipped are . We rate this Instagram post .

The Atlanta area's water planning district "is now the national leader in conservation.

January 24, 2012

environment

pat stevens

Pat Stevens is Director of Environmental Planning for the Atlanta Regional Commission.

georgia

a news article

Per-capita water use is down (though the cause is disputed) and current rules do aim to conserve water. But we found no consensus that the region has a reputation as a national leader in water conservation, much less as "the" national leader. Given what we found, a stronger is that the region is playing catch-up. The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District was formed decades after similar organizations elsewhere, and it doesn’t fund conservation efforts that other areas have. Since Stevens’ statement ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, her statement meets PolitiFact’s definition of .

Under Joe Biden's policy, immigrants in the country illegally "get welfare benefits. United States citizens don't get what they're looking to give illegal immigrants.

July 14, 2020

immigration;welfare

donald trump

Donald Trump is the former president of the United States. He was elected the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8, 2016.  He has been a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015, 2017 and 2019 Lie of the Year. In November 2022, he announced he would run for president in 2024.

a White House speech

Being allowed to buy health insurance isn’t the same as getting welfare. The group also recommended easing federal benefits restrictions on immigrants — but for those lawfully present in the United States. The recommendations do not deny benefits to U.S. citizens or give immigrants illegally in the country an upper hand. Trump’s is . We rate it .

Images show LeBron James standing for China's national anthem while shouting during the United States' national anthem.

April 23, 2021

china;sports;facebook fact-checks;ask politifact

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

A viral image shared on Facebook claims James was standing still during China's national anthem while shouting during the U.S. anthem. Both images in the post show James during performances of "The Star-Spangled Banner." One image was doctored to include the Chinese national flag. The other image shows him walking away and shouting to the crowd as the anthem was ending. The meme uses a manipulated image and takes another image out of context to create a impression. We rate this .

Kids are resistant to COVID as opposed to older people.

September 14, 2022

education;coronavirus

tom horne

Tom Horne served as Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2003 to 2011. He is a candidate for that position in the 2022 election.

arizona

a debate

Horne said that "Kids are resistant to COVID as opposed to older people." The virus is far less likely to kill children than older people, but at times, children have been more likely to get infected. And whether they show symptoms or not, they can still pass the disease to more vulnerable people, including people far older than they are.  We rate this .

There was a recent report out that the premiums for Medicare and the payroll withholdings are only paying about half the program. So it is not financially solvent.

June 13, 2011

federal budget;medicare

tim pawlenty

Tim Pawlenty is the former governor of Minnesota, having served two terms in office from 2003-2011.

national

New Hampshire

"There was a recent report out that the premiums for Medicare and the payroll withholdings are only paying about half the program," Pawlenty said during the debate. "So it is not financially solvent." Last month, we checked a similar statement from Pawlenty, who said on ABC's This Week that Medicare "only has about 50 percent of it paid for by either premiums or payroll taxes, and the rest is deficit spending ... or debt spending." Medicare, which provides health care to about 50 million elderly or disabled Americans, is financed through a combination of funding streams: a Medicare payroll tax; general revenue ( from federal income taxes); premiums paid by Medicare users; and a tax on Social Security benefits and state payments toward the prescription drug benefit.

Everyone on this stage except Amy (Klobuchar) and me is either a billionaire or is receiving help from PACs that can do unlimited spending.

February 7, 2020

campaign finance;candidate biography;corrections and updates

elizabeth warren

Elizabeth Warren is a senator from Massachusetts. Warren was elected to the Senate in 2012 and was re-elected in 2018 and is running for re-election in 2024. Warren received a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Houston and a J.D. from Rutgers Law School. In 2019, she announced her race for the Democratic nomination for president and dropped out March 5, 2020.

Manchester, N.H

Warren said, "Everyone on this stage except Amy (Klobuchar) and me is either a billionaire or is receiving help from PACs that can do unlimited spending." She has a point that Steyer is a billionaire and that Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders and Yang are each supported by a super PAC. Some of the super PACs started for the 2020 presidential campaign; some existed beforehand. That said, Warren has the backing of a group that has an affiliate organized under section 501(c)4 of the tax code, which allows it operate in much the same way as a super PAC does, even if it isn’t technically a super PAC. We rate the statement . EDITOR'S NOTE, Feb. 19: By Feb. 19, both Warren and Klobuchar were benefiting from super PACs, according to news reports . Both candidates issued statements saying they do not want the help of these groups. As is our policy, our fact-check is made based on the situation at the time the was made, and so our rating does not change. EDITOR’S NOTE, Feb. 20 : One day after our previous editor’s note, Warren changed her position on super PACs, saying that "If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in. I'll lead the charge. But that's how it has to be. It can't be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t."

Says Ken Cuccinelli tried to make it more difficult for mothers to obtain divorces.

September 4, 2013

families;marriage

terry mcauliffe

Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, was elected governor of Virginia on Nov. 5, 2013. He received 47.8 percent of the vote in defeating Republican Ken Cuccinelli, who came in at 45.2 percent. Robert Sarvis, a Libertarian, finished a distant third with 6.5 percent. McAuliffe's inaguration as Virginia's 72nd governor is scheduled on Jan. 11, 2014. McAuliffe, a wealthy businessman and noted political fundraiser, was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and chairman of Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008. In 2009, McAuliffe unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor. McAuliffe was born in Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 9, 1957. He has a bachelor's degree from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. McAuliffe has lived in Fairfax County for more than 20 years, is married and has five children.  

virginia

a TV ad

McAuliffe’s ad says Cuccinelli introduced legislation in 2008 that would have made it more difficult for mothers to obtain divorces. Cuccinelli’s unsuccessful bill would have eliminated the ability for a spouse in a couple with minor children to unilaterally file for a no-fault divorce. The legislation would have allowed the other spouse to block the process by filing a written objection. In portraying the bill as an attack on women, McAuliffe ignores that the legislation would have made it equally more difficult for dads to get divorces. So McAuliffe’s statement has accuracy, but leaves out an important detail and context. We rate it .

Says all North Carolina teachers do not currently get a "duty free lunch break.

April 3, 2019

education;states

john torbett

John A. Torbett is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the 108th district.

north carolina

a tweet

Torbett said North Carolina teachers do not currently get a "duty free lunch break." He’s right. The current law doesn’t guarantee that all teachers actually enjoy a duty-free lunch. In reality, Scioli and Jewell said many teachers eat while supervising their students or working themselves. We rate this statement .

Rick Scott's even saying he wants more offshore drilling.

May 15, 2010

oil spill

alex sink

Alex Sink is a candidate for Congress in Florida's 13th Congressional District. She served as Florida's Chief Financial Officer from 2007 to 2011. She was the Democratic Party's nominee for governor in 2010, but lost to Rick Scott.

florida

email

"I believe we can come up with a way to drill with the right precautions,'' Scott said. Scott's campaign doesn't dispute that he is in favor of offshore drilling and against a constitutional ban -- as long as the drilling is done safely. Certainly any candidate or politician who supports drilling wants it done safely -- we don't believe that makes Sink's . Sink's campaign said that Scott wants "even more offshore drilling'' -- and that's an accurate account of what he's said. We find this .

Due to Obamacare, Arkansas "has covered almost 14 percent of its uninsured already.

October 30, 2013

health care;states

barack obama

Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

national

Boston

Obama said that due to the health care law, Arkansas "has covered almost 14 percent of its uninsured already." That number is very close, if not spot on. But it's a case study that has limited application for the rest of the country, because of the state's unique approach to Medicaid. Many of the state's uninsured still have to get coverage from the troubled healthcare.gov website. The statement is accurate but needs additional information or context, so we rate the .

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario suggested "that 'unvaccinated' people are mentally ill and in need of psychiatric medication.

November 20, 2022

public health;coronavirus

tiktok posts

Posts on the video-sharing platform TikTok.

a video

A TikTok video says The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario suggested "that ‘unvaccinated’ people are mentally ill and in need of psychiatric medication." The distorts the college’s guidance about treating patients who are seeking medical exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine. The guidance included legitimate medical exemptions for which doctors could write a note. It did not say all patients who don’t want the vaccine may be mentally ill.  The initial guidance was misinterpreted, and the college later updated the language — before the interview in the TikTok post was conducted — to include a specific example of when doctors could help vaccine-hesitant patients by prescribing medication or psychotherapy. We rate this .

You cannot build a little guy up by tearing a big guy down -- Abraham Lincoln said it.

January 25, 2015

candidate biography;taxes

john kasich

John Kasich is the governor of Ohio. A Republican and a former congressman, he defeated Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2010 and was reelected in 2014. He ran for president in 2016.

national

comments on "Fox News Sunday"

Kasich said that Lincoln said, "You can’t build a little guy up by tearing the big guy down." It’s well-established that this is not a Lincoln quote. Many have misattributed it to Lincoln, but its real author was a politically conservative minister and public speaker who was born several years after Lincoln’s assassination. Additionally, Kasich used the idea to support his position against raising taxes on the wealthy. Lincoln, however, instituted the first-ever federal income tax, and it was progressive. We rate this .

Says President Barack Obama's policy known as DACA "contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border.

September 5, 2017

immigration;legal issues;race and ethnicity

jeff sessions

Jeff Sessions is President Donald Trump's Attorney General. He was previously a U.S. Senator from Alabama.  

national

remarks at the Justice Department

Sessions said that DACA "contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border." Since the DACA policy itself didn’t address the situation of unaccompanied Central American minors at all, the only way it could have had any effect was through mistaken understandings among potential migrants in Central America about what the program did and didn’t do. While there is that such mistaken ideas did exist, the data shows that the upticks at the southern border were already under way by the time DACA was announced, and that the trend line didn’t change significantly after the announcement. So the effect, if there was any at all, would have been too small to measure. We rate the .

Says Damascus' disincorporation would produce "NO significant tax savings.

September 3, 2013

taxes

steve spinnett

Steve Spinnett is president of Steve's Imports, a car service and repair shop founded in 1975.

oregon

a Voters' Pamphlet statement

And while remaining city assets would, by law, be turned over to the county, "those are completely divorced from the tax rate," said Dan Chandler, the county strategic policy adviser who wrote the fact sheet. Last, although voters countywide may cast ballots sometime late next year on an increased vehicle registration fee for road maintenance, Clackamas County has shown considerable reluctance in recent years to approve anything resembling a new tax. Thus, it seems unlikely that a flood of countywide bonds, levies and local improvement districts would materialize. Simple math shows that if Damascus voters follow up their 2004 historic vote to incorporate with another historic vote to disincorporate, homeowners will see their property tax bills fall -- by 46 percent at the median level. That is a significant savings.

The University of Wisconsin System had a "jobs-for-life tenure program" for professors.

May 16, 2016

education

scott walker

Scott Walker, a Republican, is the former governor of Wisconsin. He was first elected in November 2010. He survived a recall election in 2012, defeating Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett after igniting controversy with a bill curtailing public-employee union collective-bargaining rights.  He won re-election to a four-year term in November 2014 and was a 2016 presidential candidate before dropping out in September of 2015. He was defeated by Tony Evers in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Walker is a former Milwaukee County executive and former member of the state Assembly.

wisconsin

a radio interview

Our rating Walker described the UW System’s original policy as a "‘jobs-for-life’ tenure program." He left out the fact that even before the Board of Regents broadened the grounds for dismissal of tenured faculty members, individuals could be dismissed under several circumstances, such as misconduct and financial difficulties that threaten the university’s existence. But because dismissals under that policy were extremely rare, being granted tenure effectively promised someone a job for life. Our definition of is "the statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context." That fits here.

Says Houston is "home to more doctors, more nurses, more researchers than any other place in the world.

February 22, 2013

health care;medicaid;public health

rick perry

Rick Perry is the U.S. Energy Secretary and was governor of Texas from late December 2000 through 2014. He was re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. He unsucessfully ran for president in 2012 and 2016.

texas

remarks at a Washington, D.C. event

Perry said Houston is "home to more doctors, more nurses, more researchers than any other place in the world." Perry did not provide nor did we find proving this , and there are signs that it’s not supported, including the census table indicating that Harris County ranked fourth nationally in total physicians in 2004 and trailed even more counties, including more than half a dozen in Texas, in physicians per 100,000 residents. Also, while Houston had the most doctors and nurses among five populous Texas cities in 2011, Dallas had greater concentrations of physicians and nurses. Finally, there is not yet any confirmation that the Texas Medical Center employs more doctors, nurses and researchers than any other place. That could be. But mights aren’t facts and regardless, Perry specified Houston in his recent statement, not the center. We rate this as .

Since Scott Walker took office as governor in January 2011, there has been an increase of 33,200 jobs in Wisconsin.

May 16, 2012

jobs;message machine 2012

scott walker

Scott Walker, a Republican, is the former governor of Wisconsin. He was first elected in November 2010. He survived a recall election in 2012, defeating Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett after igniting controversy with a bill curtailing public-employee union collective-bargaining rights.  He won re-election to a four-year term in November 2014 and was a 2016 presidential candidate before dropping out in September of 2015. He was defeated by Tony Evers in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Walker is a former Milwaukee County executive and former member of the state Assembly.

wisconsin

a television ad

Walker presents it all as final and official, offering no cautionary notes or caveats -- even though there are many. And Walker credits his policies for the improvement, which overstates the impact a governor can make on broad economic trends in a short period of time. There is clearly some to the numbers. But in mixing everything together and not making it clear these numbers are preliminary, Walker ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. That is our definition for .

Of our 98,000 teachers who are K-12, over 53,000 of those teachers today are over 50 years old.

April 27, 2013

education;retirement

terry mcauliffe

Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, was elected governor of Virginia on Nov. 5, 2013. He received 47.8 percent of the vote in defeating Republican Ken Cuccinelli, who came in at 45.2 percent. Robert Sarvis, a Libertarian, finished a distant third with 6.5 percent. McAuliffe's inaguration as Virginia's 72nd governor is scheduled on Jan. 11, 2014. McAuliffe, a wealthy businessman and noted political fundraiser, was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and chairman of Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008. In 2009, McAuliffe unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor. McAuliffe was born in Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 9, 1957. He has a bachelor's degree from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. McAuliffe has lived in Fairfax County for more than 20 years, is married and has five children.  

virginia

a speech

McAuliffe said, "Of our 98,000 teachers who are K-12, over 53,000 of those teachers today are over 50 years old." But he is mixing statistics that don’t don’t go together and his eye-popping that more than half of Virginia’s teachers have lived more than half a century doesn’t hold up. Virginia does not keep data that is solely focused on the age of teachers. The best statistics available show that the state’s instructional staff -- including teachers, librarians, guidance counselors and technology instructors -- was 98,792 during the 2010-11 school year and, of them, 33,462 were 50 or older. That’s 33.9 percent. The teaching corps is not moving toward retirement with anything close to the speed that McAuliffe described. We rate his statement .

While Act 10 allowed (Milwaukee County) to save some money, it was millions short of what we needed to fill the hole left by the $28 million cut in state aid.

April 12, 2012

labor;state budget

chris abele

Chris Abele is Milwaukee County Executive, a position he won in an April 2011 special election to finish out the final year of the term of Scott Walker, who was elected governor in November 2010. The election was the first attempt at political office for Abele, a Milwaukee philanthropist and business owner. The office is nonpartisan, but Abele has indicated he is a Democrat.

wisconsin

a statement to the Journal Sentinel

Walker’s office also claimed savings for long-term pension costs for 300 county workers who transferred to the state, but whose pension obligations stayed with the county. Walker can take some credit for changes while county executive, but we are looking at Abele’s   and he limited it to the changes Walker made as governor. By the numbers, Abele is correct that the changes the county made under Act 10 reforms did not completely make up for the lost revenue. But the county failed to take full advantage of Walker’s law. On balance, we rate Abele’s statement .

If the voting bill H.R. 1 is passed, "absentee ballots would be mailed out to anyone without proof of the voter's identity.

March 25, 2021

elections;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

an online video

The post says that if the voting bill H.R. 1 is passed, "absentee ballots would be mailed out to anyone without proof of the voter’s identity." That’s not the case. A few states already do send ballots to all registered voters, but their process would not be changed by the bill. In every other state, registered voters would typically have to request a mail ballot to receive one. The bill would require states to make it easier for voters to do that. The bill would require states to send mail ballot applications to all registered voters before federal elections, but sending an application is not the same thing as sending an actual ballot, and these would go to registered voters only, whose identity and eligibility to vote are known.  We rate the statement .

McCain is "selectively editing Joe Biden's words...Biden actually said about Barack Obama: 'They're gonna find out this guy's got steel in his spine.'

October 27, 2008

foreign policy

barack obama

Barack Obama is the former president of the United States. Obama also served as a U.S. senator from Illinois. He was born in 1961 in Hawaii, where his parents met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's father is from Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. He graduated from Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. Obama previously served in the Illinois state Senate and was an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School. He and his wife, Michelle, have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

national

a television advertisement

Yes, but editing generally is selective, and this editing didn't really distort Biden's meaning. Did Biden actually say Obama had steel in his spine? Yes, but a day earlier than he made the comments the McCain ad highlighted, not immediately afterward as the Obama ad claimed. The Obama ad suggests there was some outrageous lapse here, but we don't see it. We find the Obama ad .

Says a challenge called "Momo" is appearing online in apps and children's programs and threatens kids in an attempt to force them into performing harmful acts.

February 27, 2019

fake news;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

Facebook posts

Warning posts and news accounts flooding social media warn parents about the "Momo Challenge," saying it is infiltrating kids’ programs online and encourages them to harm themselves or others. Some version of the challenge may exist now, with cyberbullies or copycats picking up on the viral trend, but there is no to support that this challenge is real and there has been no confirmed link between the game and any deaths. Child psychologists and internet safety groups say the most important thing for parents to do is to consistently monitor their children’s internet use and to communicate frequently about the content their children are encountering online. We rate this internet rumor !

Over the last 15 months, we've added more than 2 million jobs in the private sector. That's far in excess of what it was in the comparable period after the last recession.

June 5, 2011

economy;history;this week - abc news

austan goolsbee

Austan Goolsbee is the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. He also serves as chief economist of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Goolsbee is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He was an economic adviser to Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign.

national

an interview on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour"

He compared the current recovery only to the prior one, which was easily the weakest in recent U.S. history. But while this is somewhat , Goolsbee was careful to make a very specific . More worrisome is that he used cherry picking to help make his point. He ignored the first eight months of the current recovery, in which a significant number of jobs were lost. On balance, we rate Goolsbee's statement .

The geography of poverty has changed fundamentally in the last 15 years," with more of it concentrated in fragile and conflict states.

May 17, 2016

global news service;foreign policy

david miliband

David Miliband is the president of the International Rescue Committee.

a panel discussion

Miliband said that the geography of poverty has fundamentally changed in the past 15 years and is increasingly concentrated in conflict and fragile states. Broadly speaking, the numbers back that up -- because non-fragile states are doing a better job of raising people out of poverty. The biggest cautionary note from experts is that we lack consistent measures of fragility and the list can change significantly from year to year. The statement is accurate, but one has to apply it cautiously. We rate this . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/a82c1824-f518-499c-bfcc-7b61b9691390

Says for every "share" that a photograph of a sick boy gets, Facebook will donate one dollar.

July 5, 2018

fake news;facebook fact-checks

viral image

Graphics, pictures and charts shared on social media give chain emails a run for their money when it comes to spreading too-good-to-be-true claims all over the Internet. A common form is is the "Internet macro," which uses an easily recognized and repurposed image (called a meme) wth superimposed text to make a funny but political argument. Sometimes these images are passed across social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit so widely that the original source is nearly impossible to determine.

a Facebook post

In 2015, the Better Business Bureau released a statement about such scams, calling them "like-farming," and warned that some use the scheme to collect and sell information about users who interact with the posts. "Once the page creators have piled up hundreds of likes and shares, they may strip the page and promote something else, such as products that they will receive commissions for selling," the organization said in the statement. "They may also sell the page and information that was collected from the ‘likes’ with a more direct threat of gaining access in an attempt to gather credit card numbers that may be stored for certain Facebook apps, passwords or other personal information." The Better Business Bureau encourages people to refrain from interacting with these posts and  report them to Facebook instead. We rate this !

A bill to advance the Keystone XL Pipeline "is an earmark" under House rules.

May 21, 2013

environment;climate change;federal budget;infrastructure

alan grayson

Alan Grayson was initially elected to Congress in 2008, then defeated for re-election in 2010. He was elected again to Congress from a different district in 2012. He lost the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Florida in 2016.

national

a news release

Grayson said a bill to advance the Keystone XL Pipeline "is an earmark" under House rules. Officially, the House -- the only entity that can make this ruling -- has not rendered a judgment on Grayson’s . But several experts on earmarks that we checked with were unanimous that Grayson was by the clear language of the rule. The House’s definition of "earmark" is based on the notion that the provision in question spends federal money, which the bill in question does not -- a difference that Grayson carefully edited out when he made his argument to Boehner. We rate Grayson’s .

The Republican from Georgia [U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston], he hasn't even been to a NASCAR race.

May 18, 2012

federal budget;sports

dale earnhardt jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a NASCAR driver.

georgia

remarks to reporters

A May 17 article in USA Today said Kingston himself acknowledged it. A May 22 story in the Savannah Morning News says that Kingston’s never been to a race, but he did display an Earnhardt license plate on the front of his pickup for five years. It’s strange but . Kingston has never been to a NASCAR race. Earnhardt earns a .