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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's move to limit collective bargaining rights has led to "riots" at the Capitol -- "It's like Cairo has moved to Madison these days.

February 17, 2011

labor;state budget

paul ryan

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R.-Wis., became Speaker of the House in 2015 and served until his retirement in January 2019. Ryan was elected to represent southern Wisconsin in Congress in 1998 and for part of his tenure chaired the House Budget Committee. He was Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate in the 2012 presidential election. He did not seek re-election in 2018.

wisconsin

an appearance on a TV interview program

Wheeler and Soglin heaped praise on law enforcement for their professionalism, and said there was no significant tension between the crowds and cops. Puzzled, we called Ryan’s office and asked what he was referring to in his comments about riots and his comparison of a week of Madison protests with 18 days that led to the resignation of the president of Egypt. Ryan’s response: "It was an comparison." To put it mildly. Our response: .

One in six Texans don't have health care. We're the most uninsured state in the U.S.

May 23, 2018

health care

lupe valdez

Lupe Valdez, a Democrat elected four times as Dallas County sheriff, declared her candidacy for governor in December 2017. She won the party’s nomination in May 2018.

texas

a New York Times news story

Valdez said: "One in six Texans don’t have health care. We’re the most uninsured state in the U.S." One in six Texans in 2016 lacked health insurance, according to government surveys, and the state remained No. 1 for its share of residents without coverage. It’s an exaggeration to say that all uninsured people have no health care. We rate this . – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Congress has officially banned TikTok.

March 23, 2023

foreign policy;technology

tweets

Twitter is a messaging service where people often discuss politics. Individual messages are called Tweets.

national

a tweet

But experts told PolitiFact that a ban wouldn’t prevent the Chinese government from accessing sensitive data about U.S. social media users, because similar data from other apps would remain available for purchase from third-party brokers.  A TikTok ban could happen, but it hasn’t happened yet. We rate posts that say it has . RELATED: US frets about TikTok feeding data to China; banning app won’t end the threat, experts say  

One year today since #GOP took control of the House" and "no new jobs.

January 5, 2012

bipartisanship;jobs

frank pallone

Frank Pallone Jr. is a Democratic Congressman representing New Jersey's 6th district, which includes parts of Middlesex and Monmouth counties.

new jersey

a tweet

A tweet posted on Pallone’s account on Jan. 5 said it’s "one year today since #GOP took control of the House" and "no new jobs." A written statement from Pallone’s office said the tweet decried "consistent Republican inaction in Congress on moving a meaningful agenda to create jobs." But "no new jobs" isn’t the same as a "no new jobs agenda" and the U.S. gained 1.64 million of the former in the last year. Yes, there’s a limit of 140 characters on Twitter, but there’s still room for accuracy. We rate this statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

Do this research … watch how much crime picks up if you take away [football].

May 25, 2011

crime

ray lewis

Ray Lewis is a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens.

georgia

an interview

"I took the Ray Lewis challenge and I don’t see any of [a crime increase]," said Fox, the author of several books on crime who also writes a crime and punishment blog for the Boston Globe. We, too, took the challenge and found no substantive that Lewis has a point. Hopefully, we won’t see this fall whether Lewis is right. For now, we’re throwing a flag on this . Our rating is .

Duke Health, UNC Health and ECU Health "in North Carolina are diagnosing toddlers who play with stereotypically opposite gender toys as having gender dysphoria and are beginning to transition them!!

May 7, 2023

lgbtq;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

a post shared on Instagram

An Instagram post claimed that three health care systems in North Carolina were diagnosing toddlers with gender dysphoria and starting to transition them for playing with stereotypically opposite-gender toys. Duke Health, UNC Health and ECU Health said claims that they provide transition care to toddlers were . Standards of care for gender diverse youth that are accepted by most major medical organizations recommend social transition only for children who haven’t reached puberty. Additionally, the toys children play with do not signal gender dysphoria. We rate these claims . RELATED: Is all gender-affirming care for children ‘experimental’? Experts say no

I've cut a half a billion (dollars) out of the EPA just in the last two years. We've cut 3,000 jobs out of the EPA.

April 23, 2018

environment;energy;government regulation

evan jenkins

U.S. Congressman representing West Virginia's 3rd district.

national

a U.S. Senate debate

Jenkins said, "I’ve cut a half a billion (dollars) out of the EPA just in the last two years. We’ve cut 3,000 jobs out of the EPA." Setting aside his choice of "I" rather than "we," Jenkins has a point about the decrease in the EPA’s budget; in anything, his estimate is actually low. On employment, though, 3,000 jobs shed is an overzealous estimate. To get a number that large, you have to go back at least to 2012, before Jenkins was in Congress. We rate the statement .

If you count United States airstrikes against ISIS, "75 percent of those combat missions return to base without having fired a weapon.

May 24, 2015

foreign policy;military;terrorism

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

an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation"

McCain said that if you count United States airstrikes against ISIS, "75 percent of those combat missions return to base without having fired a weapon." Statistics from the Pentagon back that up. We won’t wade into the debate over whether the current approach is right or needs adjusting, but on the specific data point McCain mentioned, we find no fault. We rate the .

Photo shows people protesting against "vaccine tyranny" in France.

July 19, 2021

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

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

More than 100,000 people in France recently protested the country’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy, and some people are cheering them on online.  "France," reads one Facebook post showing a photo of Champs-Elysee crowded with people as someone stands on the Arc de Triomphe above holding a French flag. "People are [email protected] up and uniting [email protected] ¥@xxin€ tyranny and n€w w0rld 0rd€r!"

Say "Sam Hyde identified as perpitrator (sic) of Beirut explosion

August 5, 2020

facebook fact-checks

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

national

a Facebook post

Sam Hyde is a real person, but not a killer. He’s a comedian with a right-wing bent whose name got picked up in 2015 by anonymous users of the far-right image-sharing site 4chan and attached to various incidents of deadly violence. In the immediate aftermath of a 2017 mass shooting in Texas, a U.S. congressman fell for a bogus post and told CNN that Hyde had been named as the shooter. No need for you to be fooled. This is more Sam Hyde nonsense.

Says Ron Johnson "has essentially done nothing" to fight heroin addiction and opioid abuse.

September 6, 2016

immigration;candidate biography;drugs;homeland security

russ feingold

Russ Feingold served as a Democratic U.S. Senator representing Wisconsin from 1992 until 2010, when he was defeated for re-election. An attorney, he previously served 10 years in the Wisconsin Legislature. Following his Senate defeat, he founded Progressives United, which says it mission is to "stand up to the exploding corporate influence in our political system by organizing and amplifying the voices of those who believe that corporations have too much power." Feingold is running against U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, the man who defeated him, in the 2016 election.

wisconsin

a radio ad

It’s fair to criticize Johnson for what he didn’t do -- but that wasn’t Feingold’s . Our rating Qualifying his only slightly, Feingold says Johnson "has essentially done nothing" to fight heroin addiction and opioid abuse. Johnson has voted for a major bill aimed at confronting the heroin-opioids problem, introduced a bill aimed at curbing overprescription of opioids and held Senate committee hearings on the problem. That’s more than nothing. We rate Feingold’s statement .

Says U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said "owning guns IS NOT a right, if it were a right it would be in the Constitution.

January 21, 2019

corrections and updates;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 post on Facebook

"Keep the severely mentally ill and people with a history of domestic abuse from purchasing guns," Ocasio-Cortez said about a year ago while answering questions on Reddit. "I am a believer in the Second Amendment but this is where I draw the line." We rate this ! Correction Feb. 4, 2019: As a member of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was sworn in to the office, not inaugurated as an earlier version of this post stated.

Say Gretchen Carlson said, "The 2nd Amendment Was Written Before Guns Were Invented.

June 15, 2017

fake news;punditfact;guns

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

a web post

We also couldn’t find any credible news source reporting Carlson’s words as cited in therightists.com article. Finally, we checked with Carlson’s office. In a statement, her office confirmed that the article was "total B.S." Bottom line: Carlson did not say, "The 2nd Amendment Was Written Before Guns Were Invented." The accusation that she did rates as .

A report by the US General Accountability Office (GAO) in 2008 found that the disposal of Katrina wastes by AshBritt in the south resulted in the creation of contaminated sites along the Gulf Coast and two new Superfund sites in New Orleans.

February 22, 2013

environment

jeff tittel

Jeff Tittel is the director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.

new jersey

an opinion column for NJToday.net

  Tittel said in an opinion column, "A report by the US General Accountability Office (GAO) in 2008 found that the disposal of Katrina wastes by AshBritt in the south resulted in the creation of contaminated sites along the Gulf Coast and two new Superfund sites in New Orleans."   There are several major problems with Tittel’s . First, neither AshBritt nor any other contractor is named in the report. Second, the GAO confirmed that contractors were not part of their study. Third, the Army Corps of Engineers confirmed that AshBritt was not the major contractor in New Orleans - the company was moved to Mississippi shortly after Katrina cleanup started. Fourth, the report’s scope is limited to existing landfills in the New Orleans area – not new contamination sites or "the Gulf Coast." Fifth, the EPA has confirmed that post-Katrina debris did not cause new Superfund sites in New Orleans. At least five falsehoods in one ? That’s beyond . !   To comment on this story, go to NJ.com .

Says you need a photo ID to purchase Sudafed in Texas.

March 16, 2012

elections;legal issues

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

a Fox News interview

The Texas law requires a business making an over-the-counter sale of a product containing ephedrine,  pseudoephedrine or norpseudoephedrine to make the purchaser show a driver’s license or other form of photo ID that indicates the person is 16 or older. Dodson noted, too, that legislators in 2011 amended the law to specify that the presented IDs must be government-issued. Upshot: Perry’s Sudafed statement reflects both state and federal ID requirements. It’s .

The governor's cuts would kick over 8,000 people out of their homes.

August 9, 2017

corrections and updates;housing;state budget

crystal quade

Crystal Quade is a Democratic Missouri state representative. Her district includes portions of Springfield.

missouri

a letter

Quade and Merideth said that the governor’s cuts would cause 8,000 people to lose their homes. Greitens proposed the original budget cuts to in-home care and nursing home services for qualified seniors, veterans and people with disabilities. Legislators tried to come up with another way to fund these services, but Greitens vetoed that bill. The numbers suggest that just about 8,000 people will lose their funding when the budget cuts go into effect, but that doesn’t mean these people will lose their homes. These seniors, veterans and people with disabilities will lose the funding for both in-home care and nursing home services. But in some cases, they may employ other mechanisms to receive care, or depend more heavily on family-provided care that is not funded by the state. We rate this . CORRECTION, Sept. 13, 2017:  This article has been changed to reflect that when seniors, veterans and people with disabilities lose funding for in-home care, they also lose funding to go to a nursing home (or state-assisted living facilities) to receive care. An earlier version had said that the affected group would be forced to move into state-assisted living facilities.

New Jersey has lost over half of our pharmaceutical jobs to states you know, not low-tax states like in the South, but high-tax states like New York.

January 28, 2013

jobs

barbara buono

 Barbara Buono is a Democratic state senator representing part of Middlesex County. Buono previously served in the State Assembly from 1994 to 2001.

new jersey

an interview on NJToday

Buono said during a recent appearance on NJToday that "New Jersey has lost over half of our pharmaceutical jobs to states you know, not low-tax states like in the South, but high-tax states like New York." She’s correct that New Jersey has lost pharma jobs, but it’s not the "more than half" that she claimed. Jobs have been lost for a variety of reasons, from the industry’s new business model to wanting to be near universities and hospitals of excellence, and more. We rate this . To comment on this story, go to NJ.com .

We have a director of homeland security who cannot use and will not use the term 'terrorist attack' but instead substitutes 'man-made disaster.'

June 11, 2010

homeland security;terrorism

jerry patterson

Jerry Patterson, who won election to three terms as state land commissioner starting in 2002, filed to seek the post afresh in the 2018 elections. The former state senator from Pasadena unsuccessfully sought the 2014 Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

texas

a speech at the Texas Republican Party Convention

Patterson said Friday that Napolitano’s continued use of “man-made disaster” proves his point. We disagree. The essence of his charge at the convention was that the secretary can’t and won’t say “terrorist attack.” News accounts, congressional testimony and speeches prove otherwise. We rate Patterson’s statement as .

Says Congress gave Wall Street "trillions of dollars of zero interest loans.

October 19, 2019

corrections and updates;economy;education;taxes

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

New York City

Sanders said that during the Great Recession, Congress gave Wall Street "trillions of dollars of zero interest loans." By our calculations, the total across several actions ranged from $2 trillion to about $3.1 trillion. But Sanders is less accurate regarding where the money went and the interest rate. The biggest Wall Street players benefited greatly, but banks and other business across the country also got help. And while very low, the interest rates remained above zero. Also, the Fed is not Congress. Sanders oversimplified a complex response to an economic crisis. We rate this .

Almost every poll has shown that Sanders vs. Trump does a lot better than Clinton vs. Trump … and, that's true nationally.

March 6, 2016

polls and public opinion

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

Flint, Mich

Sanders said that "almost every poll has shown that Sanders vs. Trump does a lot better than Clinton vs. Trump … and, that’s nationally." On the numbers, Sanders is right. He runs stronger against Trump than Clinton in six of the seven national head-to-head polls since Jan. 1. However, polling experts say such results should be taken with a grain of salt, since polls taken well before the start of the general-election contest have historically not been very accurate predictors of the November results. The statement is accurate but needs additional context, so we rate it .

One person, Kathleen Sebelius, was going to determine whether or not" 10-year-old lung patient Sarah Murnaghan would live or die.

June 6, 2013

children;health care;public health;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

his radio show

Limbaugh said that "one person, Kathleen Sebelius, was going to determine whether or not" 10-year-old lung patient Sarah Murnaghan would live or die, essentially serving as a one-woman "death panel." It’s that Sebelius played an appeals role in the transplant-policy process. However, she was not the only person or entity that did -- existing rules, medical experts and a federal judge also played a role in Murnaghan’s case. In addition, Sebelius didn’t have the power to grant or revoke life; many factors, including the availability and suitability of organs, will ultimately determine her likelihood of survival. On balance, we rate Limbaugh’s . UPDATE : On June 12, 2013, Murnaghan underwent lung transplant surgery.

Corporate profits are up, CEO pay is up, but average wages of Americans are flat.

July 22, 2007

economy

hillary clinton

Hillary Clinton was the 2016 Democratic nominee for president. She served as U.S. Secretary of State during the first four years of the Obama administration. She is formerly a U.S. senator from New York, first elected in 2000. She was a candidate for president in 2008. She previously served as first lady when her husband, Bill Clinton, served two terms as president. She was born in Chicago in 1947, graduated from Wellesley College and earned a law degree at Yale Law School. She and her husband have one daughter.

national

Washington, DC

The Commerce Department reported that corporate profits from current production increased 21.4 percent in 2006 and were up 12.5 percent in 2005. CEO pay has also gone up. A Forbes report in May 2007 said chief executives of the nation's 500 largest companies got a 38 percent raise in 2006, on top of a 6 percent hike in 2005 and a 54 percent raise in 2004. And Clinton is right that average wages have been flat. Adjusted for inflation, median family income has been flat since 2001, hovering around $54,000, according to government statistics.

PayPal has reinstated its policy to fine users $2,500 directly from their accounts if they spread 'misinformation.'

October 27, 2022

facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

a post

The provision is in each version of the agreement going back to at least 2013 .  The confusion began in early October, when PayPal said it mistakenly published changes to its Acceptable Use Policy that it later described as . The changes said that misinformation was a prohibited activity on the site and users would be fined $2,500 for violations.  "PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy," the company said in an Oct. 8 statement sent to news outlets. We rate the that PayPal has "reinstated its policy to fine users $2,500" for "spreading misinformation" .

Smart! 'Kuwait issues its own Trump-esque visa ban for five Muslim-majority countries.'

February 2, 2017

immigration;foreign policy

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.

national

a Facebook post

On Facebook, Trump said, "Smart! 'Kuwait issues its own Trump-esque visa ban for five Muslim-majority countries.' " That’s -- news coverage suggests that Kuwait implemented a visa ban on a half-dozen predominantly Muslim nations in 2011, six years before Trump took office. Meanwhile, any argument that Kuwait’s past actions indicate a like-minded approach between Trump and Kuwait sidesteps the reality that pursuing such a policy in the United States inevitably has a much bigger impact because the U.S., unlike Kuwait, allows a path to citizenship for legal immigrants. We rate the statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/d6ba1000-cfb1-4ab9-a5e1-c229b1b45320

All the talk about socialism during the campaign made young people more interested in it by Election Day.

October 2, 2009

economy

michael moore

Michael Moore directed the movie "Capitalism: A Love Story" and is a well-known documentary filmmaker. His movies includes "Roger and Me," "Bowling for Columbine," "Fahrenheit 9/11," and "Sicko." He won the Academy Award for best documentary in 2002 with "Bowling for Columbine," and he was a nominee in 2007 for "Sicko." Michael Moore's Web site is www.MichaelMoore.com.

national

the movie Capitalism: A Love Story

He said that the Web reference will be changed. But while that item may be corrected on the Web site, the statement in the movie still says that "by Election Day," socialism was more popular with young people than it used to be. There does not appear to be much, if any, poll data to support that. So Moore has not convincingly shown that young people are reacting to the U.S. economic system by moving toward socialism. We rate Moore's statement .

The woman named Wisconsin's 2010 "outstanding teacher of the year" was laid off by the Milwaukee Public Schools that year under "seniority and tenure rules" that were eliminated by his Act 10 changes.

January 24, 2015

labor

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

Iowa

However, in seeking a stronger rhetorical point, Walker stretches the honor Sampson received. It helps make the story more dramatic, but less accurate. We rate Walker’s statement . ------ More on Scott Walker For profiles and stories on Scott Walker and 2016 presidential politics, go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Scott Walker page .

Since Gov. Nathan Deal office in 2011, the state's rainy day fund has grown by 643 percent.

January 14, 2015

state budget;states

nathan deal

Nathan Deal is running for Georgia governor in 2010.

georgia

State of the State address

The other way to measure reserves to project how many days they could be used for government operations, and the current money would cover about 16 days, he said. In summary, the state had $1.5 billion in its rainy day fund and relied on it to balance the state budget through the toughest years of the Great Recession. The fund is not where it once was nor is it where it needs to be so the state is ready for the next economic downturn. But it is exactly where Deal said it is -- up 643 percent since he took office. We rate Deal’s statement .

The only time in our history when the debt has been higher than this was the end of World War II.

February 11, 2013

debt

david cote

David Cote is president of Honeywell International. He was a member of President Barack Obama's Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, otherwise known as the Simpson-Bowles debt commission, and is now a part of "Fix the Debt," a bipartisan campaign to address the nation's fiscal challenges. In 2011, his total compensation was $37 million.

new hampshire

a speech during a “Fix the Debt” press event

In hard dollars, it’s not even close. The current $16.49 trillion debt is far larger than at any other point in U.S. history. But, the debt-to-GDP ratio tells a different story. The current ratio, 73 percent, is among the nation’s highest. But, as Cote notes, it still has a ways to go to get to the 106 and 109 percent levels reached during and after World War II. However, Cote was unspecific about comparing today’s debt to the exact end of World War II in August, 1945, or the era following the war. As noted, the debt remained higher for six years after the war than it is today. We rate Cote’s .

In WI, over 79% of Title X patients rely on Planned Parenthood for their basic health care.

August 19, 2019

abortion;health care;public health;women

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

a tweet

Pocan said "In WI, over 79% of Title X patients rely on Planned Parenthood for their basic health care." We found these numbers match data collected for a U.S. Senate committee, and used by Planned Parenthood itself. But Pocan’s was a bit off by framing the debate around "basic health care." Title X funds are limited to reproductive health care issues, not such things as physicals, flu shots and other general matters for which people might see a doctor. Our definition for is: "The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information."  That fits here.

#MichaelCohen: Convicted of lying to Congress re: Russia investigation … #ElliottAbrams: Convicted of lying to Congress re: arming Contra death squads

February 27, 2019

legal issues;foreign policy

ilhan omar

Ilhan Omar is a Democratic congresswoman representing Minnesota's 5th congressional district, which includes parts of Minneapolis and surrounding municipalities.

national

a tweet

Omar tweeted, "Michael Cohen: Convicted of lying to Congress re: Russia investigation … Elliott Abrams: Convicted of lying to Congress re: arming Contra death squads."  She was correct that both Cohen and Abrams were guilty of lying to Congress, although her comparison overlooks that Cohen admitted to other violations, including tax and loan fraud. Abrams received a pardon, and whether the Contras are accurately described as "death squads" is a complex issue. We rate this statement .

I was the first elected Republican in Williamson County history.

February 18, 2019

elections

john carter

Carter, of Georgetown, was initially elected to the U.S. House in 2002. He is a former state district judge.

texas

a speech

Carter said he was "the first elected Republican in Williamson County history." It’s hard for Carter to say definitively that he was the first Republican ever elected to serve locally because of inconsistencies on early ballots, incomplete records and newspaper reports. The same year he was elected, another Republican was elected to serve as a Justice of the Peace for the 1st precinct. We rate this . – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context

According to 2009 estimates, an agreement with Panama could result in almost 1,900 Florida jobs in the first year – and about 15,000 jobs after five years.

March 18, 2011

jobs;trade

rick scott

Rick Scott, a wealthy Florida businessman, was first elected Florida's 45th governor on Nov. 2, 2010 and re-elected Nov. 4, 2014. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 and is running for re-election in 2024.

florida

his weekly radio address

In trumpeting a possible trade agreement with Panama, Scott tried to highlight the benefits to Florida by saying the agreement "could result in almost 1,900 Florida jobs in the first year – and about 15,000 jobs after five years." Scott rightly couches his job by noting that it's an estimate and offering the qualifier "could," so we can't fault him too much. But the fact is the analysis Scott relied on to make his is based on a series of significant assumptions or estimates, and a much more thorough analysis concluded that determining the impact on jobs created by the trade agreement with Panama was not possible. The lesson here is to be wary of any job estimate figure. We rate this .

Gabby Petito's last text to her mother included an acronym for "Send The Authorities Now.

April 20, 2023

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

The FBI later said it appeared that Laundrie had sent text messages from Patito’s phone to give the impression that she was still alive. We don’t know whether he sent the text referring to Stan. But we found no to corroborate this post’s that Petito was asking her mother to "send the authorities now." We rate it . PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. 

Says Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was photographed at dinner with Democratic lawmakers.

January 8, 2022

supreme court;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

The editor who received the tip failed to do so in this case. We deeply regret the error. "  In the photo in question , someone with dark hair — like Sotomayor and Weinshall have — can be seen sitting at a table with their back to the camera next to Klobuchar, who is turned around and facing the camera.  A spokesperson for Schumer told the Associated Press that Sotomayor wasn’t at the dinner. We rate claims that Sotomayor is the person in the picture . 

Says Hillary Clinton's health care plan from the 1990s "had a broader provision in favor of corporate right to back out" of providing contraceptive coverage than the one created by the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision.

July 6, 2014

abortion;congress;corporations;health care;religion;sexuality;supreme court;punditfact

newt gingrich

Newt Gingrich is a political adviser and author. A former Georgia congressman, Gingrich served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. Gingrich sought the GOP nomination for president in 2012.

interview on ABC's "This Week"

Gingrich said Hillary Clinton's health care plan from the 1990s "had a broader provision in favor of corporate right to back out" of providing contraceptive coverage than the one created by the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision. We found that Sen. Moynihan did produce a health care bill, as part of widespread reform efforts, that included a religious exemption for employers that was broader than the provisions created by the court’s decision. However, Gingrich was to connect that back to the Clintons. The Clintons’ health care plans did not include such a provision, and they did not back Moynihan’s bill. In fact, Moynihan was critical of the administration throughout the health care debate. Additionally, his proposal came up near the end of the reform efforts and didn’t generate much discussion. We rate Gingrich's  . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/183923cd-a3bd-46d3-aca7-68b0ada766b8

Bill Gates tweeted that "vaccines in our food supply solves the problem of vaccine hesitancy.

January 18, 2023

food;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

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

national

an Instagram post

Social media posts Bill Gates tweeted that "vaccines in our food supply solves the problem of vaccine hesitancy." He didn’t.  The tweet was fabricated and came from a photo illustration that NewsPunch used in a story about comments Gates made in 2018. In that talk, he said nothing about using food to force vaccinations on people.  We rate this ! RELATED:  No, mRNA vaccines aren’t widely used in livestock and can’t get into the food supply

Most of Kathy Manning's donors are from out-of-state.

August 30, 2018

campaign finance

ted budd

Ted Budd is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represents parts of central North Carolina between Greensboro and Charlotte. He joined Congress in 2017.

north carolina

After combing through all of the publicly listed donations on the FEC’s site, it is that most of Manning’s donors are from outside of North Carolina. We took the ActBlue donations into consideration, and they do not change the outcome. 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.

A video shows former President Barack Obama referring to his wife, Michelle as "Michael.

May 20, 2023

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Mullen and his family — his wife, Deborah and his sons Jack and Michael — had been introduced by then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.  Panetta said, "I want to extend my deepest thanks to Admiral Mullen’s family: his wife Deborah, his two sons Jack and Michael, who both followed in their father’s footsteps, attending the Naval Academy and now serve with fleet." In the full speech, Obama said , "Most of all, Admiral Mullen, Deborah, Michael, and I also want to acknowledge your son Jack, who’s deployed today. All of you have performed extraordinary service to our country." We rate the that Obama was referring to his wife !

(M)ore Georgians have jobs than at any other time since October 2008.

January 15, 2014

economy;jobs

nathan deal

Nathan Deal is running for Georgia governor in 2010.

georgia

a speech

Economists believe the job market will continue to improve in 2014, but some caution that the kinds of jobs available aren’t exactly offering the same kind of pay as baseball pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who last week signed a contract to make $30 million a year. Some prominent economists have projected that only one in five jobs added in 2014 will pay more than $60,000 a year, the AJC reported. To sum up, Deal said in his State of the State address that more Georgians have jobs than they did at any time since October 2008. Data from the state’s Labor Department supports the governor’s argument. We rate Deal’s .

Says Bob Saget predicted his death

February 2, 2022

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A video shared on Facebook suggested Saget predicted his death.  The video points to a joke Saget made in October when talking with his wife about her favorite movies. Saget was found unresponsive in his hotel room in January, and authorities have since determined his death was the result of accidental head trauma.  There is no to suggest Saget predicted his death.  We rate this .

The increase in the garbage tax that [Mayor Allan Fung] imposed in Cranston for some people has been as much as $200.

July 15, 2014

environment;city government;debates

kenneth block

Kenneth Block is a software engineer and president of Simpatico Software Systems. He founded Rhode Island's Moderate Party and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010. He switched to the Republican Party in 2013 and made an unsuccessful run for Rhode Island Governor in 2014.

rhode island

a radio debate

During a radio debate, Ken Block said, "The increase in the garbage tax that [Mayor Allan Fung] imposed in Cranston for some people has been as much as $200." He then mentioned the word "tax or taxes" five more times. But there is no garbage tax. And only those who request an extra barrel or are discarding bulky items and mattresses will pay any extra fees. In fairness, Block later used the word "fee," and "additional fee." But we believe the average listener  would conclude that Block was talking about a hike in -- or extra fee beyond -- an existing "garbage tax." In addition, Block’s that "many Cranston residents are now paying more for trash service than they were a year ago," is sweeping generalization. Only 80 residents have so far requested an extra barrel. We won’t say that Block’s is a whole lot of garbage. But it certainly misleads and . We rule his statement . (If you have a you’d like PolitiFact Rhode Island to check, email us at [email protected] And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)

When you add a dollar value to mandates," government took almost 50 percent "of the American people's money.

November 4, 2013

federal budget;regulation;taxes;punditfact

larry elder

Larry Elder announced April 20 that he is running as a Republican for president. He lost the California gubernatorial recall election in 2021 and is a conservative radio talk show host.

CNN's "Crossfire" roundtable

Elder said, "When you add a dollar value to mandates," government took almost 50 percent "of the American people’s money." It’s easy to get to the mid-to-high 30 percent range. But getting the last 10 to 15 percentage points to get to "almost 50 percent" is less certain. Regulation does have a cost, but the exact cost is hard to pin down. Because his larger point -- that government spending has increased, and that mandates have a cost -- is valid, we rate the .

An HIV-positive Cadbury worker has been arrested after contaminating products with his blood.

February 28, 2019

fake news;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Posts on social media that Cadbury candy products are contaminated after an HIV-positive worker was arrested for infecting the products with his blood. This rumor has been going around for over a year, and is completely bogus. The man in the photo is a Nigerian terrorist and there is no that Cadbury products have ever been contaminated with the virus. We rate this !

90% of Americans want national background checks that close loopholes.

October 2, 2015

criminal justice;crime;government regulation;guns

jeremy bird

Jeremy Bird, a founding partner of 270 Strategies, also is a senior consultant to Battleground Texas, a group hel helped form that's focused on turning Texas pro-Democratic.

texas

a tweet after the shootings at an Oregon community college

Bird said: "90% of Americans want national background checks that close loopholes." Polls continue to show a strong tilt in favor of background checks prior to all gun purchases; the latest available poll before Bird spoke found 93 percent of adults in favor. Then again, the popularity of this idea may bear watching. Other 2015 polls found as few as 84 percent of respondents backing the universal checks. We rate the . – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Says Scott Walker refused federal funds and "Wisconsin families now pay nearly 50% more than Minnesotans for the same health care.

August 27, 2018

health care;medicaid

tony evers

Tony Evers, a Democrat, was elected Wisconsin governor in November 2018. His term begins in January 2019. Evers has served as the Wisconsin superintendent of public instruction, a non-partisan position, since 2009. He previously worked as a teacher and school district administrator.

wisconsin

a TV ad

Experts say that’s not correct. Several other policies and market dynamics play a more significant role than Medicaid in determining premiums. Furthermore, differences in the health insurance markets between Wisconsin and Minnesota make simplistic comparisons between the states unreasonable. The ad contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. That’s our definition of .

Says the federal government hosted a conference and "ordered 250 muffins at 16 bucks a piece.

September 28, 2011

federal budget;pundits

bill o'reilly

Bill O'Reilly hosted The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News until 2017. He formerly worked as a television news reporter and has authored numerous books.

national

an interview on "The Daily Show"

O’Reilly got the $16 muffin story from a lengthy and thorough report issued by an independent inspector general. Additionally, the "$16 muffin" is how the inspector general phrased its charge of excessive spending. We reviewed the long report, and it seems to be thorough and independent, as are most reports from inspectors general. The report’s main findings are that the government is paying for items that appear too costly when invoices are reviewed. Even if the $16 muffin is fiction, then it seems reasonable to believe that the Justice Department’s own spending records are incomplete or . On the other hand, a full reading of the report showed the $16 muffins included beverages and possibly fruit, as well as meeting space. While a $16 breakfast is no bargain, it’s not as bad as $16 for a solitary baked good. Also, O’Reilly made his remarks to Jon Stewart on Sept. 28, after Hilton issued its first statement on Sept. 23 saying the invoices may not have been complete. So the report was under question when O’Reilly debated Stewart. (We contacted O’Reilly for comment, but we didn’t hear back.) Because the federal government didn't pay $16 for a muffin even if it paid too much for breakfast, we rate O’Reilly’s statement .

Smog was invented in Los Angeles. It was. The name was invented. There was a fellow at Caltech and he came up with the idea and they called it smog.

October 7, 2015

climate change;energy;transportation

jerry brown

Jerry Brown is the governor of California. A Democrat, he earlier served as governor of California from 1975 to 1983.

california

a speech

Gov. Jerry Brown said: "Smog was invented in Los Angeles. It was. The name was invented. There was a fellow at Caltech and he came up with the idea and they called it smog." A look at historical sources shows the term smog dates back more than a century. It was coined by a London doctor to refer to the smoky black air that fouled Great Britain during its industrial period. Brown’s statement ignores this history, viewing smog’s origin with only a California lens. But looking deeper, a gradual shift in the term’s meaning took place in the 1940s and 1950s as scientists, including Caltech professor Arie Haagen-Smit, studied the cause of Los Angeles’ persistent and foul brown haze. In his statement, the governor references Haagen-Smit, who is credited as the first to prove L.A.’s smog was caused by automobile exhaust, and who at least one current Caltech professor says is "often described as inventing smog." The governor’s statement, while fuzzy at first glance, is partially accurate. But it leaves out important details and takes information out of context. We rate the .  

Wild Bill Hickok had his first duel in the town square here. And the family legend is that he is a distant cousin of mine.

July 30, 2008

history

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

Springfield, Mo

The story was that he was holding two pairs, aces and eights — hence the term "dead man's hand" still used today. The relation to "Wild Bill" Hickok is way cooler than the revelations earlier this year that Obama is distantly related to none other than vice president Dick Cheney. Undoubtedly, Obama took a lot of ribbing over that. Maybe those jokesters ought to sleep with one eye open because Obama's "family legend" is correct. We rule the statement .

Says HB2 has hurt North Carolina's economy by "one-tenth of 1 percent of our annual GDP.

March 6, 2017

economy;jobs;lgbtq;states

dan forest

Dan Forest is North Carolina's Lieutenant Governor.

north carolina

Texas

Forest said HB2’s economic harm to North Carolina has amounted to only "one-tenth of 1 percent of our annual GDP." He’s right. While $500 million in economic losses (not to mention at least 1,400 jobs lost) is not insignificant, the state’s overall economy is large enough that the losses are only about 0.1 percent of the total GDP. We rate this .

Chief Justice John Roberts visited Jeffrey Epstein's private island.

December 17, 2020

supreme court;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Other fact-checkers noted that after the logs came out, Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts also denied any connection to Epstein on Twitter . PolitiFact searched Google and Nexis and found no credible reports indicating that the chief justice was friends with Epstein. Other fact-checkers reached the same conclusion. We reached out to Wood and the Supreme Court’s public information office, but we did not hear back. We rate these Facebook posts .

Says the national health care law puts federal "bureaucrats between an American citizen and her doctor.

August 28, 2012

health care

chris christie

Chris Christie announced June 6, 2023 that he is running for the Republican nomination for president. Christie was the governor of New Jersey and a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. As governor, Christie won office in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Prior to that, he was U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2008. 

new jersey

Tampa

Christie said Romney will be able to tell the hard truths necessary to end the debacle of putting federal "bureaucrats between an American citizen and her doctor." We found no solid to support Christie’s sweeping , which overreaches on the role of the federal government under the new law. With the reform, the private health care delivery system remains in place. While there are significant changes to the health insurance market and incentives and penalties to promote better care, that doesn’t mean the government is inserting itself in between doctors and patients. We rate this statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/53b2a47e-a962-45e1-adcf-140275b44bec

Ken Mercer "wants Sean Hannity and James Dobson included in social studies texts.

August 9, 2010

education

rebecca bell-metereau

Rebecca Bell-Metereau is a professor at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She ran for the Texas State Board of Education in 2010.

texas

a campaign flier

He said a separate requirement wasn't needed because liberal groups were already well represented. As to Bell-Metereau's statement, she's correct that Mercer spoke about adding Hannity and Dobson to the state's social studies curriculum standards -- although Mercer says the comment was intended to make a point about preserving ideological balance. Sorting who provoked what in that exchange is beyond us; that's between Mercer and the reporter. And although judging someone's wants is difficult, we find it significant and persuasive that neither Mercer nor other board members made a motion to include Dobson and Hannity in the standards, meaning there's been no push thus far to include them in textbooks. That earns Bell-Metereau a rating of .

Tammy Baldwin cosponsored legislation that wanted to establish the Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

May 4, 2018

federal budget;foreign policy;military

kevin nicholson

Republican Kevin Nicholson, a former Marine, announced in July 2017 that he would run in 2018 for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. He is a business consultant who lives in Delafield, Wis.

wisconsin

an interview

Touting her vote for the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, saying it strengthens national security. Our rating Nicholson says Baldwin "cosponsored legislation that wanted to establish the Department of Peace and Nonviolence." Baldwin did cosponsor, as a member of the House before joining the Senate, the 2007, 2009 and 2011 versions of those bills, which did not become law. But it’s important to note, in terms of Nicholson’s suggestion that the cosponsorships were Baldwin’s answer to national security problems, that Baldwin has supported some defense-spending measures, as well. We rate Nicholson’s statement .

1 in 4 Rhode Islanders under the age of 65 does not have health insurance.

August 26, 2010

health care

frank caprio

Frank T. Caprio Jr. served as Rhode Island's general treasurer from 2007 through 2010. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2010 and ran for treasurer again in 2014, losing in the Democratic primary. Prior to that, he served as a state senator from 1995-2006 and as a state representative from 1991 to 1994. He is married and has two children.

rhode island

his campaign website

If you think we’re being too fussy, consider that the Mathematica study estimates that 140,000 Rhode Islanders have no health insurance. Use Caprio’s estimate and that number jumps to more than 220,000 people. That’s a difference of more than 80,000, about the size of the population of Cranston. Small percentage differences matter. Because Koller and other officials can’t say with absolute certainty just how many Rhode Islanders are uninsured, we’ll give Caprio a bit of leeway and call his statement .

In Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire has a Senator who was the deciding vote to pass Obamacare.

November 4, 2013

health care;voting record

jim rubens

Jim Rubens is a two-term Republican State Senator who served as the chair of the Public Affairs and Education committees. He was Board President of Headrest, a substance abuse program and suicide prevention hotline serving northern New England. He is a private venture investor, focusing on New England start-ups in proprietary technology and healthcare solutions. He has lived with his family in Hanover, New Hampshire since 1980.

new hampshire

an email

Rubens said Shaheen was "the deciding vote to pass Obamacare." It’s that all 60 Democratic votes -- including Shaheen’s -- were needed to pass the measure through the Senate. However, Shaheen, unlike Ben Nelson, was hardly a holdout until the last minute; she gave indications early on that she supported the president’s reform plan. We rate Rubens’ .  

Simply being in this country without documentation is not a crime

November 16, 2017

immigration

kathy sheehan

Kathy Sheehan is a Democrat serving as mayor of Albany, N.Y. She was first elected in 2013.

new york

an interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight

Sheehan said "simply being in this country without documentation is not a crime." It may be semantics, but Sheehan is right. Living in the U.S. without documentation is a civil violation, not a crime. PolitiFact Florida rated a similar earlier this year. As its fact check noted, however, those in the U.S. without documentation may have committed a crime by entering the country illegally. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that generally opposes loosening immigration laws, told PolitiFact Florida that "it's easy for such individuals to run into separate criminal problems even beyond their method of entry, such as filling out an employment eligibility form to get a job when they aren’t eligible to work." But their illegal presence is not a crime. Sheehan's statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate it .

Says Gov. Chris Christie "cut spending (by) $1 billion" and provided "$850 million in new education funding.

September 20, 2011

education;state budget

committee for our children's future

Committee for Our Children's Future, a nonprofit group known as a 501(c)4, launched a television campaign in September 2011 to tout the reform efforts of Gov. Chris Christie.

new jersey

a television ad

A television ad from a pro-Christie group claims the governor "cut spending (by) $1 billion" and provided "$850 million in new education funding." Those numbers are accurate, but when it comes to the education funding, Committee for Our Children’s Future must think New Jerseyans only have short-term memory. Given the cuts made last year, education funding has gone up by a total of about $30 million since Christie’s first budget in office. We rate the statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

The bulk of the problem with the opioid epidemic is the fentanyl and all the synthetic drugs coming across the southern border.

June 2, 2018

drugs

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.

florida

during a BBQ

DeSantis said, "The bulk of the problem with the opioid epidemic is the fentanyl and all the synthetic drugs coming across the southern border." This downplays the fact that synthetic drugs are smuggled into the country from locations outside of the southern border, especially from China. However, exact numbers to sort out how much comes from where were unavailable. Trump’s own commission seemed more concerned with China than Mexico when it comes to synthetic drugs.  We rate the statement .

Neil Armstrong's space boots don't match a photo of his footprint on the moon, suggesting the moon landing was a hoax.

April 23, 2019

science;space;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

According to a 2017 Forbes story , Armstrong and Aldrin abandoned about 100 tools, gear and pieces of trash on the moon’s surface. "NASA wanted the mission to bring back as many samples of lunar rocks and dust as possible," the story says, "which meant the crew needed to leave behind everything they didn’t actually need for the trip back to earth." Moon landing conspiracy theories endure, but so do the first footprints on the moon’s surface. There’s no wind to blow them away, according to NASA , and they’ll be there for a million years. We rate this Facebook post as .

There are nanoparticles in the COVID-19 vaccine that will help people "locate you" via 5G networks.

March 9, 2021

public health;technology;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a video on Facebook

The term "nanoparticles" refers to the small size of a material. The nanoparticles used in the COVID-19 vaccines are lipids. They have nothing to do with microchip technology or 5G networks. There is no the vaccines contain any material that would allow someone who has been vaccinated to be "located" using 5G.   We rate this !

After California taxes, Trey Lance's $34.1M rookie deal becomes just $16M.

May 3, 2021

sports;taxes;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

california

an Instagram post

An image posted on Instagram claimed that rookie quarterback Trey Lance, who recently signed to the San Francisco 49ers, will take home $16 million from his $34.1 million deal after paying California income taxes. Given current tax rates, this seems to be a reasonable estimate of how much Lance might take home after paying federal and state income taxes on his contract with the NFL. He will pay significantly more in federal income taxes than in state income taxes — about $12.6 million compared to an estimated $4.5 million. Additionally, tax experts caution that it is impossible to determine exactly how much Lance will pay in taxes because his tax burden will be impacted by when he earns his income, his filing status and his charitable contributions, among other personal factors. Lance could also establish endorsement deals that increase his income, which would affect his taxes. Since his contract with the 49ers runs for four years, he could be impacted by changes to state and federal tax rates and laws surrounding tax breaks and deductions. And while Lance will almost certainly pay more in state income taxes than some of his competitors in low-cost states, they’ll be hit with the same high tax rates every time they travel to face off against the 49ers in Santa Clara. In short, while the estimate is reasonable, it’s also exactly that — a rough estimate that’s missing a little context. Therefore, we rate this . – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.

The state is able to sharply curtail contract bargaining rights for state employee unions.

December 7, 2010

jobs;labor;state budget

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 luncheon speech at the Milwaukee Press Club

All that remains to be seen. Where does that leave us right now? In his response to a question, Walker misused the phrase "decertify" -- he can’t make state employees unions vanish. But labor experts agree with the central part of Walker’s statement -- the Legislature could rewrite the laws governing what issues are subject to negotiation, which could tilt the bargaining table in the administration’s favor. We rate Walker’s statement .

Never mind that no red light camera, no speed camera, nor any radar gun has ever stopped one accident from occurring.

June 6, 2016

transportation

tom mccarey

Member of the National Motorists Association.

pennsylvania

In a Penn Live editorial

Tom McCarey wrote in a Penn Live editorial the technologies being pushed for by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia -- an extension of the state’s red light camera program, a pilot program for speeding cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard and the use of radar detection by police -- would make highways more dangerous and not stop a cyclist from being hit. At one point, he wrote Never mind that no red light camera, no speed camera, nor any radar gun has ever stopped one accident from occurring."   But multiple studies have shown crashes have been reduced in areas where red light cameras and speed cameras are used. Dominique Lord, who completed a study that questioned the efficacy of red light cameras, said the cameras have prevented at least one crash.    We rate the .

The United States is "the only advanced country on Earth" that doesn't guarantee "paid maternity leave to our workers.

January 20, 2015

jobs;women;workers

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 that the United States is the only advanced country on earth that doesn’t guarantee "paid maternity leave to our workers." Unless you live in one of three states that mandate it, paid maternity leave is not required, and it’s uncommon among employers. As a result, the United States has the smallest population of women eligible for paid maternity leave among developed countries. All developed countries surveyed by the International Labor Organization mandate at least some paid maternity leave. However, it’s worth noting that the benefit is not exactly universally enjoyed in parts of the developed world due to restrictions and exclusions on certain workers. We rate the statement .

Says he has "yet to get a response" from Barack Obama to his August 2010 letter making border security requests.

April 5, 2013

immigration

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

an interview on CNN

Perry said he had "yet to get a response" to his 2010 letter to Obama requesting border security steps. That’s not so. Perry fielded a reply to his letter from a White House deputy about three weeks after the airport howdy. We grant that it might not have contained the answers Perry sought, but saying Perry has yet to get any response strikes us as both and . !

Says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "says that all young people want to be socialists.

January 4, 2022

new york;ad watch

tim baxter

Tim Baxter is a 2022 Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire. He is a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

new hampshire

an ad

There is that young people in the U.S. react favorably to the term "socialism" — and show support for more progressive ideas about government programs, if not government ownership of the means of production. For example, this question was asked in an Axios/Momentive poll in June: "Do you have a positive or negative reaction to the word socialism?"  Among adults ages 18 to 24, 52% said positive and among those 25 to 35, 50% said positive. But there’s a lot of distance between those findings and the that Ocasio-Cortez said "all young people want to be socialists." We rate that . PolitiFact staff researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Our Supreme Court has never taken away a constitutional right.

May 4, 2022

abortion;legal issues;supreme court

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

TV interview

But Idleman, the Marquette University professor, said it’s uncommon for rights to be eliminated or even significantly restricted, and added he’d be hard-pressed to find too many more examples.  "It’s uncommon," he said, "but not unprecedented. "   Our ruling  Baldwin said she believed the "Supreme Court has never taken away a constitutional right. "  Legal scholars say that although such reversals are uncommon, a few examples do exist.  That makes her .   

The Democratic Congress has already taken significant steps to create jobs and jump-start the economy, resulting in the lowest tax rates in over 50 years and the creation of over 500,000 new jobs so far this year.

May 27, 2010

economy;taxes

mark critz

Mark Critz is a Democrat who represents a district in western Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives. He won his seat in a May 2010 special election to succeed the late Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., for whom Critz worked as an aide.

national

a speech on the House floor

By nature, all recessions depress taxation rates, as individuals and families shift to lower tax brackets and, as a result, pay out less of their income in taxes.   The Bush tax cuts and the recession are "hardly facets of the issue that a newly minted Democrat should be touting," said J.D. Foster, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.   Overall, then, Critz was right on the stats -- that taxes are relatively low right now, and that 500,000 jobs have been created this year. But it's a stretch for him to suggest that the Democrats deserve any more than partial credit for the shape of today's tax landscape. So we rate his statement .

Says Donald Trump "spent the least amount of money of any of the competitive primary contenders that he beat so badly.

June 22, 2016

campaign finance;elections

michael caputo

Michael Caputo is the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Caputo is a former adviser to Donald Trump. He also ran Carl Paladino's 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

new york

an interview on Capital Tonight, Time Warner Cable News

Caputo, a Trump supporter and former adviser, said, Trump "spent the least amount of money of any of the competitive primary contenders that he beat so badly." When Trump’s spending is looked at broadly over the course of the campaign, he appears to outspend the majority of his opponents through the end of May. But a review of his spending during the time rival candidates were still in the race shows a different result. All except Kasich spent more money than Trump before dropping out. It's also worth mentioning that Trump did not have any major funding from a superPAC, while some of his opponents did. The Right to Rise superPAC, for example, spent more than $80 million to elect Jeb Bush. We rate this as . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/ae35d6be-8a83-482f-a362-142b5c1b05e4

I'm one of the first guys to introduce a climate change bill, way, way back in '87.

May 1, 2019

climate change;congress

joe biden

Joe Biden is the president of the United States. A Democrat, Biden served as a Delaware senator from 1973 (elected at the age of 29) until 2009. During his time in the Senate, he served as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, chair of the International Narcotics Control Caucus and chair of the Judiciary Committee. He subsequently served as Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2016. Biden launched unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 1988 and 2008. He received a degree in history and political science from the University of Delaware and his J.D. from Syracuse School of Law. 

national

a stump speech

Biden said, "I’m one of the first guys to introduce a climate change bill, way, way back in ‘87." There had been some high-profile hearings about climate change on the Hill, as well as a non-binding resolution prior to Biden’s proposal. But he is credited with introducing the first climate change bill. We rate this .

The health care bill has "six years of costs against 10 years of tax revenue.

March 1, 2011

health care;taxes

ken cuccinelli

Ken Cuccinelli became acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on June 10, 2019. Cuccinelli, a Republican, was Virginia's attorney general from 2010 to 2014. In 2013, he lost the general election for governor to Democrat Terry McAuliffe. In 2016, he was a adisver to the presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Born in 1968, Cuccinelli has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia, a J.D. from Geroge Mason University School of Law and an M.A. in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University. He represented Fairfax County in the state senate from 2002 to 2010.         .

virginia

an appearance on Fox News

The bill is is a bit front-loaded. About 10 percent of the taxes for health care reform will be levied in the first four years to pay for an estimated 1 percent of cost. But Cuccinelli is flat to say health care reform offers no benefits before 2014. Some of the bill’s most popular provisions -- including no cancelation of health insurance for pre-existing conditions, guaranteed coverage of dependents to age 26, and tax credits for small businesses -- have taken effect and other components will be implemented before 2014. We rate this .

More than half of Planned Parenthood facilities are in rural or medically underserved areas.

March 16, 2017

abortion;health care;public health;women

carolyn maloney

a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing a district in New York.

national

remarks on the House floor

Maloney said, "More than half of Planned Parenthood facilities are in rural or medically underserved areas." That is supported by data from Planned Parenthood and the federal health care database.  Experts familiar with the data told us that there is enough to show Maloney was on target with her . We rate this .

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was involved in a covered-up DUI accident

March 26, 2023

alcohol;crime;facebook fact-checks

tweets

Twitter is a messaging service where people often discuss politics. Individual messages are called Tweets.

national

a tweet

The SUV was parked on a railroad crossing and the woman was sitting handcuffed in the back seat. In the posts about Jean-Pierre, the image of the SUV with a back door open is a zoomed-in version of the original screenshot and cuts out the incoming train. Another image showing the back of an officer who wore clothes labeled "police"  appears in many of the posts, but it isn’t from March 2023, either. A search showed the image is from Jan. 7 Memphis, Tennessee, police body camera footage that was released following the killing of Tyre Nichols. We rate these claims !

Say New Jersey Reps. Donald Payne and Frank Pallone are "socialists who are openly serving in the U.S. Congress.

August 12, 2011

candidate biography

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

new jersey

web pages

The ruling     Misinformation and smear campaigns are part of political life. But these persistent claims about socialists are riddled with errors and outright lies. Any one of the problems would be sufficient to discredit the report, but taken together, the effort is flagrantly . For that reason, we rate this : . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

Wisconsin voter turnout jumped from 67% in 2016 to 89% in 2020.

November 4, 2020

elections

donald trump jr.

Donald Trump Jr. is the son of President Donald Trump and his former wife Ivana Trump.

wisconsin

a Facebook post

Trump Jr. shared a that Wisconsin’s turnout jumped from 67% in 2016 to 89% in 2020, and intimated it is due to fraud or something nefarious. But it’s due to bad math. Turnout is measured as a percentage of eligible voters, not registered voters. Trump Jr.’s figures use eligible voters for the 2016 figure but registered voters for 2020. Using the proper denominator for 2020 shows a turnout around 72%, firmly in the range of past presidential elections. We rate this !

The House Zika bill "limits access to birth control services needed to help curb the spread of the virus" in Puerto Rico.

June 23, 2016

abortion;public health

bill nelson

Bill Nelson was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida in 2000. He lost re-election to Gov. Rick Scott in 2018. Nelson previously served in the Florida Legislature, Congress and as state Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner.  

florida

an email statement

Nelson, along with many other Democrats, said the Zika funding bill would limit access to family planning and contraceptives that would help stop the spread of the Zika virus. The legislation would have blocked the flow of money to one organization, Profamilias, the Planned Parenthood chapter in Puerto Rico. However, the bill also provided funds that would potentially help clinics and hospitals in nearly every municipality on the island. There would be some pockets without services, but it is unclear that Profamilias would be positioned to fill those gaps. At the same time, Profamilias serves women who might be more at risk of infection because they tend to be young and poor. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details. We rate this . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/43556383-0ecf-4eca-9f83-1a0b4adea71a

In the past three years, state legislatures have "enacted more of these restrictions (on abortion) than in the previous 10 years combined.

January 22, 2014

abortion;health care;women

patty murray

Patty Murray is a Democratic senator who represents the state of Washington. 

national

an online statement

Murray said there have been more state-level abortion restrictions in the past three years than in the 10 years before that. A Guttmacher Institute report counted 205 restrictions from 2011 to 2013, compared to 189 from the previous decade. It's worth noting that 25 of those aren't currently in effect, but Murray specifically referred to restrictions enacted, not restrictions currently enforced. Both abortion-rights advocates and anti-abortion advocates told PolitiFact that they concur with Guttmacher's data. We rate her .

California's deadly wildfires "would never happen" with "proper Forest Management.

January 9, 2019

environment;fires;government regulation;public safety

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.

california

a tweet

President Trump claimed California’s deadly wildfires "would never happen" with "proper Forest Management." Experts on climate, forestry and firefighting all rejected a similar assertion by Trump in November, calling it overly simplistic. They said forest management is just one element, while climate change and urban sprawl are also key contributors. Trump has, once again, erroneously placed the blame on just one factor. We rate his latest , as well.   We rate the .   –  The statement is not accurate. Click here for  more  on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

Just about half of rural hospitals operate in the red in Virginia. They operate at a loss.

September 16, 2015

health care

mary mannix

Mary Mannix has been the President and CEO of Augusta Health in Fisherville, Va. since January, 2008. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves on the Board of Directors of the Blue Ridge Community College Foundation, the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce, the Board of the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, and the Region 3 American Hospital Association Regional Policy Board. She holds Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing, and Master of Business Administration degrees from Binghamton University. Her post graduate fellowship in Healthcare Administration was through the Guthrie Healthcare System.

virginia

a news conference

Mannix said about half of the rural hospitals in Virginia are operating at a loss. Figures from the group that tracks hospital finances back her and suggest, if anything, her estimate is on the low end. We rate her statement .

Says Donald Trump is not at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, "he is on AF1.

October 2, 2020

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a series of images

That unfounded theory is outweighed by the significant amount of showing that Trump does, in fact, have COVID-19. The Facebook post is and makes a . We rate it ! This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click  here , for more.

Just last May, the Department of Justice inspector general found that these ('sanctuary city') policies also violate federal law.

March 27, 2017

immigration;criminal justice;homeland security;crime

jeff sessions

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

national

a press briefing

Sessions said, "Just last May, the Department of Justice inspector general found that these (‘sanctuary’) policies also violate federal law." A memo issued by the inspector general raised questions about how local officials may be interpreting and applying ordinances that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities. But the memo also explicitly said a formal legal determination on whether certain state and local laws or policies violate Section 1373 had not been made by immigration officials and that his office was unaware of any Justice Department decision in that regard. Sessions’ statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it .

We have dozens of districts that go for 150 to 200 miles, splitting counties, splintering cities and connecting areas that have very little in common.

December 13, 2010

elections

ellen freidin

Ellen Freidin was campaign chair of the drive to amend the Florida constitution to require more compact  legislative and congressional districts. Amendments 5 and 6, passed in 2010, require new district lines to take into account county and municipal boundaries and geographic divisions, while also allowing for minority representation.  

florida

comments at the launch of the NoLabels.org website

One might argue that districts should be measured not just from end to end, but by the sprawling territory they take up, which would likely add to the list. Whether it would get it to "dozens'' is debatable.        Inarguably, the districts meander and wind in jagged jigsaw patterns that crisscross cities and  counties.  We highlighted more than three-dozen examples. With a slight penalty for fuzzy math on the number of giant districts, we rate Freidin’s .

Kamala Harris resigns in shock after Biden's 'mandatory' border trip…Trump jails 'corrupt' VP.

October 12, 2022

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

(Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook.) Both posts featured the same clip from a Newsmax broadcast in which a guest criticized the Biden administration on immigration and Harris for not visiting the border. But the segment didn’t touch on Harris resigning, or getting jailed. She didn’t.  We rate this !

Says Democratic runoff opponent Grady Yarbrough twice previously ran statewide as a Republican.

June 8, 2012

bipartisanship;candidate biography

paul sadler

Paul Sadler, a lawyer who previously worked with the Wind Coalition energy advocacy group, served in the Texas House from 1991 through 2003, an East Texas district around Henderson. He was his party's 2012 U.S. Senate nominee.

texas

Houston

In a telephone interview, Yarbrough said he was invited by a Tyler friend to help the Republican Party in about 1984 and volunteered to help Republican Bill Clements make his successful last run for governor in 1986. Yarbrough said he left the GOP after the party’s chairman in 1990 refused to condemn another candidate for the party's land commissioner nomination who had offended Yarbrough by saying that his name was adapted from slave holders. The opponent, Yarbrough told us, "should not have brought that up." Yarbrough said he became a Democrat after the 1990 race because he felt he was no longer welcome in the Republican Party. We rate Sadler’s statement as .

Dolphins are rapists. Look it up.

April 15, 2016

animals;science;punditfact

unbreakable kimmy schmidt

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a fictional TV show about a happy-go-lucky woman navigating New York City after being rescued from an underground cult.

an episode of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"

Tina Fey’s character on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt said, "Dolphins are rapists. Look it up." We did. It’s just a myth. While research has shown some aggressive mating behavior among dolphin males, this isn’t the same thing as "rape." Importantly, there’s no to show that the females are forced to mate. We looked it up and found that this is very much breakable. . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/c8057807-878d-4fca-b029-1f01fa7a7516

Sotomayor thinks "that one's sex, race and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench.

May 26, 2009

sotomayor nomination;supreme court

judicial confirmation network

The Judicial Confirmation Network is a conservative nonprofit organization that, according to its Web site, is made up of "citizens joined together to support the confirmation of highly qualified individuals to the Supreme Court of the United States."

national

a released statement

To the contrary, Sotomayor says several times that she agrees judges should aspire to "transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices." However, she acknowledges that we are all informed by our experiences and that "personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see." And, she concludes, when it comes to things like race and sex discrimination, that kind of diversity of experience can be an asset. In context, it's clear that Sotomayor isn't suggesting the intellect of Latina women is superior to that of white men, only that a greater diversity of experience and thought would be a valuable addition to the court system. And so we rate the Judicial Confirmation Network's statement .

We have right now, … in the state of California, 55 percent of all immigrants are on public assistance.

January 23, 2018

immigration;welfare

steve cortes

Former Trump Hispanic advisory council president and CNN political commentator.

california

an interview

Cortes said, "We have right now … in the state of California, 55 percent of all immigrants are on public assistance." That’s of households but not individual immigrants, in 2012, a study found. The Current Population Survey found a lower amount, that 41 percent of immigrant households in California relied on welfare. Government assistance is broadly defined to include school lunch and Medicaid. The discrepancy in what may ordinarily be considered welfare, like cash and housing assistance, was much lower between native and immigrant households in California. In the absence of clearer definitions of public assistance and the distinction between immigrants and immigrant households, Cortes’ immigrants’ drain on public coffers. We rate this statement .

The only segment in the beer market that is growing is the craft beer segment.

April 22, 2011

alcohol;regulation;small business

mike villarreal

Mike Villarreal, a House member since 2000, resigned his seat on the cusp of the 2015 legislative session to run for mayor of San Antonio.

texas

a press conference

On March 28, Anheuser-Busch announced plans to buy Chicago craft beermaker Goose Island. "Sales of these more expensive and more sophisticated craft beers are a tiny drop in the bucket compared to mass market beer sales, but they’re growing faster than mainstream beers," according to a National Public radio story about the deal. Last September, CNBC reported that publicly-traded craft beer companies had seen "explosive growth" in the U.S. while overall beer sales were down. And an August MarketWatch report said: "While beer consumption in recent quarters has remained anemic for the major commercial beer brewers... sales for premium or so-called craft beers have continued at a steady pace." We rate Villarreal’s statement as .

Says he posted a "win" in the Republican Party of Wisconsin endorsement contest in the U.S. Senate primary.

May 13, 2012

elections

jeff fitzgerald

Wisconsin Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, is the speaker of the state Assembly. He was elected to the Assembly in 2000. His brother is Wisconsin state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. In October 2011, Jeff Fitzgerald ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2012.

wisconsin

Facebook and Twitter posts

A first-place showing in the final showdown -- and majority support -- do represent a "win" for Fitzgerald. Or, as he tweeted, "success." But the needs some clarification in that it was not a formal endorsement -- the prize everyone was seeking.   We rate it . (You can comment on this item on the Journal Sentinel's website )

A "well-crafted garlic salve" can "heal any ailment of the lungs and respiratory system.

December 4, 2022

health care;facebook fact-checks

instagram posts

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

a video

An Instagram post says a "well crafted garlic salve" can "heal any ailment of the lungs and respiratory system." Doctors told PolitiFact a topical garlic salve would be an ineffective treatment against respiratory illnesses, and there is no scientific that it works. We rate this .

Have the suburbs been inundated with former residents of Atlanta housing projects? Absolutely not.

June 29, 2010

housing

barney simms

Barney Simms is chief external affairs officer of the Atlanta Housing Authority

georgia

a letter

DeKalb County's population is slightly more than 747,000, the Census Bureau data show. Even if all 1,400 of those people moved to one of those counties, is it fair to say one of those places has been "inundated" with former AHA tenants? We don't think so. The data from the AHA and Georgia State both reach similar conclusions that the percentage of tenants moving out of the city has been small. Therefore, we rate Simms' statement as .

Obama voted for "tax subsidies and giveways" that have slowed oil companies from pursuing clean energy sources.

March 11, 2008

energy

hillary clinton

Hillary Clinton was the 2016 Democratic nominee for president. She served as U.S. Secretary of State during the first four years of the Obama administration. She is formerly a U.S. senator from New York, first elected in 2000. She was a candidate for president in 2008. She previously served as first lady when her husband, Bill Clinton, served two terms as president. She was born in Chicago in 1947, graduated from Wellesley College and earned a law degree at Yale Law School. She and her husband have one daughter.

national

Harrisburg, Pa

Responding to a PolitiFact inquiry, the Clinton campaign referred to a speech she made on the Senate floor, citing her opposition to the bill because, in part, it ignored pressing energy challenges, including U.S. dependence on foreign oil. "The bill includes billions in subsidies for mature energy industries, including oil and nuclear," Clinton said in her July 29, 2005, remarks. However, this reasoning ignores the fact that tax breaks for oil and gas producers encourage domestic production, which helps reduce reliance on foreign oil. Clinton is right that Obama voted for the bill and she didn't. But because she incorrectly depicts the 2005 energy bill as a setback to renewable energy and a sop to Big Oil, we find her statement to be .  

Says Gerald Daugherty advocated lowering the penalty for crimes like strangulation in domestic violence cases because "they just 'throw more people into the'" jail "'system.

October 17, 2016

criminal justice;crime

david holmes

David Holmes, the 2016 Democratic nominee to represent Precinct 3 on the Travis County commissioners court, previously worked as an aide to Democrats including Bob Bullock, Ann Richards and Leticia Van de Putte. He also has worked in the music business.

texas

a Facebook post and video

Holmes said Daugherty advocated lowering the penalty for crimes like strangulation in domestic violence cases because "they just ‘throw more people into the’" jail "‘system.’" Addressing staff members, Daugherty appeared to be seeking input on a variety of issues affecting the costs of operating the jail. Among the questions he raised was whether the county should argue for a lowering of the penalty for strangulation. Yet Daugherty didn’t advocate for that action either in his comment at the work session or in any statement or action since, far as we can tell. We rate this . – The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/db629f33-5c92-4efa-9999-f121a00a8ffb

We have the highest tax rate anywhere in the world.

October 14, 2015

taxes

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.

virginia

a speech

Trump, while lamenting the condition of the middle class, said the U.S. has "the highest tax rate anywhere in the world." All sets of data we examined for individual and family taxes prove him . Statutory income tax rates in the U.S. fall around the end of the upper quarter of nations. More exhaustive measures - which compute overall tax burden per person and as a percentage of GDP - show the U.S. either is in the middle of the pack or on the lighter end of taxation compared with other advanced industrialized nations. We rate Trump’s .

And, you know, our first president and our first commander in chief prayed every day. He had a field manual of prayers.

October 31, 2007

history

duncan hunter

Duncan Hunter is a former U.S. representative from California, first elected to the post in 1980. He was born in California in 1948 and went to Western State University for undergraduate and law degrees. He served in Vietnam and practiced law before running for Congress. He is married and has two children. He withdrew from the presidential race on Jan. 19, 2008.

national

a Fox News interview

Washington scholar Rupert Hughes wrote in 1926 that no connects Washington to this prayer book, which was found nearly a century after his death in a old trunk. Hughes consulted a penmanship expert who proved it wasn't even in Washington's handwriting. "We are very confident that this prayer book is not Washington's prayer book," Chase said. Fortunately for Hunter, it's a common myth. Otherwise, we might give him a ruling.

Says a Republican bill he vetoed would have implemented a "mandate" to make public the names of all students' parents or guardians.

November 21, 2019

education

tony evers

Tony Evers, a Democrat, was elected Wisconsin governor in November 2018. His term begins in January 2019. Evers has served as the Wisconsin superintendent of public instruction, a non-partisan position, since 2009. He previously worked as a teacher and school district administrator.

wisconsin

a veto message

While vetoing a pupil records law, Evers said the law would have mandated that schools release the names of students’ parents or guardians. He stated that the mandate was his main reason for vetoing the measure. But there is no mandate — something Evers’ office eventually admitted 11 days later. State statute is clear that the district can choose which student information is released, and even after that parents or guardians can choose to opt out of releasing any student information. It’s an admittedly obscure, in-the-weeds kind of law, but it takes on a larger significance since the governor — or a staffer working on his behalf —  either fundamentally misunderstood how the law works or intentionally misstated it to support his veto. We rate Evers’  .

Eric Esshaki "would allow insurance companies to kick people with a preexisting condition off their plans in the middle of a pandemic, including over 100,000 Michiganders who have survived COVID-19.

September 29, 2020

haley stevens

Haley Stevens represents Michigan's 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

michigan

a campaign ad

A Haley Stevens campaign ad says her challenger, Eric Esshaki, supports a plan that would allow insurers to kick over 100,000 COVID-19 survivors in Michigan off their health care plans. Stevens cites Esshaki’s support for repealing the Affordable Care Act, which includes protections for preexisting conditions. But Esshaki has called for waiting to repeal the ACA until there’s a replacement that maintains those protections. Stevens’ ad also assumes that all Michiganders who have survived COVID-19 would be affected in the same way — and lose their coverage — if the ACA were repealed or overturned. That’s not the case. People in the individual insurance market would be most at risk if insurers designate coronavirus infections as a preexisting condition. But the effect on people covered by job-based group plans, Medicare or Medicaid would be more limited. The contains an element of but ignores critical facts. We rate it . 

GOP tax plan "is better for working, middle-class families" since "88% of the tax relief goes to those making $100,000 or less.

February 12, 2019

taxes

john nygren

John Nygren is a Republican who represents the 89th District in the Wisconsin State Assembly

wisconsin

a tweet

The numbers are accurate, so far as they go. The problem is they show only part of the picture. The Democrats are proposing a larger overall tax cut that would result in more tax savings for those under $100,000 in earnings — even if that accounts for a lower percentage of the overall tax cut package. So the statement is partially accurate, but it leaves out important details. That’s our definition of .

Biden impeachment in progress.

July 6, 2022

facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

So far, no House majority has ever impeached a president of the same party. It is the job of the Senate to consider whether the articles of impeachment merit removal from office. Republicans controlled the House when they initiated the impeachment process against former President Bill Clinton, and Democrats controlled the House when they initiated the impeachment process against Trump in 2020 over his dealings with Ukraine in connection with his hopeful re-election, and again in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.  Democrats still control the House, and they haven’t initiated an impeachment process against Biden. We rate claims that Biden’s impeachment is in progress !

Photo shows Kim Jong Un's weight loss

June 16, 2022

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

(Read more about our partnership with Facebook .) The first photo shows Kim in Pyongyang, North Korea in March 2019. The second photo shows him taking part in a parade in the city in September 2021.  But the 2021 photo has been altered in the Facebook post to make him appear thinner than he looks in the original image.  Claims that this photo shows how much weight Kim lost are .