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Operating a health care exchange would be "illegal" in Georgia and some states because of legislation passed in those states.

November 9, 2012

health care

michael cannon

Michael Cannon is the director of the Cato Institute's health policy studies. He previously served as a domestic policy analyst for the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee under Chairman Larry E. Craig, according to the institute's website.

georgia

an article

To sum up, Cannon wrote that creating a health care exchange under the 2010 federal health care law would be "illegal" in Georgia and 13 other states. He wrote that those states have legislation that precludes "implementing Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates." The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the individual mandate was allowable under the Constitution. The experts we spoke to and others note federal law supersedes state law here. We rate this .

The government is arming up the IRS because "Joe Biden is raising taxes and disarming Americans.

August 4, 2022

congress;federal budget;military;taxes

matt gaetz

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

florida

interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News

Gaetz claimed that the government is arming up the IRS because the president is raising taxes and disarming Americans, citing the amount of money spent on ammunition by the agency this year. But there’s been no significant increase in spending on ammunition, and Gaetz ignores that the IRS Criminal Investigation division has existed for more than a century and that the weapons and ammunition are for those law enforcement officers. That division had fewer special agents in 2021 than it had in 2017, but the number of agents has stayed about the same for decades. The $725,000 the division spent this year on ammunition, much of which is used for agents’ firearms training, is only slightly more than was spent in recent years and less than was spent a decade ago. There is no this continued tradition of spending by the IRS has any connection to Biden’s positions on taxes and gun restrictions. We rate this . RELATED: Kevin McCarthy’s about an army of 87,000 IRS agents

This year West Virginia produced more AmeriCorps members than any other state.

August 8, 2018

poverty

joe manchin

Joe Manchin is a U.S. senator from West Virginia. The former governor of West Virginia won a special election in November 2010 to complete the balance of the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s term.

national

a tweet

Manchin tweeted, "This year West Virginia produced more AmeriCorps members than any other state." AmeriCorps data confirms West Virginia’s first-place rating per capita for 2018, the first time the state ranked first since the agency began publishing the data in 2015. We rate the statement .

Today in America, between 40 and 50 percent of all African-American babies, virtually 1-in-2, are killed before they are born.

April 14, 2016

abortion

trent franks

Trent Franks is a Republican member of the U.S. House representing a district in Arizona.

arizona

a legislative hearing

Franks said, "Today in America, between 40 and 50 percent of all African-American babies, virtually 1-in-2 are killed before they are born." Data suggests a disparity in the number of abortions performed on African-American women than other races. But saying that "between 40 and 50 percent of all African-American babies" are aborted goes beyond the limits of the data. Federal data doesn’t account for all 50 states, and fails to factor in pregnancies that end in a miscarriage. Private data is based on surveys and is years out of date. We rate Franks’ as . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/495aa314-3469-48b1-9c22-2a846a816891

The Mormon religion has "a plan that will see the Constitution thrown out and replaced by a theocracy.

December 22, 2007

religion

freedom defense advocates

Freedom Defense Advocates is a political action committee based in Lynchburg, Va.

national

There is absolutely no place for these attacks in American politics. Governor Romney isn't going to dwell on attacks from his opponents. Rather, his campaign is about the issues that are important to the American people, and bringing conservative change to Washington." As for the facts behind the that the Mormon religion wants to see the Constitution revoked and the government run by Mormon religious leaders, we find a decided lack of concrete . And given the extreme nature of the , we must give it our ruling.

The very first meal on the surface of the moon was the Holy Communion.

July 20, 2013

history;pop culture;religion;space

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

georgia

a Facebook post

He asked for a few moments of silence "to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way." To sum up, a Facebook post claimed that NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin took Communion on the moon.   Several sources, including NASA records and Aldrin’s memoirs, include accounts of the Communion service. PolitiFact also discovered that Aldrin’s church, outside of Houston, still celebrates the lunar Communion service each year on the Sunday closest to the July 20, 1969, moon landing. We rate the Facebook Communion .

As CEO of WWE, Linda McMahon "was caught tipping off a ringside physician" about a federal investigation into illegally distributing steroids to wrestlers.

October 21, 2010

candidate biography;message machine 2010

democratic senatorial campaign committee

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee works to elect Democrats to the U.S. Senate.

national

a TV ad

But again, the ad doesn't say she did. The ad merely says she tipped off the ringside physician about an investigation. She did, according to her own memo. And Zahorian was later convicted of distributing steroids to some of her WWF wrestlers. We rate the ad .

Cops in Norway: require 3 years of training, 4 people killed since 2002. Cops in Finland: require 2 years of training, 7 people killed since 2000. Cops in Iceland: require 2 years of training, 1 person killed since ever. Cops in the U.S.: require 21 weeks of training, 8,000+ people killed since 2001.

June 8, 2020

corrections and updates;criminal justice;crime;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.

post on Facebook

A Facebook post compared the number of fatal gun-related police encounters and the length of police training in three Nordic countries and the U.S. "Cops in Norway: require 3 years of training, 4 people killed since 2002. Cops in Finland: require 2 years of training, 7 people killed since 2000. Cops in Iceland: require 2 years of training, 1 person killed since ever. Cops in the U.S.: require 21 weeks of training, 8,000+ people killed since 2001." The numbers in this were partly accurate. Finland’s police training takes longer than two years, and it had two more police-related deaths. The claims about U.S. policing were the most . Police academies and departments usually require more than 21 weeks of training and estimates for fatal police shootings point to about 20,000 deaths in the past 20 years. What’s missing most from the post, however, is context. The rate of gun violence and gun ownership is higher in the U.S. than in these other countries. Research has also shown that fatal police shootings are the result of a combination of factors and are not limited to time spent in police training alone. Experts say there needs to be structural U.S. policing reform, not just more time spent intraining. We rate this . Correction, June 22, 2020 :  Finland has a high homicide rate compared to most  Nordic countries , but it does not have the highest homicide rate in Europe. Homicides in the U.S. are four times as high as in Finland's, according to 2017 data. An earlier version of this story was on these two points.

Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA.

March 5, 2018

immigration;homeland security

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 tweet

Trump tweeted, "Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA." This fact-check isn't about assigning blame to a political party for the lack of a DACA deal. In reality, both political parties likely bear some responsibility. But Trump underplays and ignores the efforts of Democrats to reach a solution to help Dreamers, including meetings with Trump, bipartisan proposals, and a stated willingness to discuss border wall funding.  We rate Trump’s .

If we manufactured 5-million of these 2.5-meg windmills across the country, we could electrify the entire nation — the entire nation.

September 26, 2007

energy

mike gravel

Mike Gravel is a former senator from Alaska. Gravel served as senator from 1969 until 1981 and ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008.. He is also a former lieutenant in the U.S. Army, serving from 1951 to 1954. Gravel received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Columbia University School of General Studies. In 2019, he announced he is running for the Democratic nomination for president.

national

Hanover, N.H

Wiser said scientific studies are still in draft form, but they look promising. Currently, the United States gets between 0.8 and 1 percent of its electricity from wind power. President Bush has spoken approvingly of wind energy, because of its minimal impact on the environment. The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2007 that the U.S. wind industry, which has lagged behind its counterpart in Europe, is now ramping up. Demand is strong for the high-tech parts used to build wind turbines, so much so that shortages are preventing new projects from starting.

Attorney General Eric Holder's own Justice Department precleared the voting changes in the 2011 law" about early voting in Florida.

August 1, 2014

elections

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

a press statement

Scott and his campaign said Florida’s 2011 voting changes were precleared by the Holder’s Justice Department. That statement ignores the fact that the department only signed off on the state’s plan after the state agreed to offer the maximum number of early voting hours in some counties to satisfy a court ruling. So approval came only after the state committed to offering the maximum number of hours in places that had a past history of discrimination. Scott's statement leaves out important details that led to Holder’s Department signing off on Florida’s election plan. We rate his .

Says President Donald Trump has donated $1 million to a relief fund for the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian while no other politicians have contributed any money.

September 8, 2019

weather;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Several high-profile companies and celebrities, including Disney and Michael Jordan , have pledged $1 million to Dorian victims. So have cruise brands like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line. And, following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Trump did donate $1 million of his own money to charities helping with recovery efforts in Houston — a move that was announced by the White House at the time. But there’s no that Trump has made a similar commitment for the Bahamas. We rate the Facebook post .

The FBI building in Washington is "completely closed. No one's in there.

June 14, 2021

facebook fact-checks

viral image

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

a Facebook post

The FBI later sent PolitiFact this statement: "The FBI headquarters building at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW is open and fully operational, as are all of our field offices. "  The Associated Press reported that a reporter who works near the building confirmed that people were coming and going from the building on June 14 and in the days since. The video wasn’t taken from Pennsylvania Avenue but from the side of the FBI building on E St NW . The Google Maps street view from this vantage point — taken in November 2019 — is similar to what appears in the Facebook video.  We rate this .

21% of 140,000 ballots were found to be in error in GA.

May 22, 2021

national;elections

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

georgia

a Facebook post

Facebook posts said "21% of 140,000 ballots were found to be in error in GA." There has been no official finding to that effect. The appears to be based on uncorroborated allegations by a plaintiffs witness in a lawsuit seeking to inspect absentee ballots cast in Fulton County. The Secretary of State’s office rejected the witness’s as . A judge granted the plaintiffs’ request, but his order didn’t mention anything about the alleged error rate. Georgia’s top statewide election officials, who are Republicans, have audited, certified and stood by results showing that Biden won the state. The Facebook post cites a speculative about a 21% error rate. We rate this statement . RELATED: that Georgia decertified the election is a falsehood RELATED: Here’s why Georgia’s Republican officials are confident in their presidential election results RELATED: Fowl play? Social media users falsely Arizona ballots were destroyed in chicken farm fire  

Says the coronavirus can be slowed or stopped with the "immediate widespread use of high doses of vitamin C.

January 27, 2020

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A Facebook post says that taking high doses of vitamin C will slow or even stop the coronavirus.  There’s no that the supplement has any effect on the coronavirus. There is currently no vaccine or medicine recommended for the virus.  We rate this .

(Mary) Burke was a senior member of the Doyle administration that left Wisconsin with 130,000 fewer jobs.

February 13, 2014

economy;jobs

republican governors association

the gubernatorial campaign arm of the Republican Party.

wisconsin

a campaign TV ad

Our rating The Republican Governors Association charged that "Burke was a senior member of the Doyle administration that left Wisconsin with 130,000 fewer jobs." There’s an element of , but the ad ignores the critical fact that Burke also worked in half of Doyle’s first term, when 86,000 jobs were gained . Employment also rose in the narrower time frame when Burke worked for Doyle over parts of his two terms. And in any event, the role of these two officials in those losses and gains is very limited, given national economic realities of the time. We rate the ad’s .

There have not been any public safety issues" in cities that allow transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as.

March 17, 2016

crime;lgbtq;sexuality

chris sgro

Chris Sgro is the executive director of Equality NC.

north carolina

a speech urging Charlotte's anti-discrimination ordinance be left intact

Chris Sgro, the executive director of Equality NC, said that "There have not been any public safety issues in those other communities" with ordinances allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice. We haven’t found any instances of criminals convicted of using transgender protections as cover in the United States. Neither have any left-wing groups or right-wing groups. There was one incident in Canada, involving a rapist. In the U.S., there have been a few yet-unproven allegations. We rate this .

Says the Chinese Communist Party "will finally admit that the real source of the coronavirus is from 'a lab in Wuhan' linked to its covert biological weapon programs.

January 25, 2020

public health;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

bloggers

Blog posting on the Internet

an article

Their findings suggest "a likely single, recent emergence from a virus related to bat coronaviruses and the SARS coronavirus." The disease appears to have originated at a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, and it spread from there to several Asian countries, Australia, France, Canada and the United States. Researchers believe the current outbreak pattern suggests the coronavirus may have spread from animal to human at first, and now from human to human.  G News’ story is . We rate it .

Says of Gov. Tony Evers and 2020 violence in Kenosha after the police shooting of Jacob Blake: "It took the loss of lives before help finally came.

August 17, 2021

military;public safety;states

empower wisconsin

Wisconsin conservative information hub.

wisconsin

TV ad

In an ad, Empower Wisconsin said of Evers and Kenosha violence: "It took the loss of lives before help finally came." But the timeline shows Evers had sent in 250 National Guard troops in the days before the night Rittenhouse shot and killed the two men. We rate this .  

A video shows Rep. Matt Gaetz threatening Robert Mueller with jail time.

December 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.) We watched the eight-minute video, and not only does Gaetz not mention Russian President Vladimir Putin, nor suggest that Mueller falsely attributed something to Putin, he doesn’t suggest incarceration for Mueller, who led an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. There’s also no Dec. 12 update to speak of.  The clip comes from a July 2019 House Judiciary Committee hearing during which Gaetz questioned Mueller about the Steele dossier , a research memo containing claims about former President Donald Trump.  We rate claims that this video shows Gaetz threatening Mueller with jail time .

Barack Obama put a permanent stop on this military aid to the Ukraine - he never allowed it to go.

October 21, 2019

impeachment;foreign policy

matt gaetz

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

florida

a tweet

Gaetz said, "Barack Obama put a permanent stop on this military aid to the Ukraine - he never allowed it to go." Obama did not permanently stop military aid to Ukraine. The element of in Gaetz's statement is the Obama administration did not provide lethal military aid that Ukraine asked for in 2014. However, it did provide other military equipment and training. The United States has provided $1.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014, on average $300 million a year.  This statement rates .

Vitamin D, vitamin C, colloidal silver and black seed oil can kill the coronavirus.

March 9, 2021

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

instagram posts

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

an Instagram post

A post on Instagram discourages people from getting a COVID-19 vaccine and instead advocates for "naturopathic solutions," including vitamins D and C, colloidal silver and black seed oil. While research into some supplements like vitamin D has seemed promising, subsequent studies have questioned whether it can protect against COVID-19. And there’s no reliable scientific to support the idea that vitamin D, vitamin C, colloidal silver or black seed oil can kill the coronavirus, as this post claims. Research to date shows COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. are safe and effective at preventing known and potential harms of becoming infected with COVID-19.    We rate the in this post .

Says a photo shows Donald Trump holding a sign that says, "No matter who is president, Jesus is still king.

August 28, 2019

fake news;religion;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 post on Facebook

You can see many Associated Press photos from that day here and here . In April, Snopes fact-checked a similar Facebook post that appeared to show Trump holding a T-shirt that said, "No matter who is president Jesus is still king." That one was also doctored. The original image shows the president holding a jersey with his name and the number "45" on the back, according to Snopes. We rate this Facebook post .

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed became a city resident in the last annexation, opening the door to his candidacy.

November 28, 2014

elections

keisha lance bottoms

Keisha Lance Bottoms took office as  mayor of Atlanta, Ga., in 2018. She has previously served as Atlanta City Councilwoman from District 11.

georgia

an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story

She is not quite right on her that the larger 2006 annexation included Reed’s subdivision, which opened the door to his candidacy. The mayor’s office said, though, that the move did push him to a different house in the same neighborhood so he could be a city resident. To that end, her point is correct. There is some additional context needed to make sense of it all. But overall, we rate the .

Says Rep. Jon Runyan "voted to redefine rape.

October 10, 2012

abortion;crime;voting record;women

shelley adler

Shelley Adler, a Democrat, is running to represent New Jersey's third congressional district.

new jersey

a campaign event

Adler said Runyan "voted to redefine rape" while listing the reasons "we can’t trust him to stand up for women." The Democratic congressional hopeful distorts the voting record of her Republican rival with this . House Republicans introduced a bill that restricted federal funding for abortions, except in cases of "forcible rape." Runyan never signed on as a co-sponsor of that legislation. Further, when the bill reached the House floor for a full vote and Runyan voted in favor of it, the word "forcible" had been removed. We rate Adler’s . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

It is "the Department of Homeland Security's view that returning military veterans and gun owners are likely to commit terrorist acts.

April 15, 2009

military;terrorism;veterans

gus bilirakis

Rep. Gus Bilirakis is a Republican Congressman from Florida. He represents the 9th Congressional District, an area north of Tampa Bay.

national

a news release

This brings us back to Bilirakis' that DHS thinks that "returning military veterans and gun owners are likely to commit terrorist acts." This is a distortion of what the report actually said. The report said that right-wing extremists would try to recruit veterans, and that they would try to use gun control legislation as a "radicalization" tool. That's very different. We rate his statement .

Says he "did the very best" in a recent poll in Iowa matching up each of the major Republican presidential candidates against President Barack Obama.

February 22, 2012

polls and public opinion

ron paul

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

texas

Arizona

Paul had the largest lead on Obama of any of the major Republicans in matchup polling in Iowa in February 2012. Still, experts raised questions about how statistically certain that conclusion is, considering how close the poll’s results were. To us, that is additional information needed to evaluate Paul’s , and so, his statement rates .

Says Democrats "spent $40,000,000 of YOUR tax dollars trying to impeach Trump.

November 11, 2019

impeachment;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

A Facebook post claimed, "Democrats spent $40,000,000 of YOUR tax dollars trying to impeach Trump."  That number echoes an exaggerated estimate of the cost of the Mueller investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 election. That did not go through the impeachment process. We haven’t seen any estimates of the cost of the impeachment inquiry so far. Salaries for staffers on the committees involved, as well as expenses associated specifically with Clinton’s impeachment charges, suggest that the cost of the Trump inquiry is far less than $40 million. They would be earning salaries regardless. The Facebook post is . We rate it .

There are 500,000 "missing kids a year.

September 21, 2021

children;crime;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

A viral image that invoked the Gabby Petito case claimed there are 500,000 "missing kids a year." In 2020, there were 365,348 reports of missing children made to law enforcement agencies that were recorded by the FBI’s National Crime Information Center. That’s down from 421,394 in 2019.  The number of active missing-child cases is much smaller. We rate the post .

As CFO, Alex Sink oversaw "a $27 billion loss in the state's pension fund.

October 30, 2013

economy;pensions;state budget

republican party of florida

The Republican Party of Florida represents Republicans in Florida.

florida

a YouTube attack ad

The Republican Party of Florida said there was a loss of pension assets of $27 billion during Sink’s term as the state’s CFO. But that doesn’t represent a permanent loss of funds. We also see no reason why Sink deserves more of the blame than the other two trustees. And, Sink was CFO during a historic recession. Given these sizeable caveats, we rate the Florida GOP’s .

Florida still averages more students in its classrooms than any other state in the Southeast.

January 29, 2010

education

franklin sands

Franklin Sands is Florida's House Democratic Leader.

florida

a press release

Put another way, if 30 high school juniors were in an English class and 10 high school juniors were in an art class, the calculation for class size would likely be 30 but the calculation for pupil/teacher ratio would be 20. Not all states calculate average class size. (At least Tennessee and Kentucky don't, education officials in those states confirmed.) Back to what Sands said: His broader point -- that Florida has more students in its classrooms than other states -- is largely , as measured by pupil/teacher ratios. But Sands said "Florida still averages more students in its classrooms than any other state in the Southeast," and there are at least three caveats to his statement: In our minds, that's enough asterisks to knock Sands' statement to .

Our school test scores are right at the bottom.

April 29, 2010

education

thurbert baker

Thurbert Baker is Georgia Attorney General. He is a Democratic candidate for governor.

georgia

a speech

So overall, Georgia's test scores on the two main college entrance exams paint different pictures. On the SAT, the state ranked 47th. But on the ACT, the state was 38th or 40th. So it's not, as Baker said, "right at the bottom." We find his .

Elon Musk said, "In some parts of the world, journalists get murdered for crossing the wrong people.

December 18, 2022

technology;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

The tweet doesn’t appear on his account, nor among tweets he deleted that have been archived by PolitiTweet, which tracks the deleted tweets of high-profile figures.  We found it posted on Reddit on Dec. 16 with the label "Satire/ Tweet," but not in any forums credibly claiming the tweet is real.  Musk’s suspension of journalists’ accounts drew intense media coverage, and such a comment would be widely reported. It wasn’t.  We rate claims that this is a real tweet .

Phoenix, Ariz., is the No. 2 kidnapping capital of the world.

July 16, 2010

immigration

courtney combs

State Rep. Courtney Combs, a Republican, represents the 54th Ohio House District, which includes the cities of Hamilton, Fairfield, and Ross Township in Butler County.

ohio

an appearance at the Cleveland City Club

We appreciate that Combs is willing to admit that he didn’t know what he was talking about, but he should have. This has been rated repeatedly as it has made the rounds, yet here it is again. If you repeat a statement that has been proven , it amounts to a reckless disregard for the facts. You may as well touch a match to your inseam. We move this statement to our lowest rating: .

Says about NSA data collection: "Every member in both parties who served on the Intelligence Committee voted in favor of this.

July 30, 2013

civil rights;congress;homeland security;terrorism;privacy issues

tom cole

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., was elected to Congress in 2002. He's a fifth-generation Oklahoman and one of the only Native Americans serving in Congress.

national

an MSNBC interview

Cole told Morning Joe that when it comes to the NSA program, he’s going to vote with "the people that actually know." He said his support was shared by every member of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican or Democrat. He was close. One Arizona Democrat disagreed. We find his statement only .

Exposure to the electromagnetic fields from power lines "has been associated with childhood leukemia and other diseases.

November 24, 2014

energy;infrastructure;public health;public safety

patrick lynch

Patrick Lynch served as Rhode Island's attorney general from 2003 to 2010. He was, for a time in 2010, a candidate for governor. He is a big fan of Spider-Man. Divorced, Lynch is the father of two.

rhode island

a newspaper commentary

Lynch said exposure to the electromagnetic fields from power lines "has been associated with childhood leukemia and other diseases." Lynch, when questioned, says he's saying there is just an association, and he's not asserting that EMFs cause cancer and other diseases. We believe the average reader would come away believing that Lynch was saying there is a direct link and a real danger, which would be a striking assertion. When it comes to health effects, the grain of in Lynch's statement is that there have been some studies suggesting a link. But he's ignoring the fact that other studies and experts have concluded that there is little or no effect, and major health organizations have not found the to be convincing despite decades of efforts to demonstrate a danger. Because his ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, we rate it . (If you have a you’d like PolitiFact Rhode Island to check, email us at [email protected] And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)

Charcoal activated tablets "will counteract most date rape drugs.

September 4, 2019

public health;public safety

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Experts said that taking a charcoal tablet to block drugs is misguided and could provide people a sense of security. Instead, they said, if someone thinks they have been poisoned, they should seek medical help immediately.  A Facebook post claimed that charcoal activated tablets "will counteract most date rape drugs." Although activated charcoal is often given as an emergency poison treatment, medical experts said that it’s unlikely to be effective in detoxifying the gastrointestinal system by the time someone realizes that they may have ingested a drug.  We rate this . 

In 45 out of 50 states, on average men are seeing their premiums double, going up 99 percent. Women up 62 percent.

October 21, 2013

health care;pundits

sean hannity

Sean Hannity is a conservative political commentator and hosts a nationally syndicated radio show, as well as two television shows on the Fox News Channel. In a 2013 interview Hannity said that he is a “registered Conservative” and ”not a Republican, though people often mistake me for one.” Hannity has authored three books.

national

a broadcast of the Sean Hannity Show on WBAP AM

Hannity said premiums are skyrocketing and the average man would pay twice as much, while the increase for the average woman would be 62 percent. That relies on a study that focused on the individual marketplaces for insurance set up under Obamacare, a  subset of people who purchase insurance. Regardless of the accuracy of the analysis, it spoke to the experience of a small minority of Americans, and it did not factor in the subsidies that will cushion some people from increased premiums. Hannity overreached in his remarks on radio. That said, new rules for insurance plans will tend to push some rates up -- because the plans must provide better coverage. But by how much depends on a host of factors that several leading health policy experts say is too difficult to estimate. We rate this .

Says 97 cents of every dollar played "represents over $500 million dollars that is returned to Oregonians every year to help support job creation, schools, state parks and watersheds.

June 17, 2012

lottery;state budget

oregon lottery

The Oregon Lottery provides money for economic development and schools.

oregon

an advertisement

We think it’s more than a matter of misconstruing meaning. For nearly two years, the Oregon Lottery has been running a disingenuous ad campaign that tries to paint playing the Lottery as giving back to schools, parks and other economic development projects. Yes, a piece of the revenue goes there -- but not 97 cents of every dollar played.   We think a state agency that deals with money in billions -- and spends nearly $13 million a year on advertising, market research and public information  -- should know better. Return to OregonLive to comment on this ruling.

I built the last nuclear plant — not only in the state, but in the country.

August 1, 2011

energy;nuclear

tom kean

Tom Kean is a former governor of New Jersey and a former chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

new jersey

The Star-Ledger

So he’s right there. But, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Hope Creek isn’t the last nuclear power plant to be built in the United States. Kean would be correct if he had said he built one of the last nuclear power plants of its kind in the United States. But he didn’t specify, so we rate the statement . To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com .

Our campaign staff was the first to unionize in the history of politics.

March 14, 2018

elections;labor;unions;workers

randy bryce

Democrat Randy Bryce, an Army veteran, union leader and iron worker, lives in Caledonia in Racine County, Wisconsin. In November 2018, he lost a bid for Wisconsin's 1st District congressional seat, which had been held by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Janesville Republican. Bryce also lost races for the Wisconsin Legislature in 2012 and 2014 and lost a 10-way primary for the Racine County Board of Education in 2013.   

wisconsin

an interview

The Office and Professional Employees International Union wasn’t able to help us and we didn’t hear back from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Our rating Bryce says: "Our campaign staff was the first to unionize in the history of politics." The dozen experts we consulted said they were not aware of any previous campaign staff unionizing, though they could not state flatly that it had never occurred. If new information surfaces, we’ll reconsider this rating. For now, we rate it .

Says Nevadans will have a "double-digit hike in their Obamacare premiums for the year" and "10 of Nevada's 16 counties will only have one Obamacare...exchange insurer

October 30, 2016

health care

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.

nevada

a campaign speech

Trump said Nevadans will see a "double-digit hike in their Obamacare premiums for the year" and "10 of Nevada’s 16 counties will only have one Obamacare...exchange insurer" Trump is correct, but his rhetoric is a little overstated. Nevadans who get health insurance through the exchange will see their unsubsidized premium costs rise by about 12 percent (although most people in the exchange receive subsidies). Most counties in the state will only have one insurer on the exchange next year, but about 97 percent of enrollees live in a county with at least two insurers. Still, the basic facts are correct. We rate Trump’s statement as .

Police defunding is to blame for "skyrocketing murder rates" in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Portland, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

May 26, 2021

crime;public safety;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

The statement contains an element of : Homicides are up in these cities and police funding is down. But it ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, including the details of numerous other potential contributing factors, such as poverty, joblessness and housing insecurity, all of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most importantly, the implies that there is a direct link between defunding and homicide rates that has not yet been established. The post oversimplifies a complex issue that requires further study, beyond just looking at the raw numbers. We rate this .

When my grandfather came to this country back in 1925, there were no government benefits.

February 29, 2012

city budget;county budget;families;federal budget;history;pensions;poverty;retirement;state budget;veterans;welfare;workers

rick santorum

Rick Santorum is running for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. He is a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and was a Republican presidential candidate in 2012.

national

a campaign speech

Contrary to what Santorum said, millions of Americans in 1925 would have either qualified for benefits directly, such as payments to veterans, or have been protected by workers' compensation laws that provided benefits to those who became disabled by their jobs. And state and local governments had the longstanding role of paying support to people who were disabled or indigent. This provides a much more complex picture than Santorum is painting. We rate his statement .

Energy costs are the highest in 15 years.

January 10, 2023

energy

morgan luttrell

Morgan Luttrell was elected in 2022 to serve Texas' 8th Congressional District. The district includes San Jacincto and Polk counties, as well as parts of Motgomery, Walker, and Harris counties.

texas

a tweet

Luttrell said, "Energy costs are the highest in 15 years." Luttrell’s statistic — which he pulled from an article citing the National Energy Assistance Directors Association — holds with the data available and analyzed at the time. EIA data provided to PolitiFact show that average household heating costs are higher now than they were 15 years ago, and these expenditures are higher than any other year during that time span. Luttrell’s statistic, however, didn’t specify that his statistic pertained to predicted household heating costs, so the figure could have been understood to encompass other costs, such as gasoline or household energy costs. We rate this .

Being exposed to the sun for two hours" kills the 2019 coronavirus.

March 9, 2020

facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

an image

In the United States, there have been 938  confirmed cases and 31 deaths . According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the best ways to prevent the 2019 coronavirus are to wash your hands with soap and water, avoid touching your face, avoid close contact with sick people, cover your coughs and sneezes, and disinfect surfaces in your home daily. As of now, there is no specific treatment for the virus. The Facebook post is . We rate it .

The Human Rights Campaign is "more powerful than the NRA.

April 17, 2016

campaign finance;lgbtq;sexuality

pat mccrory

Pat McCrory, a Republican, was governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. Previously, he served as mayor of Charlotte.

north carolina

interview on Meet The Press with Chuck Todd

McCrory said the main group against HB2, the Human Rights Campaign, is "more powerful than the NRA." It’s a strong , given the NRA’s reputation for power and influence, and even the HRC spokesman was unwilling to embrace it. That’s not to say the HRC isn’t powerful. It’s a multimillion-dollar organization and the country’s largest gay rights group. But it doesn’t have the resources, adherents or success rate that the NRA does. In every way we tried to define influence, the HRC doesn’t even come close to the NRA’s level of power. We rate this . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/a1af1e68-c8d1-4ecb-a7d5-36cb928ae38a

Abortion in the U.S. "is at an all time legal low.

October 11, 2017

abortion;women

kevin cahill

Kevin Cahill is a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly from Kingston.

new york

a radio interview on The Capitol Pressroom

The 14.6 abortions for every 1,000 women in 2014 is an all-time low. But his statement is when counting the number.  The number of abortions has gone down since its peak in 1988, but has not dropped below the 1973 count. The statement is partially accurate. We rate it .

The Obama administration estimates the number of children at the border is "going to increase to 150,000 to 200,000 next year.

July 6, 2014

immigration;children

raul labrador

Raul Labrador, a Republican, was elected in 2010 to represent a district in Idaho in the U.S. House of Representatives.

national

an interview on "Meet the Press"

Labrador said the administration’s own estimates predicted that 150,000 to 200,000 unaccompanied children would show up at the southern border. Labrador’s spokesman pointed to an internal memo that suggested 142,000 children might arrive in 2015. But that’s a smaller amount than 150,000 and much smaller than 200,000, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection says that memo was a working document and not an official estimate. A preliminary budget request was based on the assumption that past increases would continue, but it did not state a particular figure for the number of children and noted that the money needed would change depending on the shifting situation on the ground. Labrador’s numerical range could be right if you add the percentage of people who cross the border without getting caught. But even if you do, that is not the administration’s "own estimate." And experts we interviewed cast doubt on Labrador’s figure. On balance, we rate the .

When Moammar Gadhafi was set to visit the United Nations, and no one would let him stay in New York, Trump allowed Gadhafi to set up an elaborate tent at his Westchester County (New York) estate.

September 6, 2016

history

tim kaine

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

virginia

a speech

Kaine said, "When Moammar Gadhafi was set to visit the United Nations, and no one would let him stay in New York, Trump allowed Gadhafi to set up an elaborate tent at his Westchester County (New York) estate." There’s no doubt Gadhafi rented space at Trump’s estate to put up his tent. Trump acknowledges now that he leased land to Gadhafi, although he couches it as a boast to show he snookered the Libyan leader out of a lot of money. We rate Kaine’s statement . https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/206bb9f0-024b-44e5-b95b-c34ae90096d5

The Tony Evers administration is wrong to blame old computer software being used to process unemployment claims; it "has nothing to do with" the backlog.

June 21, 2020

jobs;states

chris kapenga

Republican Chris Kapenga, a certified public accountant and small-business owner, was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 2010. He represents the Delafield area west of Milwaukee.

wisconsin

a radio interview

What’s more, there were several changes made to the system, including new payments and the waiver of a one-week waiting period. That’s where Kapenga is to say the computer system had no role in delays. The decades-old system had to be reprogrammed to accommodate those changes -- and news reports note only coders familiar with the programs could get the job done. We rate the .  window.gciAnalyticsUAID = 'PMJS-TEALIUM-COBRAND'; window.gciAnalyticsLoadEvents = ; window.gciAnalytics.view({ 'event-type': 'pageview', 'content-type': 'interactives', 'content-ssts-section': 'news', 'content-ssts-subsection': 'news:politics', 'content-ssts-topic': 'news:politics:politifactwisconsin', 'content-ssts-subtopic': ' news:politics:politifactwisconsin' });

The proportion of Rhode Islanders entering substance abuse treatment primarily due to marijuana use has reached its highest point in 20 years.

April 29, 2015

consumer safety;criminal justice;drugs;economy;history;crime;government regulation;public health;public safety;recreation;regulation;small business;taxes;marijuana

kathleen sullivan

Kathleen Sullivan is the town of Warren’s substance abuse coordinator. She is also program director for The BAY Team, Barrington’s Prevention Coalition.

rhode island

testimony before the House Judiciary Committee

Kathleen Sullivan said the proportion of Rhode Islanders entering substance abuse treatment, primarily for marijuana, has reached its highest point in 20 years. Her documentation shows a peak in 2009, but then admissions decline through 2011. More recent data show the decline has continued. Further, our trend analysis shows no increase since 1999. And a federal statistician at the agency that compiled the data said admission rates have been "relatively stable" over the past 20 years. We rate her statement .

Household income among Hispanic Americans has just set a new record high.

September 29, 2018

economy;race and ethnicity

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.

west virginia

Wheeling, W.Va

Trump said that "household income among Hispanic Americans has just set a new record high." Census Bureau data confirms a new record high for inflation-adjusted, Hispanic household income in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available. This continues a rise that began under Obama, but Trump did not specifically credit, so we rate the statement .

Says state Rep. Diana Maldonado of Round Rock uses Craigslist to hire campaign block walkers.

August 31, 2010

campaign finance;workers

larry gonzales

Larry Gonzales was initially elected in 2010 to represent Texas House District 52 in the Texas House.

texas

an e-mail to supporters

"When it is even more rare is 60 days out." Using Craigslist to recruit campaign workers is "unconventional," said Wilbanks, but Young had a different take. "In these big cities, with all the high-tech stuff, people are using all kinds of high-tech techniques," Young said. Maldonado's campaign confirmed using Craigslist to hire block walkers. We rate Gonzales' statement .

The top one-tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent.

July 25, 2016

economy;income;wealth;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

Philadelphia

Sanders said, "The top one-tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent." His repeats a finding from a study by two internationally respected economists, and others back up the study’s results. But the study has been criticized, for example, for not including Social Security in the wealth calculations. Sanders’ is accurate but needs additional context, so we rate it .

In Houston, Texas, today, there are no homeless veterans.

December 28, 2015

homeless

jeb bush

Jeb Bush was a Republican candidate for president of the United States in 2016. He served two terms as the governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is also the brother of former President George W. Bush and the son of former President George H.W. Bush. 

texas

remarks at a Florida campaign stop

Bush said that "In Houston, Texas today, there are no homeless veterans." Houston is one of a handful of cities nationwide that have "effectively" ended veteran homelessness by revamping their resources and systems to handle all veterans who seek support. The city’s success in that regard has been measured by benchmarks set by national and local initiatives on homelessness.   Being equipped to provide housing for all homeless veterans doesn’t mean that every veteran is housed. Some remain homeless in Houston, whether by choice, a lack of awareness of housing resources or eligibility. We rate Bush's statement . :  The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.

Says the U.S. Senate is "dominated by millionaires" and that he is "not one of them.

July 30, 2020

new jersey;coronavirus

cory booker

Cory Booker is a senator from New Jersey. He was first elected to the Senate in 2013, making him the first African-American senator from New Jersey and the first African-American elected to the Senate since Barack Obama in 2004. Booker served as mayor of Newark from 2006 until 2013. He has a bachelor's degree in political science and a master’s degree in sociology from Stanford University, an honors degree in United States history from The Queens College as a Rhodes Scholar and a J.D. from Yale Law School. In 2019, he ran for the Democratic nomination for president and suspended his campaign in January 2020.

national

an interview

Booker said that the Senate is "dominated by millionaires" and that he is "not one of them." Roughly two-thirds of U.S. senators are millionaires, and no, Booker isn’t one of them, data show. We rate this statement . 

Says U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde has 'no problem with raising taxes.'

July 13, 2012

federal budget;message machine 2012;taxes

club for growth

The Club for Growth is an anti-tax group.

wisconsin

a television ad

In the current campaign, Hovde has made it clear he wants dramatically lower taxes and would not raise rates, while staying open to a net revenue increase from loophole elimination as part of a massive spending-and-tax-cut deal. That doesn’t square with the breezy portrayal of Hovde as having "no problem raising taxes." The -O-Meter says claims have an element of but ignore critical facts that would give a different impression. We think that fits the Club for Growth ad . .  

Republicans "made it easier to buy a gun" in states they won in 2010.

October 10, 2014

punditfact;guns

mark shields

Mark Shields is a syndicated columnist and an analyst for the PBS NewsHour.

a broadcast of PBS' "Newshour"

Shields said that when Republicans took control of state legislatures in 2010 they made it easier to buy a gun. Out of 16 states won by the GOP, three passed laws that relaxed the rules for some gun buyers. The experts we reached said the changes were modest and not as widespread as Shields implied. We rate the .

Since I've been the state treasurer, we've increased the building, construction of affordable housing by 80 percent.

August 13, 2017

housing;the 2018 california governor's race

john chiang

John Chiang is California's state treasurer. He is also a Democratic candidate for the 2018 governor's race.

california

a Facebook live video

California State Treasurer John Chiang recently claimed he’s helped boost "the building, construction of affordable housing by 80 percent" since he took office in 2015. Data from the treasurer’s office show an 83 percent increase in the construction -- and rehabilitation -- of affordable housing units from 2014 through 2016. But Chiang’s omits the fact that less than half were new units added to the housing supply. The majority were rehabilitation projects on existing homes. Experts told us such improvements help preserve affordable housing, but don’t necessarily expand it. A fact sheet on the treasurer’s website gets the details right. But Chiang's statement in a campaign video and later in a Facebook post leave out this important context.  For this reason, we rate Chiang’s .  – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. PolitiFact California is fact-checking claims in the 2018 California governor's race through our Tracking The series.  Hear a you want fact-checked? Email us at  [email protected] , tweet us  @CAPolitiFact  or contact us on  Facebook .

All" Americans in Afghanistan who "have wanted to come out have come out.

September 3, 2021

afghanistan;foreign policy

charles schumer

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

an interview with WSYR-TV

Schumer said that among Americans in Afghanistan, "all" who "have wanted to come out have come out." That’s ; the State Department has acknowledged that there are still "somewhere around 100" American citizens who want to leave Afghanistan.  Schumer’s office later said that he had misspoken. We rate the statement .

The IRS is already planning on 19,500 new employees to administer" Obama's health care mandate.

October 11, 2011

health care;new hampshire 2012

jon huntsman

Jon Huntsman was the governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. He served as ambassador to China from 2009 to 2011. He is a Republican candidate for president in 2012. 

national

Hanover, N.H

Huntsman’s estimates the IRS employees, rather than IRS agents, that will be tied to the health care bill. But Huntsman when he says the IRS plans for almost 20,000 employees to administer the mandate. Really it was Ways and Means Committee Republicans, taking only the high end of the CBO's cost predictions, which floated the 16,500 employee number, while admitting they didn’t calculate overhead costs to offset those numbers. And since the IRS’ own budget request estimates about 1,300 new employees in 2012 to administer the health care bill, in non-enforcement roles, Huntsman’s 19,500 employee estimate is a new extreme for this . Not only does Huntsman repeat it wrongly, attributing it to the IRS, he kicks up figures that have been repeatedly debunked.

Republican candidate for governor Allan Fung "donated to Democrats like Congressman David Cicilline, disgraced (House) speaker Gordon Fox and even Mr. Obamacare, Harry Reid.

June 17, 2014

bipartisanship;campaign finance;candidate biography;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 debate

Ken Block said Allan Fung "donated to Democrats like Congressman David Cicilline, disgraced [House] speaker Gordon Fox and even Mr. Obamacare, Harry Reid." His statement is to the extent that Fung donated once to each of those politicians. But his characterizations of the recipients were . He referred to Cicilline as a congressman, but Cicilline was a state representative when Fung gave him money. He labeled Fox as the "disgraced" House speaker, but Fox was majority leader at the time of the Fung donation, and not under investigation. And the word "Obamacare" hadn’t even been coined when Fung donated to Reid. Because the statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, we rate it . (If you have a you’d like PolitiFact Rhode Island to check, email us at [email protected] And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.) (On July 1, 2014, we removed an reference to when Fox and Cicilline served in the Rhode Island General Assembly. The change does not affect our ruling.)

Says Texas unemployment is dire in various ways such as a doubling in the jobless rate during Rick Perry's governorship. Also, the Texas rate has increased faster than the national rate during Barack Obama's presidency.

October 26, 2011

economy;jobs

mitt romney

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

texas

a press release

Each of Romney’s Texas-tied jobless claims is factually supported, yet his claims fuel a impression — that the Texas governor has guided its economy into a ditch. To the contrary, the Texas economy has fared relatively well for more than 20 years. Besides, it’s unreasonable to blame, or credit, a state’s governor for changes in unemployment rates. A single state official, even the governor, doesn’t hold sway over the many factors that drive the economy. . We rate Romney’s response to Perry’s ad as .

Says President Donald Trump "took more than a month to allocate Congress' emergency funding to tribes — and only did so after tribes sued.

May 21, 2020

economy;health care;public health;coronavirus

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. 

a statement

Mehta said he would not give the Treasury department a deadline for disbursing the rest of the funds, but if it took the department double the amount of time Congress directed for the disbursement, "then the question of egregiousness becomes a closer one than it is today." Biden said Trump "took more than a month to allocate Congress’ emergency funding to tribes — and only did so after tribes sued." It did take more than a month for tribes to begin receiving funds appropriated by Congress, and they began to flow after lawsuits were filed against the Trump administration. But a consultation process for disbursing the funds began before the administration was sued. We rate Biden’s statement .

Proposed tax changes are a "handout" to BP.

September 2, 2010

environment;cap and trade;climate change;corporations;energy;foreign policy;message machine 2010;oil spill

national taxpayers union

The National Taxpayers Union is an advocacy group that supports "lower taxes and smaller government at all levels"

national

a television commercial

According to BP's website, it is the largest oil and gas producer and one of the largest gasoline retailers in the United States, as well as the largest non-U.S. company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. And U.S.-based subsidiaries of foreign companies, including BP's U.S. subsidiaries, qualify for Section 199 credits, which weakens the argument that BP would be a clear winner if these changes were made. It's certainly understandable that U.S. oil companies doing business overseas would be opposed to these proposals -- and perhaps feel picked on, since both changes specifically target their industry. Still, we think the term "handout" in this context is questionable -- even hypocritical, since the tax policy the oil companies want to keep in place could easily be described as involving longstanding "handouts" for them. On balance, we rate the statement .

The Cathedral of Christ the King is one of the Archdiocese of Atlanta's largest and fastest-growing parishes.

March 31, 2014

religion

wilton gregory

Wilton Gregory is the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He was installed on January 17, 2005. In November 2001, he was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops following three years as vice president. Gregory is originally from Chicago.

georgia

the Georgia Bulletin, the Catholic newspaper

And is it one of the diocese’s fastest-growing churches. The data we were provided say yes. But they allowed only a limited comparison, and the information could not be independently verified. We rate the archbishop’s statement . Top 10 parishes in 2013 1997 Registration Data 2013 Registration Data % Growth # Growth St. Michael, Gainesville 1,500 7,054 370% 5,554 St. Thomas the Apostle 1,514 6,844 352% 5,330 Cathedral of Christ the King 3,505 4,842 38% 1,337 St. Joseph, Marietta 2,053 4,804 134% 2,751 Our Lady of the Americas Mission of IHM, Data not Recorded 4,665 St. Ann 3,960 4,381 11% 421 Transfiguration 2,700 4,323 60% 1,623 St. Brigid Did not exist 4,056 St. Benedict 2,604 4,004 54% 1,400 St. Thomas Aquinas 2,524 3,930 56% 1,406 Source: Archdiocese of Atlanta Sources:

Remember, the American Revolution began when they came for the guns.

January 20, 2020

history;guns

eric burlison

Eric Burlison, a Republican, is a Missouri state senator. Previously, he served in the state House.

missouri

a tweet

Our ruling  Burlison tweeted that "the American Revolution began when they came for the guns. "  His tweet was a dramatic simplification of history There were many factors at play that sparked the American Revolution. It was caused by a lack of economic freedom and representation in the government and more.  That said, arms may have been one of many factors in the invasion of Lexington and Concord.  We rate this statement as .

Says Nancy Pelosi said, "It is dangerous to let the voters decide Trump's fate.

November 19, 2019

fake news;impeachment;facebook fact-checks

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a Facebook post

Emanuel did not say he was quoting Pelosi directly, but his paraphrase is distorted. Pelosi said waiting for the election is dangerous because she believes the president is "jeopardizing the integrity of the 2020 elections." She did not say it’s "dangerous to allow voters to decide Trump’s fate." Emanuel, Trump’s tweet, and the Facebook post oversimplify and misconstrue what Pelosi wrote. We rate it . 

President Obama "doesn't ... want to admit we're at war.

December 30, 2009

terrorism

dick cheney

Dick Cheney served as Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the administration of George W. Bush.

national

a statement to Politico

His remarks here go beyond opinion because he repeatedly says that Obama won't acknowledge that the United States is at war. But even a cursory examination of Obama's statements shows this one is preposterous. Obama has often said the United States is at war against terrorist organizations -- and has ordered a massive increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan to fight that war. So Cheney's comment isn't just , it's so. !

Said state insurance commissioner candidate Ralph Hudgens "fights hard" to strip women of life-saving coverage such as mammograms.

October 5, 2010

health care;women

mary squires

Mary Squires, a former state senator, is running for state Insurance Commissioner.  

georgia

a newspaper interview

Women could have to pay a premium to buy it. But saying Hudgens fought to "strip women of life-saving coverages like mammograms" is an overstatement. He fought to take away mandatory coverage. Squires' statement is accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. That means it meets PolitiFact's definition for .  

Under David Dewhurst's leadership, the Texas "Senate passed an expansion of in-state tuition and free health care to illegal immigrants.

April 28, 2014

immigration;education;health care;voting record

dan patrick

As a Houston state senator, Dan Patrick won election as lieutenant governor of Texas in November 2014 after earlier defeating incumbent David Dewhurst for his party's nomination. Patrick also has hosted a daily talk show on AM700 in Houston.

texas

a TV ad

Patrick said the Dewhurst-led Senate "passed an expansion of in-state tuition and free health care to illegal immigrants." Block that kick. First of all, lawmakers signed off on in-state tuition for undocumented students in 2001--before Dewhurst became lieutenant governor--while the 2005 legislation cited by Patrick largely left the 2001 law intact while focusing on all students getting in-state tuition even if parents move out of state. The proposal regarding free health care for illegal immigrants didn’t launch a program for immigrants, which is what Patrick’s statement seems to suggest. Rather, local governing bodies were permitted to provide (or, it appears, resume providing) non-emergency services to residents regardless of immigration status, an action projected to improve outcomes and head off costly emergency care to which all residents were already entitled per federal law. The Senate proposal also envisioned patients sharing costs. We rate this two-pronged as . – The statement is not accurate. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

In France, they have a (surveillance) program a thousandfold more invasive" than the United States.

December 6, 2015

homeland security;terrorism

rand paul

Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky elected in 2010. He ran for president in 2016 before dropping out to seek re-election to the Senate. Paul is a medical doctor and an ophthalmologist. His father is Ron Paul, a 2008 presidential candidate and a former member of Congress from Texas. 

national

an interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press'

Paul said that "in France, they have a (surveillance) program a thousandfold more invasive" than the United States.’ " The term "a thousandfold" is impossible to measure and is presumably a rhetorical flourish on Paul’s part. Still, we found five notable areas in which the French system offers law enforcement and government officials more unfettered tools than American officials have the ability to use. We rate Paul’s statement .

Missouri "is leading the country when it comes to improving services for mental and behavioral health. Innovation is happening right here.

October 13, 2017

health care

roy blunt

Roy Blunt is the junior U.S. senator from Missouri. He was formerly a U.S. representative from Missouri’s 7th district, and served for six years as the Republican whip in that chamber.

missouri

a speech

Blunt said Missouri "is leading the country when it comes to improving services for mental and behavioral health." Under the demonstration program sponsored by Blunt, Missouri will start reporting real behavioral health measures to the federal government. The reports will include information regarding time between request for treatment and treatment, hospital follow-up and medication adherence. Experts agree that Missouri has started several new initiatives to improve and innovate when it comes to services for mental and behavioral health. We rate this  .

When I was campaigning, I was talking about 18 and 20 years (when) wages effectively went down. Now, for the first time in a long time, they're starting to go up for people.

March 8, 2018

economy;workers

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

remarks before a Cabinet meeting

Trump said, "When I was campaigning, I was talking about 18 and 20 years (when) wages effectively went down. Now, for the first time in a long time, they're starting to go up for people." Wage growth during the two-decade period Trump is referencing was modest, even sluggish, but wages didn’t go down over that period, even accounting for inflation. As for wages finally going up now, they rose for almost three years before Trump took office, so it’s not credible for him to imply that he deserves credit. We rate the statement .

Says Tom Barrett "voted to ban 15 different kinds of guns, even a lot of common deer rifles.

May 16, 2012

animals;message machine 2012;public safety;guns

national rifle association

An advocacy group that fights restrictions on the right to bear arms.

wisconsin

a radio ad

The statement holds an element of in that some deer hunters used some of the weapons. But the statement ignores facts that create a different impression. Experts agreed that the once-banned weapons were not commonly used for deer hunting. We rate the . (You can comment on this item on the Journal Sentinel's web page ).

Recent research suggests that 15% of abortions are the result of coercion.

May 25, 2022

abortion;women

tweets

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

national

a tweet

Tweets claimed that research suggests that 15% of abortions are the result of coercion. The figure is based on a survey of about 1,000 women in the U.K. About 15% of the survey’s participants said they had experienced pressure to terminate a pregnancy when they didn't want to.  Contrary to the tweet, the women did not confirm whether they got an abortion. The survey also found that some women had been forced to have sex without contraception, had contraception damaged or withheld from them, and felt pressured to continue a pregnancy. The statement contains an element of but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it . 

Says Mitt Romney voted against convicting President Donald Trump because Burisma board member Joseph Cofer Black "is Romney's national security advisor" and because of ties to Obama CIA director John Brennan.

January 31, 2020

candidate biography;corrections and updates;foreign policy;facebook fact-checks

committee to defend the president

The Committee to Defend the President is a political action committee that supports President Donald Trump's re-election.

a Facebook post

A Facebook post says that Romney voted against convicting Trump because Burisma board member Joseph Cofer Black "is Romney’s national security advisor" and because of ties to Obama CIA director John Brennan. The meme mixes a few facts with several inaccuracies to make an unsupported assertion. Black was an advisor to Romney’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, and according to Burisma’s website, he serves on the company’s board. However, we see no that Black is still advising Romney eight years later, and the notion that Brennan is close to Romney is undermined by the fact that he was working for the Obama administration when Romney was trying to unseat Obama in the 2012 presidential race. All told, Romney’s public explanation about why he voted to convict in such an important case is clear and more plausible than a desire to protect an adviser from eight years ago. We rate the statement . CLARIFICATION, Feb. 10, 2020:  This article has been updated to clarify that Brennan was not working on Obama's 2012 campaign but was rather working for the Obama administration.

We need a Senator who shows up to work. Sherrod Brown missed over 350 official votes.

September 13, 2012

message machine 2012;negative campaigning;voting record

josh mandel

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

ohio

a campaign commercial

It doesn’t mention those missed votes were spread over more than 19 years that includes Brown’s time in the U.S. House of Representatives and during that time more than 10,000 votes occurred. Brown’s voting attendance record throughout his congressional career - including time missed because of car crash injuries - is actually 96.5 percent. As a U.S. Senator, his attendance record is nearly 99 percent. Knowing those facts, and that Brown missed 351 out of 10,074 votes since January of 1993, would give a listener a different impression. On the -O-Meter, the in the Mandel campaign ad rates .

Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.

September 8, 2008

transportation

john mccain

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

national

a TV ad

So, no, Palin wasn't the only one who stopped the bridge. The project was facing nationwide opposition and the state, which could have built the bridge anyway, had already spent much of the money on higher priorities. Palin didn't kill it, she just performed the last rites. And the ad is because it cites a newspaper article that doesn't provide any that the boast is accurate. So we rate the in the ad to be .  

Tax increases under Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm led to state unemployment going from 6.8 percent to 15.3 percent.

July 31, 2011

economy;jobs;state budget;states;taxes

raul labrador

Raul Labrador, a Republican, was elected in 2010 to represent a district in Idaho in the U.S. House of Representatives.

national

an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press"

Even though Labrador ignored the revised numbers, we consider his recap of the arc of Michigan unemployment to be fair. However, while higher taxes may have boosted unemployment on the margins, most of the available suggests that Michigan’s rise in unemployment tracked the course of the national recession, simply to a greater degree, given the weakness of the state’s signature manufacturing sector. The experts we spoke to agreed that the impact of tax policy likely played a relatively minor role in the unemployment spike Labrador was referring to in 2008 and 2009. We rate his statement .

Unlike you and me, Congress gets to keep up to $11,000 a year in taxpayer subsidies" under Obamacare.

September 6, 2013

health care

karen handel

Karen Handel is the former secretary of state of Georgia. She is also the former chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Handel, a Republican, lost the runoff for the GOP nomination for Georgia governor in 2010.

georgia

a radio ad

Millions of Americans could get them, based on their incomes. Members of Congress and the high-paid members of their staffs are unique in one important sense. They far exceed the income caps put on the subsidies for average Americans. Handel’s statement is partially accurate, but it needs a lot of context to be fully understood. We rate this statement as .

When Mitt Romney was governor, Massachusetts lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs, a rate twice the national average, and fell to 47th in job creation, fourth from the bottom.

June 4, 2012

economy;jobs

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.

new hampshire

New Hampshire and around the U.S

Obama used accurate figures for the number and rate of manufacturing job losses in Massachusetts under Romney. He also gives the correct ranking for Massachusetts’ job creation during Romney’s tenure. But Obama exaggerated Romney’s impact on the Bay State job market, an impact that experts stress is minor at best. Also, it's important to note that the the manufacturing job loss under Romney (11.3 percent) was slower than it was in either the previous four-year period (16.7 percent) or the successive four-year period (15.1 percent). This weakens the Obama campaign’s argument. So just as PolitiFact did with the individual claims, we rate this version .

Photo shows Nicole Kidman reacting to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock.

March 27, 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

The photo was taken by Los Angeles Times photographer Myung Chun . Vulture reported that it was posted to Getty Images hours before the altercation between Smith and Rock happened, during the untelevised first hour of the ceremony.  Chun told Vulture that Kidman appeared to be excited to spot actress Jessica Chastain across the room when she reached out her arms and waved to her with both hands.  "Shortly thereafter, Chastain walked over to greet Kidman and her husband Keith Urban," Chun told Vulture. We rate this post .

I deployed the Texas National Guard" to the Texas-Mexico border. "And the policy worked; apprehensions at the border declined 74 percent.

June 4, 2015

immigration;criminal justice;crime

rick perry

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

texas

his speech declaring his candidacy for president

Perry said: "I deployed the Texas National Guard" to the Texas-Mexico border. "And the policy worked; apprehensions at the border declined 74 percent." His statistic holds up, but Perry didn’t provide nor did we find proof the decrease resulted from the Texas surge. To be specific, Border Patrol apprehensions in the targeted part of the border region declined more than 70 percent through the second half of 2014. Unproven, however, is why that happened--and Perry’s statement crediting the Texas deployment ignored potentially substantive factors such as the Border Patrol staffing up, Mexico cracking down and, perhaps, a typical summer-to-winter flux. Proving the "policy worked" also is hindered by a lack of consensus on how to measure border security. This weakness similarly would apply, say, if President Barack Obama said the drop in apprehensions showed administration policies worked. We rate this statement . – 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.

Says Ohio Gov. John Kasich is "very unpopular.

August 13, 2018

elections;polls and public opinion

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.

ohio

a tweet

Trump said in a tweet that Kasich is "very unpopular." Polls have consistently shown that Kasich has had a positive approval rating for years. His current approval rating in Ohio is 52 percent approval, with 36 percent disapproval. We rate this .

On Lee Fisher's watch, "almost nine out of 10" jobs that Ohio lost were lost to other states, "not to other countries.

September 14, 2010

economy

rob portman

Rob Portman was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. He is a former Republican congressman who also was a U.S. trade representative and director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George H.W. Bush.

ohio

an appearance at The Plain Dealer

It lost 1,125 more when companies closed operations in one part of the state but relocated elsewhere in Ohio. And it lost 842 jobs when companies moved operations abroad. This is out of 264,016 jobs counted as lost altogether in this particular series of reports -- reports that ODJFS spokesman Ben Johnson say capture just "a subset" of all layoffs. When a statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, the -O-Meter says it is . That’s how we find Portman’s : accurate in a narrow context but needing clarification, and so, .

We're spending 18 percent of our GDP on healthcare while the average among industrialized countries is closer to 8 percent.

July 9, 2017

economy;health care;public health

mike gallagher

Republican Mike Gallagher of Green Bay was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2016. He is the senior global market strategist at Breakthrough Fuel, a Green Bay supply chain fuel management company. Gallagher previously served as a human intelligence and counterintelligence officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was a foreign policy aide to GOP Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's 2016 presidential campaign.  

wisconsin

a TV interview

Gallagher said "We're spending 18 percent of our GDP on health care while the average among industrialized countries is closer to 8 percent." His number for the U.S. spending is on target, but the one he uses for other industrialized nations is a bit low. That said, he's right about his major point: The U.S. has long outspent industrialized nations on health care -- a trend that began long before the implementation of Obamacare. We rate Gallagher's .

Any votes counted after midnight" on Election Day in Michigan "are fraud.

November 4, 2020

elections;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.

michigan

a Facebook post

"Workers who have been counting them throughout the night continue to count them today," she said.  By about 8 p.m. that day, all of Michigan’s votes had been tabulated, Benson said, and counties were in the final stages of reporting them out for the canvassing process to begin, the Detroit Free Press reported .    We rate this Facebook post . This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here , for more.

Says Bill White is for gay marriage.

December 2, 2009

lgbtq;marriage

republican party of texas

The Republican Party of Texas says it promotes a conservative government philosophy in the Lone Star state.

texas

a Web ad

"As mayor, I avoid commenting on state and federal laws and policies I do not influence. I intend to vote 'no' on the proposed state constitutional amendment to protest its use as a wedge issue," White told Houston's GLBT Political Caucus Political Action Committee, according to a 2005 Houston Chronicle article that the Republican Party's video ad cited as of his support for gay marriage. Now that he's running for governor, White told the Dallas Voice that he intends "to represent all Texans, and I expected to be attacked for this." But that isn't the same as championing same-sex marriage. We find the Republican Party's .

In the U.S. Constitution, "there's a little section in there that talks about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

May 21, 2011

history

herman cain

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

georgia

a speech announcing his presidential run

"No court makes a legal decision based on the Declaration of Independence," Wilkes said. With his first speech as a bona fide candidate, Cain joins a long, bipartisan line of presidential hopefuls who have succumbed to foot-in-mouth disease. They include Cain’s foe, President Barack Obama, who accidentally said there were 57 states during the 2008 campaign and U.S. Sen. John McCain, who said in an interview he was unsure how many houses he owned.   Welcome to the 2012 presidential election season, folks. Cain earns a . 

America owns 3 percent of the world's oil but consumes 25 percent of its global reserves.

May 3, 2011

energy

gerry connolly

Gerald E. “Gerry” Connolly, a Democrat, has represented Virginia's 11th Congressional District in Congress since 2009. The district encompasses Fairfax County, Prince William County, and Fairfax City in Northern Virginia. Connolly serves on the House Budget Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is the Ranking Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, which covers many key issues relating to Northern Virginia’s workforce and economy.  Connolly also serves on the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation, and Regulatory Affairs.  He is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and also serves on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.   Connolly is vice-chair of the New Democrat Coalition, co-chairing its Technology, Education and Entrepreneurship Task Force, chair of the Smart Contracting Caucus, co-chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Caucus, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea, and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Taiwan.    Connolly received a B.A. in Literature from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and a M.A. in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1979. After graduating from Harvard, Connolly spent 10 years on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he handled numerous issues including oversight of international economic issues and policies concerning the Middle East and the United Nations.  Connolly also worked in the non-profit and private sectors for organizations and companies involved in international trade, regulatory matters, and research.

national

a House floor speech

That works out to 22 percent -- a little low, but once again, in the right ballpark. When we checked with Connolly’s office, they sent us a few documents with figures more in line with the ones the congressman had cited, but when we looked at them, we noticed that they cited statistics from between 1999 and 2004. So we’ll stick with our numbers. Bottom line: Connolly’s numbers are a little low because they are out of date, but his general point -- the U.S. consumes a disproportionate share of the world’s oil -- is valid. We rate his statement .

Obamacare "is the biggest job-killer in this country -- millions of Americans have lost their jobs, have been forced into part-time work.

January 28, 2016

health care

ted cruz

Ted Cruz is a U.S. Senator from Texas, first elected in 2012. Cruz also was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016. He is the former solicitor general for the state of Texas, previously serving as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a domestic policy advisor on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, according to his campaign biography.

national

comments during the Iowa Republican presidential debate

Cruz said that Obamacare cost the country millions of jobs and had forced millions into working part-time. The government’s employment surveys show no sign of that occurring. By every measure, millions more people are working and millions fewer are stuck unwillingly in part-time work since the time the Affordable Care Act became law. The law might have affected part-time work for certain kinds of people, but that didn’t change the improvement in the overall numbers. Many of these numbers, especially the well-reported unemployment rate, are readily available and independent economic studies uncovered no sign that job growth has suffered at all under the new health care law.

Says the federal health care law upheld by the Supreme Court "has improved or saved the lives of more than 4,000 Texans" otherwise prevented from obtaining health coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

June 28, 2012

health care

becky moeller

Becky Moeller, head of the 235,000-member Texas AFL-CIO labor federation since 2007, became the first female statewide elected official  in the group in 2003 by becoming its secretary-treasurer, according to biographical information posted by the group. She announced in 2014 plans to step down in July 2015. Before coming to the Texas AFL-CIO, Moeller was president of the Communications Workers of America Local 6137, the Corpus Christi local representing workers at SBC (now AT&T), the entry says.

texas

a statement reacting to the Supreme Court decision upholding the law

Moeller’s count of the Texans benefiting from newly having insurance despite pre-existing conditions is a bit understated. And while there’s no certainty that every beneficiary saw their lives improved or saved, we agree that's a reasonable supposition. We rate the .

2004 video shows Anthony Fauci is ignoring science on natural immunity with regard to COVID-19.

April 1, 2022

public health;science;facebook fact-checks;coronavirus

facebook posts

Posters on Facebook and other social media networks.  

a post

Social media users are using a 2004 video of Fauci praising the strength of natural immunity to influenza to suggest he’s ignoring that science when it comes to COVID-19. Fauci’s comments in that video were specific to a question from a woman who was suffering from influenza. COVID-19 is a different and more deadly virus, and there’s no reliable test that shows the durability of immunity from an infection. Regarding COVID-19, Fauci has also spoken positively about protection from natural immunity, but questioned its durability. He recommends, as does the CDC, that people also get vaccinated for added protection. We rate this .

When Terry McAuliffe was governor, "Unemployment went down in every single county, including rural Virginia by nearly 50%.

July 23, 2021

economy;jobs

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. 

virginia

a speech

Biden is right on the first part; each Virginia locality did see a drop in unemployment during McAuliffe’s term from 2014 to 2018. McAuliffe governed during boom years and unemployment rates fell in every state. The second part of Biden’s statement, that unemployment decreased by almost 50 percent in rural Virginia, is slightly inflated. It fell by 39%. On the whole, we rate Biden’s statement .  

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, "How can the Titanic submersible run out of air if you breathe both in and out? I feel like this is more fake news BS.

July 12, 2023

facebook fact-checks

viral image

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

an Instagram post

But searching Twitter for that account reveals it’s not actually from Greene’s press shop.  Its bio makes clear that it’s a parody account.  Searching for news reports or other sources corroborating that Greene actually made such a statement, we found none.  We also found no that Greene’s authentic Twitter accounts shared posts of this nature. We rate claims that Greene made this statement about the Titan submersible !

Obamacare "prevents (Florida) from regulating insurance.

August 6, 2014

health care;regulation

republican party of florida

The Republican Party of Florida represents Republicans in Florida.

florida

a Facebook Q&A with Charlie Crist

The Republican Party of Florida said Obamacare "prevents (Florida) from regulating insurance." That’s not at all the case. The Affordable Care Act says if states can regulate premiums, they should. States only have to bring laws up to minimum Obamacare requirements. The federal government only intervenes in states that don’t have effective rate review programs -- something Florida can do on its own but won’t, thanks to the 2013 law passed by the Republican-led Legislature. The state GOP not only misrepresented the terms of the Affordable Care Act, but it also implied the Democratic president’s signature law was to blame for the state’s (temporary) regulatory woes. It was Republican lawmakers who spearheaded that change to Florida law, after the state rejected a $1 million federal grant to help improve the process. Most other states regulate insurance rates without the difficulty the Republican Party of Florida claimed. We rate the statement !

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack "voted to raise his own pay several times.

October 27, 2011

federal budget;income

george lemieux

George LeMieux is a former U.S. Senator from Florida. He was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2009 to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Mel Martinez and served until January 2011.

florida

a press release

LeMieux is to say Mack voted to raise his pay, because he never did. Instead, Mack cast procedural votes that effectively allowed automatic pay raises to stand in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The practical effect of those votes meant Mack saw raises. On the flip side, LeMieux omitted that in 2009 and 2010 Mack took some votes against pay raises. To us, that's two caveats that bring our rating to .

Says "every time" the DSCC endorsed someone in North Carolina's U.S. Senate primary, "and the person they didn't support was black, the candidate they picked ended up losing.

February 20, 2020

elections;party support

william barber

Rev. William Barber is the president of the North Carolina NAACP.

north carolina

a tweet

Barber said that "every time" the Democratic establishment overlooked a black candidate and endorsed someone else in the U.S. Senate primary, that candidate went on to lose.  Records show that there was a black candidate, Marcus Williams, in the 2008 U.S. Senate race. That year, the DSCC backed Kay Hagan in the primary and she went on to beat incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole. Barber’s was too sweeping. He’s right that the DSCC doesn’t have a great record in North Carolina. But he’s to say the DSCC-backed candidate has lost "every time" it overlooked a black Democrat. We rate this .