FactChecking Obama and Biden

September 7

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a rousing double-header, Democratic delegates heard Barack Obama and Joe Biden both accept renomination on their convention’s final night. And we heard some facts being spun. President Obama boasted that his plan would cut the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years, citing “independent experts.” But …
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Our Clinton Nightmare

September 6

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former President Bill Clinton’s stem-winding nomination speech was a fact-checker’s nightmare: lots of effort required to run down his many statistics and factual claims, producing little for us to write about. Republicans will find plenty of Clinton’s scorching opinions objectionable. But with few exceptions, we found his …
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Day 2: More Convention Canards

September 5

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On the second night of their convention, Democrats misled viewers with claims about Republican economic and social policies. Among the convention canards: Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said the Republican platform would “take away a woman’s right to choose even if she is a rape victim.” The GOP platform …
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Democratic Disinformation from Charlotte

September 5

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — We heard a number of dubious or misleading claims on the first night of the Democratic National Convention: The keynote speaker and others claimed the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, would raise taxes on the “middle class.” He has promised he won’t. Democrats base their claim on …
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Romney’s Sorry ‘Apology’ Dig

August 31

TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney revived a favorite attack from early in his campaign, accusing President Obama of beginning his presidency on an “apology tour” in foreign countries. Although it has been a consistent applause line, the claim doesn’t hold up when matched with Obama’s actual words. Here’s how Romney …
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Romney’s Big Night

August 31

TAMPA, Fla. — In a speech heavy on anecdotal history but short on policy details, Mitt Romney avoided major falsehoods in making his case to the American public while accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. Even a key Democratic strategist, Bill Burton, a former press secretary for …
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Ryan’s VP Spin

August 30

TAMPA, Fla. — Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained several false claims and misleading statements. Delegates cheered as the vice presidential nominee: Accused President Obama’s health care law of funneling money away from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” In fact, Medicare’s chief actuary says the …
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Santorum’s Distorted ‘Dependency’ Claims

August 29

Rick Santorum blames President Barack Obama for “a nightmare of dependency with almost half of America receiving some sort of government assistance.” But the same could have been said of George W. Bush. In fact, the Census Bureau reported that in the third quarter of 2008, under Bush, “nearly half …
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Christie’s Fact-Free Keynote

August 29

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie largely avoided factual claims in a Republican convention keynote address that was heavy on generalities, opinion and platitudes. The pugnacious former prosecutor exaggerated a bit, though, when he bragged about his accomplishments as governor, and he repeated the common but false claim that the president’s …
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A Campaign Full of Mediscare

Obama and Romney both aim to slow Medicare spending. But each accuses the other of hurting seniors in the process.

August 22

The presidential campaign is overflowing with claims from both sides designed to scare seniors into thinking Medicare is being gutted or about to end altogether. Lost in the flurry of attack ads and political messaging is a policy debate on how best to reduce the growth of Medicare spending, a common goal of both campaigns. If all voters know …
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Romney’s Impossible Tax Promise

Experts say he can't cut rates without losing revenue or favoring the wealthy.

August 3

Tax experts — including one who supports Romney’s plan — say the Republican presidential candidate’s promise to cut individual income tax rates without either favoring the wealthy or losing revenue isn’t mathematically possible. That’s the conclusion of the Tax Policy Center in a report the Romney campaign attacked …
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Whoppers of 2012, Early Edition

A presidential campaign that is nasty, brutish and long

July 20

Thomas Hobbes’ oft-cited phrase from 1651, “nasty, brutish and short,” does not describe the 2012 presidential campaign — unfortunately. The contest so far has been nasty all right, and disregard for the truth has been brutish on both sides, in our judgment. But alas, it won’t be over until Nov …
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Obama’s ‘Outsourcer’ Overreach

The president's campaign fails to back up its claims that Romney 'shipped jobs' overseas.

June 29

Obama accuses Romney in a series of TV ads of being a “corporate raider” who “shipped jobs to China and Mexico,” asking if voters want to elect an “outsourcer in chief.” But some of the claims in the ads are untrue, and others are thinly supported. Bain Capital, the …
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Romney, Obama Uphold Health Care Falsehoods

Presidential candidates supremely spin court decision.

June 28

With the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act on June 28, voters are guaranteed to continue hearing the same old false claims about the law from politicians. And President Barack Obama and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney wasted little time …
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Obama Twists Romney’s Economic Record

Obama campaign ad takes aim at Romney's time as Massachusetts governor.

June 7

A new ad from the Obama campaign takes aim at Mitt Romney’s performance as governor of Massachusetts, claiming he had “one of the worst economic records in the country.” But the ad overreaches with several of its claims. The ad states that job creation …
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