We are frequently asked several questions that we’ve answered already – particularly ones about chain e-mails. So before you send us your query, please scan this compilation of past Ask FactChecks and other reports. The answer you’re looking for may be right here.

Note: These are by no means our full responses. Click on the links to read the full articles. There is a lot more detail in each answer.

Is this chain e-mail true?
Probably not. In fact, that chain e-mail your friend sent to you is (likely) bogus. Seriously. (special report)
March 18, 2008

Isn't there a law against false advertising in political ads?
No. Candidates have a legal right to lie to voters just about as much as they want. Here's why. (special report)
June 3, 2004

Is there a move to make Obama eligible for more than two terms as president?
A bill that proposes repealing the 22nd Amendment has been introduced, but so far it has very little support.
June 18, 2009.

Did Obama accuse veterans of "selfishness" and whining? Would he have forced them to "pay for their war injuries"?
This chain e-mail contains fabricated quotes and misrepresents a budget idea that the White House scrapped.
May 12, 2009

Has a "smoking gun" been found to prove Obama was not born a U.S. citizen? Did he attend Occidental College on a scholarship for foreign students?
This chain e-mail is a transparent April Fools' Day hoax. It fabricates an AP news story about an nonexistent group, and makes false claims about Obama and the Fulbright program.
May 7, 2009

Was H.R. 1388 passed "behind our backs"?
This latest e-rumor is a double-header. It recycles one false claim and alludes to another. We've debunked both before.
May 5, 2009

Did Obama pay for Hamas-affiliated terrorists to emigrate to the United States?
This claim is false. The president's memorandum to the State Department would pay for refugee assistance in Gaza, not for transporting anyone to the U.S.
Feb. 19, 2009

Is Congress about to give Social Security to illegal immigrants?
No. Congress hasn't voted on any measure to pay benefits to illegal immigrants, and has no plans for any such vote.
March 1, 2009
(This long-standing falsehood was bandied about back in 2006 and again during the 2008 presidential election.)

Do illegal immigrants cost $338.3 billion dollars a year? More than the Iraq war?
A chain e-mail that makes this claim is loaded with errors and misleading assertions. Published studies vary widely but put the cost to government at a small fraction of that total.
April 6, 2009

Does Rahm Emanuel pay property taxes?
The president's chief of staff does pay taxes on his home. Failed attempts to find his records are the fault of shoddy research.
March 4, 2009

Does the stimulus bill include a $5.2 billion payoff for ACORN?
The bill does include funds for which ACORN would be eligible to compete - against hundreds of other groups. But most is for a housing rehabilitation program ACORN says it never applied for in the past and won't in the future.
Feb. 6, 2009

Was Obama born in the U.S.A.?
Yes. We give you the truth about Obama's birth certificate.
Aug. 21, 2008  Updated Nov. 1, 2008

What's the deal with Prof. Joseph Olson's "unreported stats" from the 2008 election?
This chain e-mail is a hoax. The "statistics" are grossly incorrect, and Prof. Olson says he didn't write it.
Jan. 5, 2009

Is Congress going to require a federal license to own a handgun?
A Chicago congressman's bill, H.R. 45, would require that, but it has little support. The same bill died quietly in a House subcommittee last year.
Feb. 22, 2009

Is the Army demanding information about soldiers' privately owned firearms?
This is another false Internet rumor. A memo from one commander of a small unit in Kentucky was an isolated mistake that was quickly corrected; it wasn't Army policy.
May 19, 2009

Is there a connection between FactCheck.org and Barack Obama or Bill Ayers?
None, aside from benefiting at different times from the charity of the late publisher Walter Annenberg. We are a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and get funding from the Annenberg Foundation, created by Walter Annenberg in 1989. Ayers was one of three Chicago educators who applied for a grant from the Annenberg Foundation in 1995, which was one of 5,200 grants the foundation made during its first 15 years. That $49 million grant, plus additional funds raised locally, funded the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which sought to improve Chicago public schools. Obama was selected by Chicago officials (not Ayers) to chair the board set up to administer Annenberg Challenge funds, and he headed it until 1999. FactCheck.org came into being in late 2003. For other details see our Oct. 10, 2008, article about Obama and Ayers, which includes a sidebar: "FactCheck.org and the 'Annenberg Challenge.' "

Who caused the economic crisis?
Despite partisan finger-pointing, no one political party bears all the blame. It's not even entirely the fault of government. There’s ample blame to go around. Experts have cited everyone from home buyers to Wall Street, mortgage brokers to Alan Greenspan. 
Oct. 1, 2008.

Did Pelosi advocate taxing "windfall" stock profits at 100%?
No. A widely circulated e-mail quoting her is a fraud.
Dec. 7, 2007

Did Nancy Pelosi order up a 200-seat jet for her personal use?
No. The Democratic House speaker normally flies in a 12-seat Air Force Jet just as her Republican predecessor did.
Dec. 21, 2008

Did Nancy Pelosi get wage breaks and tax credits for the American Samoan operations of a company in which her husband owns $17 million worth of stock?
No, Pelosi's husband doesn't own that stock, despite what a Wikipedia article briefly claimed. And American Samoa never got the minimum wage break it sought, anyway.
Nov. 26, 2008