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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Democrats Deny Social Security’s Red Ink

Some senior Democrats are claiming that Social Security does not contribute “one penny” to the federal deficit. That’s not true. The fact is, the federal government had to borrow $37 billion last year to finance Social Security, and will need to borrow more this year.

Budget Spin

Democrats and Republicans disagree strongly about elements of President Obama’s 2012 budget, but they are alike in one respect: Both sides are misrepresenting important facts. Obama claimed …

FactChecking Republicans at CPAC

Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference this past weekend strayed at times from the facts, although for the most part, they stuck to expressing their low opinions of the current administration and its policies. …

DCCC, Crossroads Usher in 2012 Campaign

Less than a month after the new Congress convened, House Democrats and a conservative outside group traded accusations (some bogus, some not) in the first ads of the 2012 campaign. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee started …

FactChecking the GOP Response

We fact-checked President Obama’s State of the Union address, but what about the Republican response speeches? We found two new claims that we haven’t covered before: In the official response …

FactChecking Obama’s Address

We found no outright false factual claims in Obama’s State of the Union address, but we did note some that were arguable, and some promises that may prove unrealistic. He called his Race to the Top initiative “the most meaningful reform of our public schools in …

A ‘Budget-Busting’ Law?

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office states that repealing the health care law would worsen the federal deficit over the next 10 years — by $230 billion. So how does …

A ‘Job-Killing’ Law?

When it comes to truth in labeling, House Republicans are getting off to a poor start with their constantly repeated references to the new health care law as “job-killing.” We find: Independent, nonpartisan experts project …

Let the Distortions Begin

It has been seven whole weeks now since the midterms, and – like you, perhaps – we’ve enjoyed watching football and “Glee” uninterrupted by campaign ads. But that doesn’t mean there’s no campaigning going on. Potential Republican presidential aspirants …

The Viral Spiral of 2010

There’s a reason they call chain e-mails “viral” — their transmission is swift, extensive and very hard to stop. They tend to contain indignant, outraged messages that are nearly always false and often malicious. We can’t say exactly …