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 any truth in the e-mail claiming to give "a few highlights from the first 500 pages of the Healthcare bill"?
Barely. We examined all 48 claims, finding 26 of them to be false and 18 to be misleading, only partly true or half true. Only four are accurate.
Does the health care bill specifically exempt members of Congress and their staffs from its provisions?
No. This twisted claim is based on misrepresentations of the House and Senate bills, neither of which exempts lawmakers.
Jan. 20, 2010
Did Congress raise its own pay for 2010 while voting to deny an increase for Social Security recipients?
No. A chain e-mail calling for "retribution" in the fall elections makes false claims and uses fabricated figures.
Jan. 8, 2010
What’s up with "Columbo" and his questions for Obama?
The interrogator in a chain e-mail gets his facts fouled up and makes false accusations.
Jan. 18, 2010
Does the House energy bill subject owners of existing homes to an energy efficiency audit before they can sell?
Rep. Boehner and Rush Limbaugh got this wrong. The Realtors and home builders associations say there’s no such requirement in the bill, as do we.
July 20, 2009
Is the ACLU suing to have cross-shaped headstones removed from military cemeteries?
The ACLU has filed no such suit, and it hasn’t sued to "end prayer from the military" either.
July 5, 2009
Did Obama loan $2 billion to Brazil’s oil company to benefit China and George Soros?
The president had nothing to do with the loan, which the Export-Import Bank approved for Brazil to buy U.S.-made equipment and services.
September 18, 2009
Could somebody be imprisoned for not purchasing health insurance under the House health care bill?
Both House and Senate bills would levy a tax on persons who refuse to obtain coverage. Willfully evading that tax could result in jail time under the bill passed by the House – but not the bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee.
November 13, 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
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.)
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
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 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.’ "
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
