Posted on September 10, 2008
Out on the campaign trail, John McCain has been criticizing Barack Obama for proposing cuts in defense spending. But his criticism relies on a potentially misleading quote. And we found that McCain is dinging Obama for reducing spending on a program that McCain plans to eliminate entirely. CNN and MSNBC …
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Posted on September 8, 2008 , Updated on September 9, 2008
Summary We’ve been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain’s running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading. Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. …
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Posted on September 5, 2008
Summary We checked the accuracy of McCain’s speech accepting the Republican nomination and noted the following: McCain claimed that Obama’s health care plan would "force small businesses to cut jobs" and would put "a bureaucrat … between you and your doctor." In fact, the plan exempts small businesses, and those …
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Posted on August 29, 2008 , Corrected on September 3, 2009
Q: Does Barack Obama have Kenyan citizenship? A: No. He held both U.S. and Kenyan citizenship as a child, but lost his Kenyan citizenship automatically on his 23rd birthday.
Posted on August 22, 2008
Summary On the defensive over the extent of multiple McCain homes, the GOP candidate strikes back. But his TV spot gives an oversimplified and misleading account of how Obama bought his own $1.6 million house in Chicago. The ad says Chicago power broker Tony Rezko got "political favors" including …
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Posted on August 15, 2008
Summary Ads from the AFL-CIO and the Obama campaign claim that McCain is partly to blame for the loss of more than 8,000 jobs in Ohio. They paint a false picture. There's at least some truth in both ads: German-based DHL announced a deal that could result in 8,200 lost …
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Posted on July 30, 2008 , Updated on July 31, 2008
Summary McCain's new ad claims that Obama "says he'll raise taxes on electricity." That's false. Obama says no such thing. McCain relies on a single quote from Obama who once – and only once so far as we can find – suggested taxing "dirty energy," including coal and natural gas. That …
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Posted on July 8, 2008 , Updated on July 11, 2008
Summary The McCain campaign claims that Obama voted to raise income taxes on individuals who earn as little as $32,000 per year. That’s wrong. The resolution Obama voted for would not have increased taxes on any single taxpayer making less than $41,500 per year in total income, or any couple …
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Posted on June 5, 2008
Summary John McCain is attacking Barack Obama’s opposition to the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which (among other things) called for labeling Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. McCain claims that Obama’s opposition means that he also opposed calling the IRGC terrorists. We find otherwise. Obama cosponsored an earlier bill …
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Posted on May 16, 2008
Q: Has President George W. Bush used his veto power more than most presidents? A: No. Only 14 presidents have used their veto power fewer times than Bush, and only one president since the start of the 20th century has issued fewer vetoes.
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of March 19-25.
