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FactCheck Mailbag
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Jan. 24-30.
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Tag Archives: Congress
Another Zero Pay Increase for Congress
Contrary to persistent Internet rumors — which we debunked in "Zero Pay Raise for Congress, Too" on Sept. 25, 2009, and again in "Retribution Fabrication" on Jan. 8 — there was no pay raise for members of Congress this year. Congress voted over a year ago to deny itself the …
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Congress Exempt from Health Bill?
Q: Does the health care bill specifically exempt members of Congress and their staffs from its provisions? A: No. This twisted claim is based on misrepresentations of the House and Senate bills, neither of which exempts lawmakers.
Retribution Fabrication
Q: Did Congress raise its own pay for 2010 while voting to deny an increase for Social Security recipients? A: No. A chain e-mail calling for "retribution" in the fall elections makes false claims and uses fabricated figures.
Electronic Medical Records for Congress?
Q: Is the Social Security Administration paying $24 million to set up new electronic medical records for members of Congress? A: False. The money is going to speed processing of applications for disability benefits. Furthermore, the money is coming from the stimulus bill and not from “withholding cost of living …
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Posted in Ask FactCheck
Tagged chain e-mail, Congress, electronic medical records, Social Security
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Health Care for Members of Congress?
Q: What type of health insurance do members of Congress receive? Is it a single-payer, government-run system? A: Members of Congress are covered by private insurance under the same system that covers all federal workers.
Abortion and the Health Care Bills
If you don’t keep your eye on the health care overhaul bills making their way through Congress, it’s easy to find your knowledge quickly outdated. We posted an article Friday dealing with accusations by some conservative groups that the bills would mandate government-funded abortions (they wouldn’t). That very evening, the …
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500 Percent Ammo Tax?
Q: Is Obama planning to increase the federal tax on gun ammunition by 500 percent? A: No such proposal has been made by the Obama administration. And nobody in Congress has introduced any bill to increase the 11 percent federal excise tax on ammo.
Posted in Ask FactCheck
Tagged Ammunition, Congress, Guns, NRA, President Obama, taxes
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Privately Owned Gun Tax?
Q: Would Senate bill 2099 put a yearly $50 tax on each privately owned firearm? A: There is no such bill. A chain e-mail containing bogus claims refers to a bill that died more than eight years ago.
‘Godless Dollars’
Q: Did the government issue new dollar coins without the words "In God We Trust"? A: Congress ordered the words to be stamped on the edges of the coins, but an unknown number of "Godless dollars" were produced by mistake.
Posted in Ask FactCheck
Tagged chain e-mail, Congress, First Amendment, mint, social issues
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