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FactChecking the VP Debate

FactChecking the VP Debate

The vice presidential candidates got their one chance to debate, and it was a fact-checking bonanza.

False Claims in Final Debate

False Claims in Final Debate

In the third and final Obama-Romney debate, the candidates again contradicted each other, while each offered incorrect or twisted factual claims. President Obama erred when he accused Mitt Romney of saying during the 2008 campaign that “we should ask Pakistan …

FactChecking the Hofstra Debate

FactChecking the Hofstra Debate

The second Obama-Romney debate was heated, confrontational and full of claims that sometimes didn’t match the facts. Obama challenged Romney to “get the transcript” when Romney questioned the president’s claim to have spoken of an “act of terror” …

Will Romney Increase Defense Spending By $2 Trillion?

Will Romney Increase Defense Spending By $2 Trillion?

Paul Ryan insisted in the Oct. 11 debate that Mitt Romney will not increase defense spending. Joe Biden interrupted Ryan twice to say Romney will increase it by $2 trillion. Who’s right? The answer depends on another question: compared with what?
Romney would spend $2 trillion more than Obama over the next 10 years on the Pentagon’s base budget — which excludes war funding. But Romney won’t increase total annual defense spending as a percentage of gross domestic product compared with fiscal year 2012.

Fact-Checking the Presidential Debate

FactCheck.org Director Brooks Jackson talks to WCBS radio about the false and misleading claims made by President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in their first presidential debate. The candidates got the facts wrong on taxes, deficits, jobs and more.
For our full article on the debate claims, see “Dubious Denver Debate Declarations.”

Dubious Denver Debate Declarations

Dubious Denver Debate Declarations

We found exaggerations and false claims flying thick and fast during the first debate between President Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. Obama accused Romney of proposing a $5 trillion tax cut. Not true. Romney proposes to offset his rate cuts …

Fact-Mauling in Mesa

Fact-Mauling in Mesa

The four remaining GOP presidential candidates met in Mesa, Ariz., for another debate, and mauled a few facts. Rick Santorum claimed earmarks were done in an “open” process during his time in Congress. Mitt Romney said dispensing morning-after pills to rape victims was “entirely voluntary” for Catholic hospitals in Massachusetts. Newt Gingrich kept on claiming he balanced federal budgets that Congress approved after he resigned.
The debate was carried live by CNN on Feb. 22, and this time the candidates were seated.

More Florida Fouls

More Florida Fouls

Newt Gingrich falsely claimed he never favored a federal mandate requiring individuals to have health insurance.
Romney repeated a false accusation that President Obama failed to denounce Hamas rocket attacks in a speech to the United Nations. And Santorum insisted that Muslim terrorists are seeking missile bases in Cuba — a wild claim based most likely on mistranslations of an Italian newspaper report.
These were among the factual fouls that we noted as four GOP presidential candidates met for yet another debate.