This week, readers sent us comments about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, left-leaning semantics, stimulus efficiency and FactCheck business cards.
In the FactCheck Mailbag, we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.
Month: October 2010
60 Plus Association
Republican-leaning group that calls itself “the conservative alternative” to AARP.
Toss-ups: Missouri Mudslinging
Ethics has become a theme in the Missouri Senate race, and we find that both candidates are distorting the facts in TV ads that make accusations of serious ethical lapses: Republican Rep. Roy Blunt claims without evidence that Democrat Robin Carnahan’s …
Sunday Replay
Pity the poor politicians and spinmeisters who had to don suits in the middle of a long weekend and populate the talk shows. They were up to their usual tricks, though: One Republican operative wrongly implied a crime by the White House; several guests talked about the debt or deficit in ways that were deceptive; and a House incumbent made the jobs picture under President Obama sound better than it is in reality.
Obama ‘Enemies List’
Foreign Money? Really?
Democrats, from President Barack Obama on down, are trying to turn an evidence-free allegation into a major campaign theme, claiming that foreign corporations are “stealing our democracy” with secret, illegal contributions funneled …
A New Twist on an Old Tax Attack
Democrats and their allies can’t get enough of the Americans for Tax Reform tax pledge — which, as we’ve reported, they’ve falsely equated in a number of ads with “protecting tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas.” Still, Democrats continue …
Angle’s Shocking – and Misleading – Viagra Claim
A new ad from Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle says that Angle’s opponent, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, "voted to use taxpayer dollars to pay for Viagra for convicted child molesters and sex offenders." That sensational claim hasn’t gotten any more true since the first time we addressed it, shortly after the health care bill was passed.
It’s true that Reid voted to table an amendment that would have barred convicted sex offenders from getting coverage for drugs like Viagra from health plans sold through state-based exchanges.
The Chamber and Foreign Contributions
Q: Is illegal foreign money being filtered through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to fund ads attacking Democrats?
A: The chamber says dues money paid by overseas companies "is not used for political ads," but won’t discuss how it segregates those funds. Democratic and liberal groups want an investigation of "likely" or "possible" legal violations.
Alaska and West Virginia Senate Races, and Health Care
In episode 32 of our podcast, we look at ads in the Alaska and West Virginia Senate races, and we debunk bogus claims about the health care law — again.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Murkowski vs. Tea Party, Round 2 Oct. 6
Pataki's Bogus Health Care Claims Oct. 6
Dust-Up in Coal Country Oct. 1
Grayson Gets It Right
After two false ads, Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida finally gets it right.
Grayson, whom we criticized for twisting the words of his opponent in a TV ad called "Taliban Dan," released a new ad Oct. 6 called "The Facts" and invited the media to review it. We did. This time he mostly sticks to the facts and doesn’t resort to doctored evidence.
The narrator — a woman — lays out what she says are facts about Republican candidate Daniel Webster’s record regarding women.