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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

DNC Chair Throws Truth to ‘Wolves’

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz falsely claimed that seniors with preexisting medical conditions would be denied Medicare coverage under the GOP's plan. The House GOP plan specifically says insurance companies “must agree to offer insurance to all Medicare beneficiaries.” 
She also repeated a false Democratic talking point that future beneficiaries — those who are now younger than 55 — would be left on their own to buy insurance in the private market. The GOP plan, as we have written before,

FactCheck Mailbag, Week of May 24-30

This week, readers sent us comments about our fact-checking of President Obama, ads from the League of Women Voters and the idea of taxing miles driven.
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.

Playing Politics with Gasoline Prices

Democrats and Republicans disagree on energy policy, but this they share: Both shade the facts on the complex issue for political advantage. Republicans say repealing oil industry tax breaks will drive up costs at the pump. However …

Energy Efficient Bulb Costs

Q: Will energy efficient light bulbs cost $50 each next year?
A: Some light emitting diode bulbs may cost that much, but some halogen incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs go for about $1.50 to $3 each.

FactCheck Mailbag, Week of May 17-23

This week, readers sent us comments about a Medicare ad in a House race, the League of Women Voters' ads and Newt Gingrich.
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.

Ryan Revises History on Medicare Reform

Rep. Paul Ryan revises history when he says his Medicare plan is "in keeping with the Bill Clinton bipartisan committee" proposal in 1999. Contrary to the impression left by Ryan, the commission's final report failed largely along partisan lines. Clinton opposed it, and all four of his appointees voted against it. 
It's true, though, that both proposals recommended providing a government subsidy for seniors to buy insurance — that's one of the issues that caused the plan to fail to win final approval.

DNC Misquotes Pawlenty

The Democratic National Committee takes Tim Pawlenty's comments on his presidential campaign out of context. In a web video posted May 22, the DNC claimed that Pawlenty said, "I don't know," in response to a question about why he was running. But the reporter had asked when the former Minnesota governor knew that he wanted to be president — not why.

The DNC was quick to criticize Pawlenty, posting the video the same day he announced that he would run in another web video.

FactChecking Pawlenty

We are periodically taking a look at past claims from the 2012 presidential candidates. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty released a web video, announcing that he was running for president, and he'll kick off his campaign in Iowa. In recent months, we have found him straying from the facts.

In a January interview on "Fox News Sunday," Pawlenty said that he "never did sign a bill relating to cap and trade" while governor of Minnesota. But that's false.