Articles Archives - Page 40 of 86

Our Subscribers Speak

November 17, 2008

FactCheck.org’s subscribers report to us that they find our articles clear, helpful and unbiased.

More than 15,000 who responded to an online survey invitation also told us that they are exceptionally well educated. More than one in three hold an advanced degree, and 84 percent have at least some college education. The average age is 55, and 98 percent reported that they voted in this election. One in 10 is a teacher, and nearly 2 percent are journalists, most of whom say they find our articles useful when preparing their own news reports.

2008 FactCheck Awards

November 4, 2008

For those readers who’ve stuck with us through a lot of in-depth reporting on complex issues, we offer these just-for-fun awards for some of the most entertaining, most egregious, most off-the-wall or just plain grossest ads this election cycle.

Closing Arguments: Obama

November 3, 2008

The Obama-Biden campaign’s closing arguments have included some oft-repeated but still unlikely promises. Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, meanwhile, served up some new misleading claims in the waning days of the campaign. We examine their final pitch to voters in another article, “Closing Arguments: McCain.” Here we take one last look at Sen. Barack Obama’s claims.

Closing Arguments: McCain

November 3, 2008

With just hours remaining before Election Day, both the Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin campaigns are making their final pitch for your votes. Sen. Barack Obama hopes to hold off a late-inning McCain rally by repeating several unlikely promises, which we examine in another article, “Closing Arguments: Obama.” Meanwhile, hoping to prove the pollsters wrong, John McCain and Sarah Palin flog some new attempts to cast doubt on Obama’s character; one concerns a seven-year-old interview and another, a five-year-old video.

The Whoppers of 2008 — The Sequel

October 31, 2008

Summary
The last five weeks have brought so many ads we feel like we’re drinking from a fire hose – and we’ll bet you’re pretty saturated, too.
Since our first “Whoppers of 2008” piece, we’ve seen some of the same themes repeated. McCain’s campaign doesn’t tire of distorting Obama’s tax plan, it seems, and in the process has whipped up at least 15 minutes of fame for sudden star Joe the Plumber. Obama continues trying to pull seniors into his camp by making deceptive claims about what McCain would do to Social Security,

Same Old Claims in Another Language

October 30, 2008

Summary
The presidential campaigns and third-party groups have been bilingual throughout the election, targeting Spanish-speaking voters with some misleading and false ads. Among the recent TV spots:

A McCain-Palin ad tries to paint Obama as a "riesgo" (risk), falsely claiming that his health care plan would require small businesses to cover their employees. But Obama’s plan explicitly exempts small businesses from this requirement, and an adviser has said the threshold "would almost certainly be higher than ten"

A License to Kill

October 28, 2008

Summary
An upstart group calling itself the "National Republican Trust PAC" mixes a pile of false claims and the image of 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta to create one of the sleaziest false TV ads of the campaign.

The spot falsely claims Obama has a "plan" to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. In fact, Obama has said quite specifically, "I am not proposing that that’s what we do."
The ad implies such licenses would enable terrorist attacks.

‘Unethical?’

October 27, 2008

Summary
An ad released jointly by the McCain-Palin campaign and the RNC claims Obama "rewards his friends with your tax dollars" and calls his actions "unethical." Some of what the ad says is false or misleading. Here are the facts:

The ad claims that Obama supporter and Chicago real estate developer Allison Davis received $20 million in taxpayer money. That’s false. Davis didn’t get this money. Instead, the federal grant went to the Chicago Housing Authority,

Spread the Tax Hooey!

October 26, 2008

Summary

Republicans are misrepresenting Obama's tax proposals right down to the bitter end. New radio ads from the McCain campaign and a TV spot from the pro-Republican group Let Freedom Ring are targeting voters nationwide with some of the same tax deceptions we've been hearing all fall, rolled in a bundle and flung through the airwaves. One of the radio ads features Hank Williams Jr., the other Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. But new packaging doesn't make the charges any less false.