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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

AIG Campaign Donations

Q: Did AIG give $100,000 to Obama?
A: AIG employees gave $104,332 to Obama during the 2008 campaign, the most to any candidate. They also gave heavily to McCain, who was third on their list.

U.S. Oil Reserves

Q: Are anti-drilling forces blocking access to the world’s largest oil reserve in the western U.S.?
A: The Bakken Formation touted in a chain e-mail isn’t the world’s largest oil reserve. The amount of oil it contains, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is less than one one-hundredth of the estimate cited in the e-mail.

Stimulus for Illegal Immigrants?

Q: Will 300,000 illegal immigrants get construction jobs through the stimulus package?
A: There’s no way of knowing how many illegal immigrants may or may not end up with a job from stimulus funds. But this inflated estimate comes from conservative groups concerned about the absence of employee verification requirements in the final bill.

Uninsured U.S. Citizens

Q: How many of the uninsured are U.S. citizens?
A: The vast majority of the uninsured are citizens from working families.

The Fairness Doctrine

Q: Is the fairness doctrine coming back, and would it shut down conservative talk radio?
A: Obama has made it clear he opposes it. If it were revived, it probably would reduce the overall number of radio hours devoted to conservative talk shows.

Rahm Emanuel Property Taxes

Q: Does Rahm Emanuel pay property taxes?
A: The president’s chief of staff does pay taxes on his home. Failed attempts to find his records are the fault of shoddy research.

Social Security for Illegal Immigrants?

Q: Is Congress about to give Social Security to illegal immigrants?
A: Congress hasn’t voted on any measure to pay benefits to illegal immigrants, and has no plans for any such vote.

Infrastructure Jobs for Union Workers Only?

Q: Did Obama require that all infrastructure jobs in the stimulus bill go to union workers?
A: Obama didn’t set a requirement. He issued an executive order that "encourage[s] executive agencies to consider requiring" union labor for "large-scale" government contracts.

Gun Control

Q: Is Congress going to require a federal license to own a handgun?
A: A Chicago congressman’s bill, H.R. 45, would require that, but it has little support. The same bill died quietly in a House subcommittee last year.

Hamas Refugee Assistance

Q: Did Obama pay for Hamas-affiliated terrorists to emigrate to the United States?
A: This claim is false. The president’s memorandum to the State Department would pay for refugee assistance in Gaza, not for transporting anyone to the U.S.