Eugene Kiely, Author at FactCheck.org

Smearing Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin Senate Race

October 23, 2012

A false and vicious TV ad attacks Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin for voting against “honoring the victims of 9/11.” The fact is, she voted to award three Congressional Gold Medals to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
So what’s the ad talking about? It cites her 2006 vote against a ceremonial resolution on the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 — which Baldwin opposed because she said the GOP-drafted resolution “politicized”

False Claims in Final Debate

October 23, 2012

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 …

Pro-Israel Group Misleads Wisconsin Voters

October 19, 2012

A Senate candidate says a pro-Israel group is airing a “false” TV ad about her record and urges stations not to run it. The ad does mislead voters in some — but not all — of its claims:

The ad says Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin called “terrorists who attacked Israel ‘innocent victims’ ” — a claim it illustrates with photos of masked men carrying weapons. That’s nonsense. Baldwin said those killed and injured while attempting to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip were “innocent victims.”

Oct. 19: Second Presidential Debate

October 19, 2012

Will Romney Increase Defense Spending By $2 Trillion?

October 16, 2012

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.

Oct. 12: Vice Presidential Debate

October 12, 2012

Romney’s $4,000 Tax Tale

October 10, 2012

Mitt Romney falsely claims in a series of TV ads that President Obama “will raise taxes on the middle class by $4,000.” That’s nonsense. The ads cite a conservative group’s study, but even the group itself doesn’t say Obama will raise taxes on middle-income taxpayers. It says his budget could result in a “potentially higher tax burden” over the next 10 years.
In fact, the group’s study considered two other budget scenarios —

Oct. 5: Executive Orders, Food Stamps, Taxes

October 5, 2012

Romney’s Clean Energy Whoppers

October 4, 2012

Mitt Romney made numerous bogus claims in the Oct. 3 debate about the $90 billion in grants, guaranteed loans and tax breaks for energy projects in the stimulus bill:

Romney falsely claimed “about half” of the clean-energy companies that received U.S.-backed loans “have gone out of business.” But 26 companies received loan guarantees under a loan program cited by Romney, and three of those have filed for bankruptcy. The three firms were approved for about 6 percent of the loan guarantees.