Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and the disabled, covers 46 million Americans. Medicare spending totaled $455 billion in 2008.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
Stories by FactCheck.org
August 9, 2009
There were 2.6 million children who lived with both a grandmother and a grandfather in the U.S. in 2008.
Source: Census Bureau
August 8, 2009
There were 6.6 million children living with a grandparent in the U.S. in 2008. That’s 9 percent of all children in the country.
Source: Census Bureau
August 7, 2009
In 2007, 2.5 million grandparents were responsible for most of the basic needs of one or more of the grandchildren living with them.
Source: Census Bureau
August 6, 2009
The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game took place during the World Fair in Chicago on July 6, 1933.
Source: MLB.com
August 5, 2009
Maine Gov. John Baldacci has declared August Maine Lobster Month.
Source: Maine Lobster Council
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of July 28-August 3
This week, readers sent us comments on Facebook trolls, bias and the uninsured. 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.
August 4, 2009
The world’s ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the warmest on record, surpassing the previous record in 2005. The ocean surface temperature was 1.06 degrees Fahrenheit more than the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Source: NOAA
August 3, 2009
President James Polk died four months after leaving office, at the age of 53. His wife lived for another 42 years.
Source: AmericanPresidents.com
July 31, 2009
President Eisenhower named the presidential retreat Camp David after his grandson. President Franklin Roosevelt previously had called it the “USS Shangri La.”
Source: WhiteHouse.gov