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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Posts Mislead on Legal Basis for Paying Federal Income Taxes

Posts Mislead on Legal Basis for Paying Federal Income Taxes

The U.S. Constitution established Congress’ right to impose federal income taxes, and the Internal Revenue Service administers the laws that require payment of taxes. Yet social media posts falsely claim there is no law that requires U.S. residents to pay taxes.

Meme Mangles Constitutional Rights

Meme Mangles Constitutional Rights

A meme making the bogus claim that the U.S. Constitution confers rights only to citizens is circulating online. Actually, many of the rights granted in the Constitution apply to noncitizens, too.

Ocasio-Cortez Gets FDR History Lesson Wrong

Ocasio-Cortez Gets FDR History Lesson Wrong

At a town hall meeting on the Green New Deal, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got her history wrong when she was asked what lessons she learned from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Can Trump End Birthright Citizenship by Executive Order?

Can Trump End Birthright Citizenship by Executive Order?

President Donald Trump has long been a critic of birthright citizenship, and now he says he can and will end it via executive order. But can he? Most constitutional scholars say he can’t. Or if he does, that his order will be overturned by the courts.

Bogus Biden Quote Circulates Again

Bogus Biden Quote Circulates Again

Q: Did former Vice President Joe Biden say “no ordinary American cares about his constitutional rights”?

A: No. That viral quote is false and has circulated for several years.

Kavanaugh Files: Second Amendment

Kavanaugh Files: Second Amendment

Democrats have described Brett Kavanaugh as “a true Second Amendment radical” who is “far outside the mainstream of legal thought” — more conservative than the late Justice Antonin Scalia. The criticism stems from Kavanaugh’s dissent in a 2011 appeals court ruling that upheld the District of Columbia’s law banning semi-automatic rifles. We take a look at the facts.

Natural Born Bunk

Natural Born Bunk

Q: Have Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Keith Olbermann introduced a bill that would do away with the requirement that the U.S. president be a natural born citizen?

A: No. Pelosi’s office confirmed that she has not, and Olbermann is not even a member of Congress.

Trump’s Power to Pardon

Trump’s Power to Pardon

President Donald Trump tweeted that “all agree the U.S. President has the complete power to pardon.” It’s true that the president has the constitutional power to issue pardons, but there are some limits to that power.

Palin’s Constitutional Stretch

Palin’s Constitutional Stretch

At the Conservative Political Action Conference, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said that the Senate was “in violation of Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of our U.S. Constitution” by failing to “pass a budget.” She’s referring to a budget resolution. But that constitutional clause doesn’t mention a budget or a budget resolution, which was not required of the Senate until the 1974 Congressional Budget Act. The responses to Palin’s interpretation from constitutional scholars ranged from “completely invalid” to “kind of a stretch.”