Q: What are the facts regarding the new health insurance law’s federal funding for abortion, or lack of it?
A: The law says individuals who get federal subsidy dollars must use their private money to pay for coverage of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Claims that the new law will lead to a large increase in the number of abortions lack support.
Issues: health care
Overstated Stats
Congressional Republicans appearing on CBS’ "Face the Nation" repeated a couple of false claims we’ve talked about before.
The first guest, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, inflated some statistics when he talked about opposition to the health care bill. His claim, that 60 percent of Americans support repealing the bill, was immediately countered by host Bob Schieffer, who pointed out: "Well, you know, a new poll out this morning in the Washington Post does not suggest that a majority of Americans are against this,
IRS Expansion
Q: Will the IRS hire 16,500 new agents to enforce the health care law?
A: No. The law requires the IRS mostly to hand out tax credits, not collect penalties. The claim of 16,500 new agents stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation.
Health Care and Census
President Obama signed the health care bill into law this week — but we’re still fact-checking claims about it. In this episode, we look at two ads from groups that were pushing for passage of the legislation. Plus, we discuss various false claims about the 2010 Census.
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For more on the stories discussed in this episode see:
"All Those in Favor …"
And Here We Go: Attack Ad Cites Health Care Vote
Republican businessman Scott Sipprelle, who is running to unseat Democratic Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey this fall, has launched one of the first TV ads attacking an incumbent on the recent health care vote.
In the 30-second spot, which is also the first TV ad of his campaign, Sipprelle says, "Rush Holt and Nancy Pelosi ignored you" and supported a "trillion dollar health care bill [that] creates a massive new federal bureaucracy that will hurt the quality of care and saddle us with more debt and higher taxes."
Enter the Lawyers
You knew they were coming, didn’t you?
Back in October, we were getting lots of e-mail asking if the health care overhaul bill was constitutional or not, particularly the part that requires each individual to have insurance. Our conclusion? We couldn’t really give one, of course, but we talked through some of the issues that could arise. See our post: "Health Care Overhaul: Constitutional?"
Now it looks as though we won’t have to wait very long for the wheels of litigation to start turning.
More Health Care Ads?
So now that President Obama is set to sign this health care bill into law, you won’t have to hear all kinds of claims about it, right? Well, not so fast. The end of the health care ad wars isn’t here yet.
Liberals are getting in the first shots — praising Democratic House members who voted their way, and attacking at least one Republican who didn’t. But we suspect there’s much more to come. Republicans are vowing to make the vote a major issue in the midterm elections in November.
Burrowing into “Borrowing”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its allies have launched a last-minute TV attack claiming that "Washington wants 600 billion in new borrowing for their health care bill," despite the fact that the Congressional Budget Office projects the bill will reduce the federal deficit over the next 10 years, and for the 10 years after that, as well.
The ad was announced Thursday, March 18 by Employers for a Healthy Economy, a coalition of business groups opposed to the legislation.
Future Fund’s Faulty Fusillade
The American Future Fund, a conservative advocacy group, is launching an offensive on multiple fronts against the proposed health care bill. Its television ad mixes bits of recycled images and false claims with new falsehoods, while its print ad sticks closer to the facts but begs some context.
Video Attacks
First off, the ad says that "liberals are crafting a secret health care bill behind closed doors." That’s absurd. The health care overhaul bills were passed months ago (the House version passed in November,
A Final Weekend of Whoppers?
With the House preparing for a final vote on the Senate health care legislation, with revisions, Sunday afternoon, we thought we’d give our readers a wrap-up of the top falsehoods of late. The debate over this bill has stretched on about as long as a presidential campaign, and we suspect this weekend will be filled …