Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Hoover, Truman & Ike: Mass Deporters?

Q: Did Eisenhower deport 13 million illegal immigrants? Did Hoover and Truman use mass deportations to open jobs for U.S. citizens?
A: No. Nothing close to 13 million persons were deported during any administration. All three of these presidents wrestled with a rising tide of illegal immigration,

DNC Steals Words Right Out of Steele’s Mouth

Props to Politico’s Ben Smith for spotting the latest misleading ad from the Democratic National Committee. The ad, called "On Their Side," uses selective editing to make it seem as though Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele gives "Wall Street" exclusive credit for creating jobs and building the economy. In fact, Steele was also praising "Main Street" and small businesses, but the DNC edited out those references.

The clip in the ad comes from a June 22 interview on CNBC,

Boyd’s Ad on Florida Jobs Stretches Truth

Democratic Rep. Allen Boyd of Florida is running a TV ad falsely accusing his primary opponent of having "killed jobs," while exaggerating his own record for creating jobs.

The ad, titled “Job Killer,” has been airing since May 20 in Boyd’s North Florida district.
Job Killer?
Rep. Boyd’s ad goes too far when it charges that his rival, state Sen. Al Lawson, “killed” transportation and hospital jobs when he voted for the fiscal year 2011 state budget.

More Census Nonsense

Here are a couple of new falsehoods being circulated about the Census, to add to the bogus claims we told you about back in March:

It’s not true that Census workers can demand that your landlord let Census workers into your apartment when you are absent, as claimed by a conservative former House member.
And it’s also not true that the Census Bureau is artificially inflating official employment figures by causing temporary hires to be counted multiple times,

Sunday Replay

This Sunday’s collection of morning talkfests produced a few points worth noting, including distortions of Rand Paul’s use of the term "un-American," a bit of cherry-picking on job growth numbers under President Obama, a false accusation that oil companies are making "record profits," and misleading innuendo that the White House has been slow to respond to the Gulf oil crisis because of the industry’s campaign donations.
A Bit of Flag-Waving
On "Fox News Sunday,"

Elena Kagan and Immigration

In episode 12 of FactCheck Radio, we look at false and misleading claims made on the Sunday talk shows about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Plus, we examine whether immigration — both legal and illegal — hurts American workers.

NAFTA/CAFTA Blame Game

A union-sponsored ad charges that Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s support of "unfair" trade deals "made it impossible for American workers to compete." But several economic studies say trade deals, like the North American Free Trade Agreement, have had a small impact, or even a positive one, on American jobs.

As we said last week, this ad starts with a true claim about union workers at a Cooper Tire plant making wage concessions to ward off a threatened closure.

Labor, More So Than Lincoln, Saved Arkansas Jobs

In the Arkansas Democratic Senate primary, an ad from Sen. Blanche Lincoln claims that "she saved 1,700 Cooper Tire employees from losing their jobs to Chinese imports." But a labor union supporting her more liberal opponent countered with an ad in which a Cooper Tire worker says: "We saved our own jobs and we had to take big pay cuts to do it." We find the labor claim to be true, and Lincoln’s to be a bit of an exaggeration.

Another False Tax Attack (And One That’s Just Deceptive)

There they go again.
Earlier this month, we called out Democrats for falsely accusing a Republican House candidate in Hawaii of pledging to protect tax breaks for sending jobs overseas. All he did was sign a pledge not to raise taxes. Now a Democratic candidate is making the same false claim against his opponent in another special election in Pennsylvania.
For Democrats, misrepresenting an opponent’s anti-tax position as an anti-jobs position is getting to be a bad habit.

Sunday Replay

During his first appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation" on April 18, Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts claimed that the financial regulatory bill could potentially cost insurance companies in his state 25,000 to 35,000 jobs. But the freshman senator has failed to provide any support for the claim, and we have been unable to find any elsewhere.
Brown didn’t provide the source of the estimate when host Bob Schieffer inquired about it. And our calls to the senator’s office haven’t been returned.