Several candidates twisted the facts on health care, student loan debt, President Trump and more.
FactChecking the November Democratic Debate
Issues: student loans
Ralph Northam’s ‘Sell Out’ Stretch
A TV ad from Democrat Ralph Northam strains to portray Republican Ed Gillespie as a lobbyist who sold out workers by fighting “to give billions to Wall Street banks.”
FlackCheck Video: Fiorina on Student Loans
This FlackCheck.org video summarizes our May 7 story “Fiorina Misleads on Student Loans.” Carly Fiorina, a Republican presidential candidate, claimed that the government had “nationalized” the college loan industry.
Fiorina Misleads on Student Loans
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina gave a misleading description of the options available for college students who need loans to pay for their education.
Student Loan Stretching
Arkansas Rep. Tom Cotton mischaracterizes the Affordable Care Act’s impact on student loans, and a teachers union stretches Cotton’s voting record on the issue.
Obama Misquotes GOP Congresswoman
President Obama misrepresented the position of Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx on college debt. The president quoted Foxx as saying that she had “very little tolerance for people who tell me they graduate with debt.” But Foxx was speaking explicitly about those with very large amounts of debt, a fact that Obama omitted and that changes the meaning of the North Carolina congresswoman’s statement.
The sin of omission was in Obama’s speech in Boulder, Colo., as the president pushed for the extension of current federal student loan interest rates.
Congress Not Exempt from Student Loans
Q: Is it true that members of Congress, their staffers and their family members do not have to pay back their student loans?
A: Not true. Some congressional employees are eligible to have up to $60,000 of student loans repaid after several years — just like other federal workers. But that’s not the case for members of Congress or their families.
Down-to-the-Wire Deceptions
Attack ads, and the misinformation that comes with them, continue to swamp the airwaves. In fact, spending on ads in these midterm elections could top $3 billion, said Evan Tracey, whose Kantar Media-owned Campaign Media Analysis Group tracks political ads running nationwide. That cracks the $2.7 billion spent in 2008 – when a presidential race as well as the usual congressional ones were eating up airtime.
A brief rundown of some misleading assaults we’ve found in the last few days:
DSCC Hits Murkowski
Among other things,
IRS Agents, Health Care and Student Loans
In Episode 5 of our podcast, we look into Republican claims that the new health care law will require the IRS to hire 16,500 agents — and GOP Rep. Ron Paul’s assertion that they’d all be carrying guns. We also discuss health care ads from liberals and conservatives, and claims about the federal student loan program.
(Click the play button below to listen to the podcast. Or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.)
Student Lenders’ Slippery Jobs Numbers
Would overhauling the student loan program really "jeopardize more than 30,000 private sector jobs," as claimed by those who oppose it? We find that figure to be a stretch. A widely quoted, independent expert says any job loss is likely to be much less, and that it’s possible no jobs will be lost at all.
The student-loan overhaul — under which the federal government would become the sole lender, ending the role of banks and other private sector lenders in this government program —