FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely discussed the first Republican presidential primary debate in an Aug. 7 interview with WCBS radio host Wayne Cabot.
Issues: tax cuts
Huckabee Repeats Discredited Claims
Mike Huckabee announced he is running for president once again and, in doing so, repeated some old, discredited lines on the economy, health care and tax cuts.
FlackCheck Video: Rand Paul Announcement
This “Campaign Watch” video from FactCheck.org’s sister website, FlackCheck.org, covers some claims made by Sen. Rand Paul that we fact-checked before and after he made his announcement to run for president.
Rand Paul Revises History of Cheney Criticism
Sen. Rand Paul dismissed comments he once made about Dick Cheney’s motives for invading Iraq by claiming they were made “before I was involved in politics for myself.” That’s false.
Perry ‘Never’ Raised Taxes?
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he “never raised taxes” in his 14 years as governor of the state. That’s not the case. During his tenure, he increased taxes on businesses, cigarettes, fireworks, diesel equipment and insurance.
Old Trick vs. Blue Dog
A Republican ad claims Mike Ross, the Democratic candidate for governor of Arkansas, voted “against taxpayers” more than 80 times while a member of the House. We find that number to be inflated.
The Final Attack Ads
Both sides in the presidential race are making one last push for votes with false and distorted claims on television, radio and even in text messages:
A liberal super PAC’s radio ad in Ohio twists Mitt Romney’s words by having him say six times: “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” He actually said: “I’m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.”
A conservative super PAC falsely claims in a TV ad that President Obama’s health care law “creates an unaccountable new board that can cut Medicare benefits with no notice —
Stockman’s Fiery Rhetoric
David Stockman claims that discretionary spending is "out of control." But it’s up just 1.6 percent this year.
The former Reagan administration budget director caught our attention with an incendiary quote to The Fiscal Times news site, where he urged fellow Republicans to shut down the government if necessary to achieve spending reductions:
David Stockman: It’s time for the Republicans to man-up and let it burn! Discretionary spending is out of control, and if the GOP doesn’t force a big roll-back,
Sunday Replay
It may be August, but there is no vacation from politicians getting things wrong on the Sunday talkfests. We found Sen. Jon Kyl misstating facts about immigration and Sarah Palin miscasting the Democratic position on the Bush tax cuts – as well as overestimating how much it would cost Americans if they were allowed to expire.
Palin’s Palm Wrong on Tax Cuts
Sarah Palin misrepresented the Democratic position on extending the expiring Bush tax cuts.
Obama on Taxes
Obama said that “I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans.” He also said the cut would go to “95 percent of families.” The latter is correct. The Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center analyzed the two candidates’ tax plans and found Obama’s would cut taxes for 95.5 percent of households with children. Overall, the TPC found that Obama’s plan would produce a tax cut for 81.3 percent of all households.
Obama was also off the mark when he said “if you make less than a quarter million dollars,”