Republican Sharron Angle says in a TV ad that Nevada Sen. Harry Reid “voted to raise taxes” 300 times. A “staggering 300 times.” He didn’t. We reviewed the 304 votes provided by the Angle campaign and found its final tally was padded …
Issues: Taxes
Sales Tax Spin
Democrats are running misleading ads in several House and Senate races accusing Republicans of supporting a “23 percent national sales tax.” The ads fail to mention that the proposed tax — while controversial — is designed to replace all federal income …
FactChecking ‘The Pledge’
The Republican “Pledge to America,” released Sept. 23, contains some dubious factual claims. It declares that “the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.” Not true. . . .
Jerry Brown and California Taxes
A story I reported 18 years ago for CNN has recently become an issue in the California governor’s race. Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate,
Bailouts, Taxes and Deceptive Editing
In episode 28 of our podcast, we look at misleading ads from freshman House Democrats who claim they voted against the bank bailout bill, which passed before they took office. Also, we debunk a chain e-mail about taxes, and we highlight a perfect example of how deceptive editing is used in political advertising.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Democratic Bailout Baloney Sept. 3
More Bailout Baloney Sept. 8
Attack on Giffords Comes Up Short
1% Transaction Tax
Q: Is “Obama’s finance team” recommending a 1 percent tax on all bank transactions, as a chain e-mail claims?
A: No. This idea was first floated in 2004 by one House member, who says it would replace the federal income tax and eliminate the national debt. So far it has gone nowhere.
2011 Tax Increases
Q: Will "the largest tax hikes in the history of America" take effect next year? Will ordinary taxpayers see taxes "skyrocket"?
A: That’s not likely. A scary e-mail lists "Tax hikes in 2011" that probably won’t take effect, or won’t apply to families making under $250,000 a year. One "tax hike" is pure fiction.
AFSCME’s Big, Brazen Attack
The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees is spending more than $1.5 million on ads that attack Republican congressional candidates in Michigan and Nevada. The big ad buy from the labor union also comes with some grandiose …
Sunday Replay
On this week’s Sunday talk shows, we caught the education secretary making a greatly inflated claim about high-school dropouts. Plus, Florida lawmakers made exaggerated statements on tax cuts and support of environmental bills.
Too Cool for School
On ABC’s "This Week," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan greatly exaggerated the number of students leaving school every year:
Duncan: In this country, we have a 25 percent dropout rate. That’s 1.2 million students leaving our schools for the streets every single year.
AFSCME’s Misleading Tax Attack
AFSCME, the big labor union, is running a misleading ad attacking one of the GOP’s premier House candidates. In an attempt to protect a vulnerable freshman Democrat, Rep. John Boccieri of Ohio, AFSCME badly misrepresents his Republican challenger’s stance on taxation. AFSCME’s ad …