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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Romney’s Windy Web Video

A Mitt Romney online video overstates the growth of Chicago's unemployment rate under President Obama. The ad says that Chicago's unemployment is up 48 percent, which is true since November 2008. But Obama didn't take office until Jan. 20, 2009, and the city's unemployment rate has increased 26.7 percent since then. That's still a large jump, to be sure, but not nearly as high as the video claims.
The Web video — titled "Obama Isn't Working: Chicago"

Reid Wrong on Bush’s Economic Record

Sen. Harry Reid falsely claimed that 8 million jobs were lost during the Bush administration. To the contrary, there was a net gain of 1 million jobs under President George W. Bush. It's true that more than 8 million jobs were lost as a result of the recent recession — from the job peak to trough — but only about half of those were lost under Bush.
The Nevada Democrat also falsely claimed that Bush turned a projected surplus of $7 trillion over 10 years into a $14 trillion debt.

Bachmann’s Histrionics on Health Care

Michele Bachmann incorrectly claimed the new health care law is "the largest spending and entitlement program ever passed in our nation's history." The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the health care provisions of the law will cost roughly $169 billion in fiscal year 2016, the first year of full implementation. But that's far less than what Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid each will cost that same year.
The Minnesota Republican and presidential candidate made her claim during a July 28 speech at the National Press Club.

LaHood Pads Job Losses

The transportation secretary overstated the number of construction jobs lost because Congress has failed to pass a federal aviation bill. Ray LaHood claimed that "as many as 70,000 construction workers across America are out of work," because of the congressional stalemate. That's the number of jobs a construction industry analysis said would be "affected" in some way. The industry study puts the number of construction workers who are actually "out of work" at 24,000.
LaHood, a former Illinois congressman,

Default ‘Danger’ Revisited

President Obama's communications director said we’ve "never" been in danger of defaulting before. That's not true. Congress has come close to failing to raise the debt ceiling before defaulting more than once in recent years, under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer appeared on CNN's "John King USA" on July 26, and he told guest-host Jessica Yellin that "in the 200-plus years of our country, we've never been in a situation where we have been in danger of defaulting on our obligations."

Romney’s Economic Exaggerations

Mitt Romney mistakenly claimed the U.S. is experiencing "the worst recovery … in America's history," citing the Wall Street Journal. But the newspaper article said it was "the worst, or one of the worst, since the government started tracking these trends after World War II." That obviously does not include the recoveries following the Great Depression or 20 other economic downturns that have occurred since 1857.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is running for president,

McConnell’s Debt Claim ‘Rejected’

Sen. Mitch McConnell wrongly claimed President Obama "rejected the only plan the Democrats have proposed" to raise the debt ceiling. That's not true. The White House has explicitly supported the proposal.
The Senate minority leader made the false statement in a July 26 speech on the Senate floor.

McConnell, July 26: Last night the president rejected not just the only proposal that has passed either house of Congress, he rejected the only plan the Democrats have proposed as well —

Medicare Message in Spanish

A Democratic ad in Spanish says Republicans "would end the Medicare guarantee." That requires context. Viewers might interpret the message to mean that Medicare would end completely. That's not the case. The ad refers to the system's guarantee of a certain level of benefits covered by the government.

[TET ] DNC ad, English translation: Behind the ads that pretend to care about our children, it's the Republicans who would end the Medicare guarantee while protecting tax cuts for the very rich.

‘Spenditol’ Silliness

A conservative Christian group makes some wildly improbable claims about government spending in a satirical ad targeting Democrats.
The ad mimics the format of spots for prescription drugs, touting "Spenditol" as a cure for the "chronic pain" of rising gasoline and food prices and unemployment worries. While we do get the joke, and hate to be killjoys, we are obliged to note that the ad strays from the facts here and there. It claims that the 2009 stimulus law "didn't create jobs"

Medicare Misrepresentation

The liberal group Patriot Majority distorts a Republican plan to change Medicare, claiming the GOP proposal says “no to Medicare, no to seniors.”
The plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin would radically change Medicare, but it wouldn’t put an end to government health care for seniors. Instead, it proposes a new program starting in 2022.
The attack comes in two ads airing in Montana and Missouri and designed to counter ads launched by the conservative Crossroads GPS.