FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Oct. 18-24
This week, readers sent us comments about crime rates in Flint, Mich., and benefit cuts for seniors.
In the FactCheck Mailbag, we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.
Concerned Women for America
A public policy women’s organization that promotes biblical principles.
Romney Didn’t OK New Benefits for Illegal Immigrants
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is claiming that Mitt Romney “OKd health care for illegal immigrants” by signing Massachusetts’ 2006 health care overhaul law. But the law didn’t give illegal immigrants anything new. It merely continued and renamed a state program that had long allowed low-income, uninsured residents, including those in the country illegally, to get care at community health centers and (as in all other states) hospital emergency rooms.
Perry’s campaign seized on an Oct. 23 Los Angeles Times story that said the law Romney signed “includes a program known as the Health Safety Net,
FactChecking Health Insurance Premiums
Health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored family plans jumped a startling 9 percent from 2010 to 2011, and Republicans have blamed the federal health care law. But they exaggerate. The law — the bulk of which has yet to be implemented — has caused only about a 1 percent …
Biden’s Flint Fiasco, Continued
Murder, rape and robbery are declining in spite of police layoffs in Flint, Mich. — according to the most recent official report released by the State Police. Those and other reported “index” crimes were down 11.5 percent overall during the first six months of this year, compared with the same six-month period last year.
We’ve continued to dig into the statistics for crime-ridden Flint because we caught Vice President Joe Biden misrepresenting them repeatedly as he argued for passage of the administration’s jobs legislation.
Romney v. Perry in a YouTube Slugfest
Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are hammering each other with dueling — and distorted — YouTube ads. Romney’s ad says “unemployment has doubled on Perry’s watch” as Texas governor. That’s true. But it’s also true that Texas has bucked the national trend and now has a lower jobless rate …
George Soros’ Gun Grab?
Q: Does George Soros own the company buying many firms that make guns and ammunition?
A: No. Contrary to a fanciful claim made in a viral email, the Freedom Group is not linked to the liberal billionaire. The National Rifle Association says the real owners are “strong supporters” of gun rights.
Republican Majority Campaign
Republican Majority Campaign is a conservative group headed by a California attorney who was featured in an infomercial that asked “Where was President Obama born?”