A misleading liberal ad attacks Sen. Scott Brown as a yes-man for “Wall Street and the national Republican agenda.” The truth is that Brown was one of only three Republican senators to vote for the controversial Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. And the Massachusetts senator votes contrary to other Republican senators once every five or six votes, a more independent record than all but a few in his party.
The ad is the work of MassUniting,
Aug. 26: Public Debt, Secession, Obama Bus
Obama’s Canadian-American Bus
Q: Was President Obama's tour bus made in Canada?
A: The shell of the $1.1 million bus came from Canada, but it was converted for the Secret Service by a company in Tennessee.
Taxing the Truth in Nevada
Truth and context are taking a beating in a special election in Nevada to fill a vacant House seat. Both sides are adding some new twists to familiar talking points — and giving voters a peek at campaign …
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Aug. 16-22
This week, readers sent us comments about the meaning of "on par," regulations proposed by the Environmetal Protection Agency and past letters about payroll taxes.
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.
What Perry Really Said About Secession
The Obama team falsely suggests Texas Gov. Rick Perry advocated secession. Perry's actual remarks have been mischaracterized. Perry entertained a reporter's question about secession after a tea party rally in 2009, and warned that "if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what may come out of that?" But he's made clear all along that "we've got a great union" and there is "no reason to dissolve it."
Perry has carelessly commented that Texas has a unique right to secede from the union,
Biden Bungles Talking Point on Debt
Joe Biden mistakenly claimed Americans own 85 percent of U.S. Treasury securities during his visit to China. Americans own 54 percent of the U.S. public debt — that is, the amount of debt held by the public. They own 69 percent of the total debt, which includes money the U.S. government owes itself.
At several stops in China, Vice President Biden sought to reassure the Chinese that their investments in U.S. treasuries are safe.
Teachers Paid ‘On Par with Doctors’?
President Obama falsely claimed teachers are paid "on par" with doctors in “most countries" with high test scores. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has data that allowed us to compare 16 member countries in all three categories: student test scores, teachers' pay and general practitioners' pay. None of the 16 countries paid teachers more than doctors, and 10 had higher test scores than the U.S. in one or more subject areas.
As part of that same claim,
Aug. 19: Santorum, Teacher Pay, Front Group
Front Group Claims EPA Threatens 7 Million Jobs
Chemical and oil lobbies were behind an ad that dogged Obama's Midwestern bus tour, attacking anti-smog regulations proposed by the administration. Their trade groups are among the business organizations backing a front group calling itself the "Coalition for American Jobs," which sponsored the ad.
The TV spot accused the president of "talking jobs" on his Midwestern tour, while his administration is "putting 7 million American jobs at risk" by considering "unnecessary" tightening of anti-smog regulations. The job-loss claim turns out to be based on an industry-sponsored study that predicts astronomical compliance costs.