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Gov. Rendell’s Outburst Misses Mark

January 11, 2011

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's angry outburst on CBS' "60 Minutes" was more than unexpected. It was factually wrong.

In a segment on slot machine gambling, Rendell lashed out at CBS reporter Lesley Stahl, when she asked about the "downside" of expanding casino gambling. The outgoing Democratic governor, who signed legislation to allow slot machine gambling in 2004 and table games in 2010, said the "biggest downside is that some people lose their paychecks." But he became visibly angry at Stahl for asking if he had second thoughts about signing legislation that caused "new gamblers"

More Guns, Fewer Murders?

January 10, 2011

On CNN’s "State of the Union with Candy Crowley," Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah perpetuated a falsehood about gun ownership and lower murder rates.

Lee: And to the contrary, I think there is abundant research suggesting that in cities where more people own guns, the crime rate, especially the murder rate actually goes down.

That’s not true. A causal relationship between prevalence of gun ownership and crime hasn’t been established by researchers. We looked into this subject in 2008 and found that the statistical relationship is the opposite of what Lee said for murder,

Reid Wrong on Jobs, Tea Party

January 10, 2011

On NBC’s "Meet the Press," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid exaggerated the latest job gains in the manufacturing sector and grossly minimized tea party victories in the 2010 midterm elections.
In the interview — which NBC taped a day before the Jan. 8 shooting of Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Tucson, Ariz. — Reid spoke about the latest employment numbers. The economy added 113,000 private sector jobs in the month of December, dropping the unemployment rate to 9.4 percent from 9.8 percent.

A ‘Job-Killing’ Law?

January 7, 2011

When it comes to truth in labeling, House Republicans are getting off to a poor start with their constantly repeated references to the new health care law as “job-killing.” We find: Independent, nonpartisan experts project …

The 2012 GOP Field

January 7, 2011

In episode 43 of our podcast, we take a look at what some of the potential Republican presidential candidates have been saying.

For more on the claims discussed in this podcast, see:
Let the Distortions Begin Dec. 23

Congress Not Exempt from Student Loans

January 6, 2011

Q: Is it true that members of Congress, their staffers and their family members do not have to pay back their student loans?
A: Not true. Some congressional employees are eligible to have up to $60,000 of student loans repaid after several years — just like other federal workers. But that’s not the case for members of Congress or their families.

FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Dec. 28-Jan. 3

January 4, 2011

During our break for the holidays, readers sent us comments about TSA screenings, the estate tax and bringing FactCheck to cable television.
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.

A New Home for FactCheck.org

January 1, 2011

With the New Year we are getting new GPS coordinates.
FactCheck.org is moving to the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s new headquarters building on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Our web address, of course, remains unchanged.

Our new physical address:

FactCheck.org
c/o Annenberg Public Policy Center
202 S. 36th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3806

Our telephone numbers:

Annenberg Public Policy Center: (215) 898-9400
FactCheck.org News Desk: (215) 573-7070

Annenberg’s Washington, D.C., office — which has been our home since we began operations in 2003 —

Let the Distortions Begin

December 23, 2010

It has been seven whole weeks now since the midterms, and – like you, perhaps – we’ve enjoyed watching football and “Glee” uninterrupted by campaign ads. But that doesn’t mean there’s no campaigning going on. Potential Republican presidential aspirants …

Holiday Announcement

December 23, 2010

Both the Washington and Philadelphia offices of FactCheck.org will be closed from Dec. 24 through Monday, Jan. 3, in observance of Christmas and New Year’s.
When we resume, we will be taking a different approach to our coverage of weekend public affairs shows. We will continue to monitor them and to research any dubious factual claims by public officials and political candidates. And we will post separate items on any that we discover to be false or misleading.