Q: Does the new health care law require workers to pay income tax on the value of employer-provided health insurance?
A: No. The value will appear on employees’ W-2 forms for information purposes, but will not be considered taxable income.
‘Dishonesty’ in New Mexico
We can’t recall a time when a candidate’s ad was denounced as misleading and dishonest by the head of his own party. But that’s what has happened in New Mexico. Harvey E. Yates Jr., New Mexico’s Republican state party chairman, stepped in to referee a dispute between the gubernatorial campaigns of …
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of May 18-May 24
This week, readers sent us comments about misinformation burnout, immigration, Sunday shows and the word "gender."
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.
Sunday Replay
This Sunday’s collection of morning talkfests produced a few points worth noting, including distortions of Rand Paul’s use of the term "un-American," a bit of cherry-picking on job growth numbers under President Obama, a false accusation that oil companies are making "record profits," and misleading innuendo that the White House has been slow to respond to the Gulf oil crisis because of the industry’s campaign donations.
A Bit of Flag-Waving
On "Fox News Sunday,"
Did Ed Case Kill 3,000 Hawaii Jobs? No.
As the days tick down to Hawaii’s May 22 special congressional election, Republican Charles Djou is airing an ad falsely accusing former Democratic Rep. Ed Case of voting to raise “taxes that kill 3,000 local jobs a year.”
The ad, which first ran May 14, makes this claim: “Case said he’s against higher taxes, but in Congress he voted to raise taxes. Taxes that kill 3,000 local jobs a year.” It cites a Jan. 5, 2006,
Elena Kagan and Immigration
In episode 12 of FactCheck Radio, we look at false and misleading claims made on the Sunday talk shows about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Plus, we examine whether immigration — both legal and illegal — hurts American workers.
“Dhimmitude” and the Muslim Exemption
Q: Will Muslim Americans be exempt from the mandate to have health insurance?
A: The Muslim faith does not forbid purchasing health insurance, and no Muslim group has ever been considered exempt under the definitions used in the health care law.
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of May 11-May 17
This week, readers sent us comments about immigration and … well, practically nothing else. Our story seemed to hit a nerve.
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 Mis-tweet from McMahon
Linda McMahon’s U.S. Senate campaign recently used the social networking site Twitter to misrepresent former Rep. Robert Simmons’ position on tax credits for businesses and the dividend tax. McMahon and Simmons are battling in Connecticut to become the GOP nominee for Chris Dodd’s Senate seat.
Shawn McCoy, deputy communications director for the McMahon campaign, tweeted the following on May 11:
@RobSimmons supports hiking the dividends tax and opposes biz tax credits. No wonder CT lost 15,000 jobs while he was biz advocate
But Simmons does support giving tax credits to businesses and extending the Bush tax cuts including the dividend tax,
Sunday Replay
The Sunday talk shows contained ample misinformation this week. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan was the subject of bogus claims coming from two lawmakers, and a Democratic candidate for Senate fudged the facts about his military record. Also, a Republican former House speaker played loose with the facts, while accusing the president and his party of "anti-religious bias."
Kagan: No Lawbreaker
On ABC’s "This Week," Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions falsely accused Supreme Court nominee Kagan of "violating the law."