Sales at family clothing stores in the U.S. in August last year totaled $7.6 billion. December was the only month with significantly higher sales.
Source: Census Bureau
Health Care and the “One Way Hash”
Here at FactCheck.org, we like to complicate things.
The statement isn’t meant to be (entirely) a flippant one. It really is true that a lot of what we do here is to take what appear to be pretty simple claims and show that the reality is far more complicated than it might appear at first glance. Quite often we find ourselves saying things like, "That’s true, but it’s misleading…"
Julian Sanchez, now a research fellow at the Cato Institute,
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Aug. 25-Aug. 31
This week, readers sent us comments on tort reform, sharks, fonts and health insurance (surprise!).
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.
RNC’s Steele to Seniors: “Stand With Us”
The Republican National Committee says it will be running this new TV ad in Florida and on selected cable networks starting Sept. 1. It features GOP Chairman Michael Steele touting the party’s "Seniors’ Bill of Rights," which we said last week is a mixture of false, true and misleading claims.
Steele – continuing in the same vein – is shown urging President Obama to "change his mind" about making "cuts to Medicare," "ration[ing] health care based on age"
September 1, 2009
During the 2006-2007 school year, 7.3 million students (59 percent of them boys) played high school sports. That total is about 2.1 million higher than the number in 1979-1980.
Source: Census Bureau
Obama’s Montana Town Hall
Q: Did the White House "orchestrate" a recent town hall meeting to make it appear that Montana is "just crazy for Obama and government health care"?
A: A chain e-mail that makes that claim isn’t supported by the record. Some of what it says is false.
Cancer Rates and Unjustified Conclusions
A number of opponents of new health care legislation, most recently our old friend Betsy McCaughey on "The Daily Show," have claimed that cancer survival rates are higher in the U.S. than in countries with nationalized health care. They conclude from this that the state of general health and health care quality in the U.S. must therefore be higher. Does the U.S. really have a higher cancer survival rate? And what does that mean about our health care system?
August 31, 2009
The US Open began as a men’s singles and doubles tennis tournament in 1881.
Source: USOpen.org
August 30, 2009
In 1972 Sen. Edward M. Kennedy pushed the Meals on Wheels Act and the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC).
Source: kennedy.senate.gov
TGIF
August traditionally may be a slow news month in the nation’s capital, but the bogus claims have continued to fly in the final full week of meteorological summer. This week, we’ve written about health care, health care and, oh yeah, more health care.
An article from Aug. 21 addresses abortion funding in H.R. 3200, the House version of the health care overhaul backed by the White House. We found that President Obama is stretching when he claims that the bill won’t provide any abortion funding.