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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Democrats Mislead on Military Pay, Pensions

Democrats Mislead on Military Pay, Pensions

Several Democrats have claimed that the president’s emergency declaration could “raid” or “take money away” from military pay and pensions to fund construction of the border wall. But the money is actually leftover funding due to lower-than-expected recruits and fewer early retirements.

The Facts on the Born-Alive Debate

The Facts on the Born-Alive Debate

Republicans and Democrats traded accusations on the topic of abortion after a “born-alive” bill failed in the Senate. Democrats say the legislation was unnecessary and aimed at restricting access to legal abortion, while Republicans say it was about protecting babies. We’ll go through what the recent legislation said and what both sides are saying about it.

What Zika Means for Americans

What Zika Means for Americans

During floor addresses urging Congress to act on President Obama’s $1.9 billion request for emergency funds to combat the Zika virus, a number of senators made claims that were either misleading or lacked context.

Keeping Your Health Plan

Keeping Your Health Plan

For years, President Obama promised millions of Americans with health insurance that “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan” under his health care overhaul. He wasn’t the only one, either.

FairTax, Washington Senate Race and Aqua Buddha

In episode 34 of our podcast, we talk about a popular — and misleading — line of attack from Democrats about the FairTax. Plus, we look at ads in the Washington Senate race and the controversial "Aqua Buddha" ad in the Kentucky contest.

For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Sales Tax Spin Oct. 20
Toss-ups: Wayward Ads in Washington State Oct. 15
Conway ‘Lying’ About ‘Aqua Buddha’? Oct. 18

Toss-ups: Wayward Ads in Washington State

A Republican-leaning group, American Action Network, makes misleading claims in an ad portraying Democratic Sen. Patty Murray as pro-tax and anti-small business. Meanwhile, Murray goes too far in her attack on the complicated business …

Should Murray Worry?

An attack ad from a Republican-leaning group accuses Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of abusing "families" and "children" — but provides no support for those claims. The group’s website even criticizes Murray for casting a vote in favor of expanding health insurance to millions of children — a vote also cast by the group’s own CEO, former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

The ad by the American Action Network began airing July 13 in Washington state with an initial buy of more than $750,000.

Benton’s Bogus Viagra Ad

Don Benton, a Republican from Washington state who is running for U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, is airing a false and misleading ad that says: "Patty Murray voted to use taxpayer money to give Viagra to sex offenders.” The ad goes on to say, “What if I told you your taxpayer dollars are already doing that?”
It ends by urging viewers to “tell Patty Murray that you’re sick of her reckless spending.”

In a graphic on screen,