Author Archive: Bryan W. White

Review: “The Epistemology of Fact Checking”

A critical review of and reflection on The Epistemology of Fact Checking by Joseph E. Uscinski and Ryden W. Butler   epis·te·mol·o·gy:  the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity   In their paper The Epistemology of Fact Checking (hereafter “Epistemology“), published in October 2013, authors Joseph E….
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The DNC says it’s a myth that Obamacare should be unconstitutional

“Myth:  Obamacare should be unconstitutional.” —The Democratic National Committee, on its “Your Republican Uncle” website, Nov. 25, 2013 Overview As with some other claims on the Democratic National Committee’s “Your Republican Uncle” website, this claim misleads with ambiguity. The Facts In November of 2013 the Democrat National Committee kicked off “yourrepublicanuncle.com,” a website the DNC says is intended to answer…
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“Government takeover”? The DNC says that’s a myth

“Myth: Obamacare is a government takeover of the health care system.” —The Democratic National Committee on its “Your Republican Uncle” website, Nov. 25, 2013   Overview The DNC says it’s a myth that the ACA represents a government takeover of the health care system.  The DNC’s case unwittingly undermines itself. The Facts We continue our series of ratings for claims…
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DNC: It’s a myth that Obamacare hurts businesses

“Myth:  Obamacare hurts businesses.” —The Democratic National Committee on its “Your Republican Uncle” website, Nov. 25, 2013   Overview The DNC’s attempt to turn truth into myth creates a distortion of a distortion. The Facts In late 2013, the Democratic National Committee created a website it says gives Democrats answers to Republican myths.  We continue our fact check series of…
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DNC: It’s a myth that people can’t sign up for Obamacare because the website doesn’t work

“Myth:  The website doesn’t work so people can’t sign up for health care even if they wanted to.” —The Democratic National Committee, December 2013 on the “Your Republican Uncle” website   Overview The federal exchange site will cause some users to miss deadlines for obtaining insurance.  The DNC holds back details it ought to know well. The Facts This myth-busting…
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Working paper doesn’t work

A critical review of  Lying in Politics: Evidence from the US, a working paper by Alessandro Bucciol and Luca Zarri Researchers Alessandro Bucciol (assistant professor of econometrics) and Luca Zarri (associate professor of economics), both of the University of Verona, wanted to examine the tendency of politicians to lie.  But they were confronted the problem of objectively assessing whether and…
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PolitiFact’s 77-cent State of the Union fumble

“Barack Obama, in State of the Union, says women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns … We rate the claim Mostly True.” —PolitiFact, from a Jan. 28 fact check of President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union speech   Overview If the presidential State of the Union address is the Super Bowl for fact checkers then PolitiFact…
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DNC: It’s a myth that Obamacare isn’t working

“Myth:  Obamacare isn’t working.” —The Democratic National Committee, December 2013 on its “Your Republican Uncle” website   Overview An ambiguous claim misleads, as ambiguous claims often do. The Facts Having completed fact checks dealing with the Democratic National Committee’s claims about the economy, we move on to the DNC’s set of claims about health care at its “Answering Your Republican…
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