An independent experimental fact-checking site, exploring and advocating ways to make fact-checking better.
“Myth: Where are the all [sic] jobs that President Obama promised?” —The Democrat National Committee’s “Your Republican Uncle” website, Nov. 25, 2013 Overview The DNC’s job numbers match no Obama promise we could find. The Facts The Democratic National Committee’s website “The Democrat’s guide to talking politics with your Republican Uncle” has an answer for Republicans who ask about…
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Announcing a fact check series on the DNC’s “Your Republican Uncle.” Sometimes fact checks just fall into our lap. Other times we have to hunt for interesting statements to check. We give thanks to the Democratic National Committee for sponsoring a set of talking points meant to answer conservative family members during the holidays. The site, under the title “Your…
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“Myth: President Obama has increased the deficit” —DNC’s “Your Republican Uncle” website, Nov. 27, 2013 Overview The deficit claim is true, in a radically oversimplified and misleading way. The Facts The DNC was able to explain the myth and then some in two sentences: Since President Obama took office, the deficit as a percentage of GDP has been…
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“[T]he International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans … found that about three-quarters of all employer-sponsored health plans already meet the criteria of the Affordable Care Act.” —PunditFact, Nov. 20, 2013 Overview PunditFact, the pundit-checking branch of PolitiFact, misuses a 2013 survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans to help excuse insurance plan cancellations under the ACA. The…
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“Today we saw a clear contrast: Democrats are working to fix and improve the Affordable Care Act, while Republicans still want to go back to the days when insurance companies could deny people coverage for pre-existing conditions, treat being a woman as a pre-existing condition, and watch health care costs drive families into bankruptcy.” —Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nov….
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A critical review of Michelle A. Amazeen’s review of fact checking in 2012 October of 2013 provided us with more than one research paper on fact checking from the New America Foundation. “Making a Difference?: A Critical Assessment of Fact-checking in 2012” [Updated URL, Aug. 23, 2019] by Michelle A. Amazeen proves at the same time less ambitious and more…
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“From what we know now, [Jason] Furman’s statement stands up to scrutiny. He earns a rare Geppetto Checkmark.” —Glenn Kessler the Washington Post Fact Checker, Nov. 11, 2013 Overview Furman’s statement needs more scrutiny. The Facts The Washington Post Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, posted a fact check of a White House economic adviser on November 11, 2013. The adviser,…
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“[Glenn] Beck said that when Obama promised that people could keep the plans they like, he knew that half of all Americans would lose their health insurance. Beck is wrong in every respect. The primary study he relied on contradicts his number, saying that at most 50 million people would lose coverage, not 125 million.” —PunditFact, Nov. 6, 2013 …
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Fact checker “PolitiFact” spins its fact check failures on health care reform The media have rightly joined the public in criticizing President Obama’s veracity in claiming Americans could keep their health care plans if they liked them. And many have rightly criticized PolitiFact for turning a more-or-less blind eye on the president’s preposterous sales job. But PolitiFact isn’t taking this…
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We were recently reminded of the allegation that tea party members don’t understand that Medicare is a government insurance program. The reminder came with photographic evidence: an early tea party rally featuring a person holding a sign that read “Keep government out of my Medicare! You damn socialists!” The sign didn’t look quite right. Suspecting a Photoshop job, we looked…
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