Author Archive: Bryan W. White

FactCheck.org says federal spending has increased ‘far more slowly’ under Obama than under Bush

May 7, 2013 0 Comments

“Federal spending under Obama has grown faster than inflation, but far more slowly than it did under President Bush.” —Annenberg Fact Check   Summary We rate a second recent claim from FactCheck.org, stemming from the same “Obama’s Numbers” article that prompted our earlier fact check.  Again, Annenberg Fact Check spins like a politician. The Facts The federal government substantially increased…
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Fact Checks, Zebra Fact Checks

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Annenberg Fact Check says Obama beats George W. Bush on jobs.

April 22, 2013 0 Comments

“Now that we have figures for the full four years of Obama’s first term, a surprising fact emerges: The economy added more jobs during four years under Obama than it did in the entire eight years under Bush.” —Annenberg Fact Check   Summary FactCheck.org closely imitates the methods of a typical misleading political campaign advertisement. The Facts We do not…
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Fact Checks, Zebra Fact Checks

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PolitiFact says gun prosecutions didn’t nosedive under President Obama

April 21, 2013 0 Comments

“Sessions said that Obama “has allowed, each year he’s been here, the prosecutions of gun cases to go down. .. [sic] They’ve declined every year since President Bush left office.” That’s true — but the data covers only the first two years of Obama’s term, and it didn’t nosedive under Obama since it was already a tiny percentage under Bush.”…
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Fact Checks, Zebra Fact Checks

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John Boehner and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s survey stats

April 19, 2013 0 Comments

“Small business owners ‘say the law makes it harder for them to hire new employees.’ ‘77% say the health care law will make coverage for their employees more expensive.’” —Infographic from Rep. John Boehner’s website   Overview Speaker Boehner accurately represents the most recent results of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s small business survey, but we sound a note or…
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Fact Checks

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Social Security, deficits and the fact checkers

April 14, 2013 0 Comments

On April 10 we published a fact check of a House Democrat presentation of Social Security, claiming that Social Security has never added so much as a dime to the deficit.  We found the claim false based on the Social Security Administration’s reports of revenue falling short of expenses. We’ve since surveyed the way various mainstream fact checkers treated similar…
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Commentary, Zebra Fact Checks

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House Democrats say Social Security ‘has paid for itself without adding a single dime to our national deficit,’ now has $2.7 trillion surplus.

April 10, 2013 0 Comments

“House Democrats stand united to protect and strengthen Social Security today and for future generations, and we will fight any Republican efforts to privatize Social Security.   Although Republicans have proposed “retooling” Social Security in the name of deficit reduction, the facts are clear: the Social Security program is healthy.  Since its inception, Social Security has paid for itself without…
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Fact Checks

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Correction: The Bureau of Labor Statistics still tracks CPI-E

April 6, 2013 0 Comments

Contrary to what we stated in our post reviewing AARP’s description of chained CPI, the Bureau of Labor statistics continues to track an experimental version of the consumer price index intended to help account for differences in spending patterns among older Americans. The correction has no impact on the evaluation of the AARP presentation, nor does it affect our statement…
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Corrections

PolitiFact vs. Michele Bachmann on Alzheimer’s disease

March 29, 2013 0 Comments

“Are bureaucrats, high taxation and trial lawyers keeping America from tackling Alzheimer’s disease? Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said they are during a speech to CPAC, the annual conservative conference.” —PolitiFact, March 20, 2013   Overview PolitiFact sets a straw man ablaze. The Facts Rep. Michele Bachmann drew PolitiFact’s attention with her March 16 speech at an annual gathering sponsored by…
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Fact Checks, Zebra Fact Checks

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Fact checking AARP’s explanation of chained CPI

March 25, 2013 0 Comments

“After five years of retirement, when you’re 70 years old, you could lose $645.  And after 10 more years, when you’re 80 years old, you would’ve lost a grand total of $5,113.  In 25 years under chained CPI, you would’ve lost a grand total of $13,715.  That’s almost $14,000 of your hard-earned money, snatched from your wallet.” –David Certner, AARP…
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Fact Checks

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