http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/ en-us Copyright 2008 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:08:16 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 9:30 p.m. Romney and lobbyists Romney says that one reason that he is like Ronald Reagan is that he does not have "lobbyists at every elbow." Well, he has two elbows, and two prominent lobbyists occupying key positions in his campaign. Perhaps the most prominent example of an uber-lobbyist turned Romney adviser is Ronald C. Kaufman, chairman of Dutko Worldwide, one of the leading "government affairs" companies in the country. Then there is Vincent Weber, a founder of the influential Washington consulting firm Clark & Weinstock, whose clients have included Microsoft, Edison Electric, and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, PhRMA. Weber also serves as Romney's policy chairman. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/gop_debate_jan_30_2008.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/gop_debate_jan_30_2008.html Live Fact Check Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:08:16 -0400 GOP debate in Florida, Jan. 24 Last night's GOP debate from Boca Raton, Florida, was a generally civil affair. The candidates avoided challenging each other's records directly, and did not get involved in factual disputes. Nevertheless, they still made a number of questionable statements, particularly on foreign policy. A sampler: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/the_gop_debate_in_florida.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/the_gop_debate_in_florida.html Candidate Watch Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:20:57 -0400 Diplomatic reporter Glenn Kessler joined me for a live fact check of Thursday night's Republican debate on Fox News from Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. We were backed up by researcher Alice Crites and editor Tim Curran. This was our second live fact check. We inaugurated this new feature with the back-to-back Republican and Democratic debates from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., last Saturday. You can read the Saint Anselm transcript here. Since this was a live fact check, we did not issue any definitive rulings. Our aim was more modest--to flag questionable statements and contribute to a more informed discussion. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check_1.html Live Fact Check Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:40:24 -0400 Rudy Giuliani with Margaret Thatcher, September 19, 2007. One of the five "most famous" Americans? In the spirit of the holiday season, I am inviting nominations for the "Top Ten Fibs of 2007". There are two categories in the competition: "Presidential Candidates" and "Best of the Rest." Post your nominations in the comments section or use the "Contact the Fact Checker" form. Also feel free to cast a non-binding vote for your favorite fib. The deadline is Friday, Dec. 28. A panel of crack Fact Checkers will select the Top Five Fibs in each category and post them online on Monday, December 31. We will also make a Geppetto truth-telling award in the "Presidential Candidates" category. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/the_fibs_of_2007.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/the_fibs_of_2007.html Candidate Watch Mon, 24 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0400 Three Republican candidates have denounced the "NAFTA superhighway". "They don't talk about it [the NAFTA superhighway], and they might not admit it, but there's been money spent on it. There was legislation passed in the Texas legislature unanimously to put a halt on it. They're planning on millions of acres taken by eminent domain for an international highway from Mexico to Canada, which is going to make the immigration problem that much worse." --Ron Paul, Republican CNN-YouTube Debate, November 28, 2007. Three of the eight Republican presidential candidates have co-sponsored a House of Representatives resolution denouncing a "NAFTA superhighway" that is supposedly a key part of a master plan to create a "North American Union." A fourth candidate, Mitt Romney, has said he has no evidence that such a plan exists but has pledged, just in case, to put a stop to it "if I am president." So what http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/a_superhighway_to_nowhere.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/a_superhighway_to_nowhere.html Candidate Watch Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0400 Ron Paul in his Concord, NH, headquarters. "I lean toward a flat tax. But I want to make it real flat, like zero." --Ron Paul, Jay Leno show, October 31, 2007. "Could America exist without an income tax? The idea seems radical, yet in truth America did just fine without a federal income tax for the first 126 years of her history." --Ron Paul website. Responding to pleas by Ron Paul supporters to take their man seriously, I devoted a post last week to his plan to abolish the federal income tax, which provides Uncle Sam with $1.2 trillion in annual revenue. Paul's policy director, Joseph Becker, said he would get back to me with pie charts and other data, demonstrating how a President Paul would achieve this seemingly miraculous feat. I have now received the Paul Campaign response, which I am posting in full below, so that readers http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/four_pinocchios_for_ron_paul.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/four_pinocchios_for_ron_paul.html Candidate Watch Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:00:00 -0400 Ron Paul is attracting increasing media attention. "You don't have to get rid of all of the government. If you got rid of the income tax, you would still have enough revenues which were about equivalent to what we had in the year 2000." --Ron Paul, Jay Leno TV show, October 31, 2007. "I realize that Ron Paul doesn't lie enough to make for entertaining reading on this site, but at least put his name on the Candidates' list." --Aaron Hanson, Ron Paul supporter from Minneapolis, message to the Fact Checker, November 7, 2007 Ok Paulites, we hear you. Your man has not been getting enough MSM attention. A candidate needs at least three Pinocchios from the Fact Checker to be taken seriously in the 2008 campaign. Now that Paul has raised more money on-line in a single day than any other candidate in the current election cycle, he http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/ron_paul_faces_11_trillion_bud.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/ron_paul_faces_11_trillion_bud.html Candidate Watch Thu, 08 Nov 2007 06:00:00 -0400