http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/ en-us Copyright 2008 Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The gasoline wars between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been heating up to coincide with the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. The airwaves are full of charges and counter-charges over Clinton's plan for a three month gas holiday between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Obama says the idea is simply an election day "gimmick"; Clinton claims her plan will save hard-working American families $8 billion a year. An examination of the fine print in the latest round of TV ads shows that both sides have been stretching the facts. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/gas_tax_wars.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/gas_tax_wars.html Candidate Watch Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Gas prices hit $4 a gallon. "Barack Obama's argument that immediately reducing gas prices won't help American commuters is shockingly naive and out of touch...Gas tax relief worked when Barack Obama voted for it in the Illinois legislature, and it would work nationally now." --Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant, April 28, 2008. Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton have called for a "gas tax holiday" this summer to offer commuters and vacationers some release from spiraling gas prices. They have urged Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day, a step that could cost the government about $10 billion in revenues. The only major candidate to oppose the idea is Barack Obama, who voted for a similar measure in Illinois eight years ago. Obama now says that consumers will derive little benefit from the tax moratorium. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/a_holiday_from_gas_prices.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/a_holiday_from_gas_prices.html Candidate Watch Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Canvassing votes in Columbus, Ohio, March 4, 2008 "I don't just criticize [NAFTA]. I don't have my campaign go tell a foreign government behind closed doors: `That's just politics. Don't pay attention to it'" --Hillary Clinton, Toledo, Ohio, March 3, 2008. Predictably enough, the Clinton campaign is using the phrase "NAFTA-gate" to describe a newly-disclosed memo suggesting that Barack Obama may be exaggerating his opposition to the 1993 trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. As voters go to the polls in economically depressed Ohio, the Clintonistas obviously have an interest in fanning the flames of the controversy by accusing Obama of telling the voters one thing--and telling a foreign government something different. In addition to Clinton's own attacks on her rival, her campaign also put up a radio ad in Ohio putting the most negative spin possible on the Feb. 8 meeting between a senior Obama staffer, Austan Goolsbee, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/03/naftagate_part_ii.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/03/naftagate_part_ii.html Candidate Watch Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:46:28 -0400 Campaigning in Ohio. "I do not have to clarify it. The Canadian embassy already clarified it by saying that the story was not true. Our office has said that the story was not true. I think it is important for viewers to understand that it was not true...It did not happen." --Barack Obama, Ohio TV station WKYC, February 29, 2008. For the last four days, the Obama campaign, and the candidate himself, has been furiously denying a story first aired by Canadian television on Wednesday, February 27. The story has gone through several different versions. In its original form, CTV said that a "top staffer" from the Obama campaign had telephoned the Canadian ambassador to warn him that the candidate would soon be speaking out against NAFTA, the 1993 free trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The staffer allegedly told the ambassador that "the criticisms would http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/03/obama_parses_his_words.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/03/obama_parses_his_words.html Candidate Watch Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:35:05 -0400 Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 23, 2008. "Shame on you, Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you." --Hillary Clinton news conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 23, 2008. Hillary Clinton made a fine show of indignation in Ohio over the weekend, accusing Barack Obama of distorting her positions on NAFTA and universal health care. Both candidates have been trying to convince Ohio voters that they would fight to protect the interests of American workers from "unfair" trade deals such as NAFTA. But neither Obama nor Clinton is being entirely honest on the NAFTA issue. They have both exaggerated their opposition to the 1993 free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada and misstated the other's position. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/feuding_over_nafta_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/feuding_over_nafta_1.html Candidate Watch Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:00:00 -0400 It was one of the most devastating TV ads of the 2004 presidential campaign. To the tune of the "Blue Danube" waltz, the Democratic candidate was shown tacking his windsurf board left, then right, then left again while an announcer commented sarcastically, "John Kerry, whichever way the wind blows." As the primary season comes to a climax in the 2008 campaign, the two leading GOP candidates are invoking the waltz and windsurfing images to gain some vital last minute traction. John McCain and Mitt Romney have both issued web ads, modeled on the George W. Bush 2004 ad, seeking to pin the "biggest flip-flopper" on their rival and exploit a perceived weakness. Political analysts say that both Romney and McCain are vulnerable to the "flip-flop" charge for different reasons. "Flip-flopper" has become part of Romney's political identity, with the candidate changing positions on such core issues as abortion, gun http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/who_is_the_champion_flipfloppe_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/who_is_the_champion_flipfloppe_1.html Candidate Watch Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:00:00 -0400 UPDATE FRIDAY 10.30 A.M. Clinton the "negotiator" The Clinton campaign has provided various news clips to support Hillary Clinton's claim during last night's debate about "negotiating with governments like Macedonia to open their border again, to let Kosovar refugees in." The news articles make clear that Clinton visited Albanian refugee camps in Macedonia on May 14, 1999, during the NATO bombing war against Serbia. Macedonia had closed its borders the previous week, in order to stem the flow of Albanian refugees from Kosovo. The Macedonian government reopened the border on May 13, the day before Clinton toured the camps. According to this CNN report, only a few stragglers crossed the border. Clearly, Clinton's visit to Macedonia helped focus even more international attention on the country and the refugee crisis that resulted from the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Albanians from Kosovo by the Serbian authorities. According to a http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/democratic_debate_jan_30_2008.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/democratic_debate_jan_30_2008.html Live Fact Check Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:03:22 -0400 Palm Beach, FL., Jan. 28, 2008. The McCain energy bill "adds a thousand dollars a year to the cost of fuel and energy for the average Florida household. If you want that kind of liberal democrat course as a senator, then you can vote for him." --Mitt Romney, West Palm Beach, FL., Jan. 28, 2008. During the closing hours of the Florida primary, Mitt Romney pounded John McCain for legislation he has championed in the Senate, including the 2003 McCain-Lieberman energy bill, which was designed to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions in line with the Kyoto treaty. He claimed that the bill would cost the average Florida household of four around $1000 a year in increased energy costs. Romney's $1000 estimate is not supported by the most authoritative government cost-benefit analysis of the original 2003 Climate Stewardship Act promoted by McCain, or subsequent energy bills that are still http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/mitt_pumps_gas.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/mitt_pumps_gas.html Candidate Watch Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:00:00 -0400 On the campaign trail. "During my tenure, we had the lowest unemployment records in the history of our state and we created a record number of jobs." --Mike Huckabee, Republican Debate , Myrtle Beach, S.C., Jan. 10, 2008. Governors and mayors running for president love to brag about how they slashed taxes and welfare rolls, cut back government spending, and boosted employment. By using statistics selectively, they can usually prove just about anything about their records. In the hands of a skillful political opponent, the same data can be spun in a much more negative way. Mike Huckabee likes to claim that he created "a record number of jobs" in Arkansas during his 10 1/2 year term as governor, from July 1996 to January 2007. But a review of Department of Labor data shows that fewer jobs were created during that period than either of the previous two decades. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/record_job_growth_under_huckab.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/record_job_growth_under_huckab.html Candidate Watch Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Arriving in Detroit, Jan. 13, 2008. "Governor Romney says he supports the [auto] industry, yet when he was running for the governor of another state he wanted to raise the tax on SUVs." --John McCain, campaigning in Michigan, Jan. 13, 2008. "Absolute nonsense...Senator McCain has abandoned the facts for his own brand of hypocrisy." --Romney spokesman Kevin Madden, responding to McCain, Washington Post, Jan. 14. 2008. With one day to go to the GOP primary in Michigan, Republican candidates are competing against each other to depict themselves as champions of the beleaguered American auto industry. Mitt Romney has accused Sen. John McCain of contributing to the "overregulation" of the industry. But he is on shakier ground when he attempts to fend off charges that he favored higher taxes on gas guzzlers while running for governor of Massachusetts. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/mitts_memory_lapse.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/mitts_memory_lapse.html Candidate Watch Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:45:28 -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 We assembled a team of crack fact checkers to truth squad the Republican and Democratic debates at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, and call the candidates out for any inaccuracies. Environmental reporter Juliet Eilperin was sitting next to me in the media filing center. She is also an expert on Congress, having covered it all her life. We were joined in Washington by John Solomon, a veteran political reporter for the Associated Press and now the Post, and diplomatic reporter Glenn Kessler. Prior to the foreign policy beat, Glenn covered economics. I was a foreign correspondent for the Post for more than a decade, and also covered education, so I hope we will be able to weigh in quickly on most factual disputes. Backing us up In Washington were ace researcher Alice Crites and editor Steve Ginsberg. Since this was a live fact check, we are not going to issue http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check.html Live Fact Check Sat, 05 Jan 2008 22:44:14 -0400 New Year's Eve party, Des Moines, IA. "Governor Huckabee is a fiscal conservative who cut taxes almost 100 times in the state of Arkansas." --Mike Huckabee for President website. When Mike Huckabee shot to the head of the pack in Iowa, his Republican rivals piled on to him for his record as governor of Arkansas. Mitt Romney has been particularly aggressive, accusing Huckabee of being "liberal" on taxes and spending. The conservative Club for Growth has said that it is "hard to take Huckabee seriously" because of his economic record in Arkansas. So what is the truth? Did Huckabee cut more taxes than he raised during his ten years as governor--or was it the other way round? http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/huckabees_record_on_taxes.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/huckabees_record_on_taxes.html Candidate Watch Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Above the crowd in Atkinson, NH, Dec. 7. "Tax cuts, starting with Kennedy, as we all know, increase revenues. So what's the argument for increasing taxes? If you get the opposite effect out of tax cuts?" --John McCain, interview with the National Review, March 2007. Some spirited arguments over supply-side economics appear to be taking place aboard the "Straight Talk Express." It is not often that you come across a presidential candidate whose talking points are contradicted by one of his own top aides. In this particular case, McCain's claim that tax cuts "increase revenues" and that tax hikes have the "opposite effect" has been disproved by his own senior domestic policy adviser, Douglas J. Holtz-Eakin. Holtz-Eakin has solid conservative credentials as a former chief economist to President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers. He is also a former director of the Congressional Budget Office. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/most_revealing_fibs_john_mccai.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/most_revealing_fibs_john_mccai.html Candidate Watch Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0400 Campaigning in New Hampshire, Dec. 7, 2007. "America's trade policy has been a complete disaster...We got something America did not need, which is NAFTA, which has cost us millions of jobs."--John Edwards, Democratic Debate on CNN, Nov. 15, 2007. John Edwards has embraced economic populism as the central plank of his electoral platorm. In the world according to Edwards, honest, hard-working Americans are for ever being exploited by shadowy lobbying groups and powerful vested interests. It is a black-and-white world in which there is not much room for nuance. The former senator for North Carolina and Democratic vice-presidential candidate sometimes gets so carried away by his rhetoric that he makes mistakes. An obvious example is his rhetoric on trade. In the Senate, Edwards voted in favor of several trade agreements, including a normalization of trade with China. On the campaign trail, he has slammed the North American Free Trade http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/most_revealing_fibs_john_edwar.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/most_revealing_fibs_john_edwar.html Candidate Watch Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0400