Fact Check

Obama's Thrifty Claims Prove False

AP | ANDREW TAYLOR | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: Video, Fact Check, 2012 Election, Obama Spending Claims, Economy, President Obama, Elections 2012, Obama, Barack Obama 2012, Obama Spending, Obama Fact Check, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The White House is aggressively pushing the idea that, contrary to widespread belief, President Barack Obama is tightfisted with taxpaye...

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Obama Gives Incomplete History Lesson

AP | CALVIN WOODWARD | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Video, Fact Check, Obama Ap Speech, Obama AP, 2012 Election, Elections 2012, Barack Obama 2012, Obama Fact Check, Obama 2012, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of inflicting a "government takeover of hea...

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South Carolina GOP Debate Fact Check: Fiction Versus Reality

AP | CALVIN WOODWARD | Posted 03.17.2012

Read More: Video, Fact Check, GOP Debate, South Carolina, President Obama, Mitt Romney, Republican Debate, Newt Gingrich, Politics News

By CALVIN WOODWARD, The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- Newt Gingrich said Mitt Romney raised taxes as Massachusetts governor. Romney countered...

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Tim Tebow Is Jewish

Marty Kaplan | Posted 03.17.2012

Read More: New York Times, Tim Tebow, Fact Check, Responsible Journalism, Fact Checking, Journalism, Media News
Marty Kaplan

You can check whether Tim Tebow is Jewish (he's not), just like you can check whether Barack Obama was born in America (yup); or whether the earth is 6,000 years old (nope). Tim Tebow ain't Jewish, but journalism ain't stenography.

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What I Want for Christmas This Year

Michael Kaiser | Posted 02.18.2012

Read More: Billboards, Fact Check, Pbs, American Orchestras, Arts, Christmas, Grass Roots Organizations, Arts Education, Arts Funding, Arts Future, Arts News
Michael Kaiser

Greater public appreciation for the work of grass roots arts organizations which provide education, inspiration and entertainment to the underserved and provide access for new audiences and emerging artists.

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Anti-Romney Video Riddled With Falsehoods

FactCheck.org | Posted 12.01.2011

Read More: Romney Video, Dnc Video, Abortion, Dnc, Fact Check, 2012 Election, Mitt Romney 2012, Gop 2012, Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Democratic National Committee, Weapons, factcheck.Or, Politics News

The Democratic National Committee casts Mitt Romney as an untrustworthy flip-flopper in a lengthy Web video, but pads a long list of examples with som...

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GOP Candidates Make Flubs, Big And Small

AP | PHILIP ELLIOTT | Posted 01.30.2012

Read More: Gop Presidential Candidates, Fact Check, 2012 Elections, GOP Candidates, Republican Presidential Candidates, Gop Primary 2012, Republicans Candidates Fact Check, Elections 2012, Gop Candidates Fact Check, Gop Primary, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, GOP Fact Check, Video, Mitt Romney, 2012 Election, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Election 2012, Politics News

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Newt Gingrich didn't know when he would take office if he wins the presidency. Rick Perry got the voting age and the date of ...

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Debate Reforms With Teeth

Jeffrey Abelson | Posted 01.14.2012

Read More: Debate, Fact Check, Debate Reform, Cbs, Presidential Debates, Scott Pelley, Major Garrett, Republican Party, National Journal, Elections 2012, Politics News
Jeffrey Abelson

So for all future debates, of both parties, consider just two ideas that would be simple and low cost -- but could be huge game changers. Imagine the effect on candidate comments and viewer responses.

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Should PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter Be Changed?

PolitiFact | Posted 09.09.2011

Read More: Politifact, Fact Check, Politifact True False, politifact.com, Sunday Show Fact-Checking, Truth-O-Meter, Fact Checking, Politifact Fact Checking, Politifact Truth-O-Meter, Politics News

Many PolitiFact readers have criticized Barely True because they say it puts too much emphasis on "true" when the rating actually describes something ...

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Palin's Revere Fact Check Politiku

Susanna Speier | Posted 08.06.2011

Read More: History, Paul Revere, Fact Check, Politiku, Haiku, Sarah Palin, David Hackett Fischer, Media News
Susanna Speier

Fact Check Politiku: Paul Revere's Letter to Jeremy Belknap Circa 1798  The page of the Massachusetts Historical Society website, pictured...

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Hey, Have You Heard of That Horrible Show Called Fox News?

Ali MacLean | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Fab Four, The Beatles, Haiti Earthquake, Fact Check, Charity, Oil Spill, Kanye West, Coachella, Santa Claus, Fox News, Daft Punk, Hipsters, Celebrities, Satire, Comedy News
Ali MacLean

Get this. They call themselves a news station. Well, they should really get some fact checkers.

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Right-Wing Media Cling to Discredited Number for Obama's Asia Trip Cost

Terry Krepel | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Joseph Farah, Worldnetdaily, Fact Check, Cybercast News Service, Barack Obama, Media Research Center, Newsbusters, CNSNews.Com, Obama Trip, Obama Fact Check, Rush Limbaugh, Media News
Terry Krepel

WorldNetDaily has demonstrated over and over again that facts are irrelevant when it comes to reporting on President Obama and his administration -- t...

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The Scary Staleness of Truth Telling

Marty Kaplan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Npr, Politifact, Fact Check, Chris Van Hollen, Pledge to America, Mike Pence, Fact Checking, Linda Wertheimer, Media News
Marty Kaplan

NPR's Linda Wertheimer recently discussed a decision that political reporters have to make: How many times can you (politely) say that Candidate X lied today, when Candidate X lies every day, and so do Candidates A through Z?

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Was GM-Chrysler Bailout A Blank Check?

AP | KEN THOMAS | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gm, Chrysler, Auto Bailout, Bailouts, GM Bailouts, Chrysler Bailout, Financial Crisis, Economic Crisis, Fact Check, Business News

WASHINGTON — To hear President Barack Obama's account of the government's rescue of General Motors and Chrysler, you might think the Bush admini...

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Fact Check: GOP Ads Attacking Health Care Reform Resort To 'Exaggeration And Omissions'

AP | JIM KUHNHENN | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Fact Check, Hcr, Health Care Attack Ads, Attack Ads, Political Ads, Crossroads GPS, Joe Sestak, Politics News

WASHINGTON — When it comes to sorting out President Barack Obama's health care initiative, take three political ads and call a doctor in the mor...

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Who Needs Publishers? We All Do!

Philip Goldberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Nonfiction, Book Publishing, Publishing, Book Publishers, Editors, Books, Self-Publishing, Fact Check, Books News
Philip Goldberg

I'm glad that self-publishing has evolved from stigma to respectability. But I'm also concerned about the future of books and the larger issue of assuring the flow of reliable information.

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Liberals Are Liars: More on ABC's Factchecking Failure

Peter Hart | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politifact, Fact Check, Liz Cheney, Liberals, This Week, politifact.com, Wikileaks, Arianna Huffington, Fact Checking, Media News
Peter Hart

PolitiFact recently handed out seven "False" statements -- six to Democrats/liberals, one to a Republican -- and seven "True" labels -- four for Republicans/conservatives, just two for Democrats

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PolitiFact Embraces Equivocation, the Truth Gets Squeezed

Arianna Huffington | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Bp, Politifact, St. Petersburg Times, Kbr, Fact Check, Liz Cheney, Halliburton, This Week, Mediamatters, Gao, Gulf Oil Spill, Politics News
Arianna Huffington

After documenting why my claim that Halliburton had defrauded taxpayers of "hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq" was true, PolitiFact.com rated the statement "Half True." It's worth returning to the scene of the crime to see what we can conclude from PolitiFact's conclusion.

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Checking ABC's Factcheck: Scrutiny of This Week Better in Theory Than Practice

Peter Hart | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politifact, Fact Check, This Week, politifact.com, ABC News, Abc, Fact Checking, Media News
Peter Hart

An evaluation of the record thus far suggests that even this limited attempt to test the accuracy of claims made on This Week has focused largely on trivial points and ignored more substantive and controversial arguments.

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Alan Simpson's Ignorance -- D'OH

Nancy Altman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Social Security, Obama Deficit Commission, Fact Check, Deficit Commission, Alan Simpson, Politics News
Nancy Altman

No doubt about it, Simpson has a strong opinion - he wants to cut Social Security. Problem is, he is using his own personal "facts" to justify his position.

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Have Conservatives Gone Mad?

The Atlantic | Marc Ambinder | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Msnbc, Fact Check, Cnn, Jon Stewart, Epistemic Closure, Sarah Palin, Gop, Fox News, Media, Democrats, Republicans, Politics News

Serious thinkers on the right have finally gotten around to a full and open debate on the epistemic closure problem that's plaguing the conservative m...

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"Meet the Facts" takes on Meet the Press

Sara Haile-Mariam | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Meet the Press, Jay Rosen, Fact Check, Campus Progress, David Gregory Meet the Press, College News
Sara Haile-Mariam

"Who holds politicians accountable for the statements they make on television? According to host David Gregory: Not Meet the Press," begins the new website and tool MeettheFacts.com.

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Republican IRS Expansion Claims 'Wildly Inaccurate'

Jeff Muskus | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: IRS Health Care, Irs, Fact Check, Internal Revenue Service, IRS Expansion, IRS Expansion Fact Check, Ron Paul IRS, Health Care, Politics News

With April 15 approaching, conservative hysteria about an alleged hidden cost of health care reform -- a small army of new IRS agents -- is gaining tr...

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Sarah Palin: Clueless or Lying?

Chris Harris | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: White House, Obama Speech, Fact Check, Facebook, Barack Obama, State of the Union, Sarah Palin Reaction, Palin, Sarah Palin, President Obama, Politics News
Chris Harris

When offering her take on current events, Palin routinely gets her facts wrong. This much is obvious; what is less clear is whether or not her tenuous relationship to the truth is intentional.

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Fact Checking the Sunday Shows

Eric E. Burns | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politics, Meet the Press, Fact Check, This Week, Face the Nation, Fox News, Media, Republican Party, Sunday Morning Talk Shows, Republicans, Media News
Eric E. Burns

Every Monday morning, the Media Matters Action Network will publish a memo correcting the conservative misinformation that was left unchallenged the day before.

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