The whole point of free speech is not to make ideas exempt from criticism but to expose them to it.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Politifact.org on Obama's (and others') facts

The following is copied and pasted from the site's analysis of the accuracy of substantive statements he made during his speech last night. There are links embedded in every analysis below. All Things Considered today included a talk with the honcho at Politifact.org.

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• We found Obama was exaggerating the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance when he said it would "open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign companies – to spend without limit in our elections." We rated that Barely True.

• Obama was pretty much on the mark with his claim that he had opened White House visitor logs. We rated that one Mostly True.

• Obama incorrectly described his "revolving door" policy on former lobbyists being barred from policy jobs in his administration.

• Obama exaggerated the role that "pay as you go" policies had on the budget in the 1990s.

• Obama earned a Full Flop on our Flip-O-Meter for supporting a spending freeze, which he opposed during the campaign.

• Obama was right that 95 percent of working families have gotten a tax cut.

• He earned a Mostly True for his claim that the nation had a $200 billion budget surplus at the start of the Bush administration and that Obama inherited a $1 trillion deficit.

• Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, who delivered the Republican response, earned a Half True for his claim that the federal debt is "on pace to double in five years and triple in 10. The federal debt is now over $100,000 per household."

• McDonnell earned a True for his claim that if the government allows drilling off the coast of Virginia, it would be the first time on the East Coast.

• In a live-blogging response to the State of the Union address, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote that "a majority of Americans still oppose this health care bill." We rated that claim Mostly True.

2 comments:

larry kurtz said...

Ok, so the First Lady looked mostly hot, the GOP side of the aisle looked like they were at their own funerals, and Justice Alito was jonesing for a highball.

Pppfffttt!! God, I love Montana.

Anonymous said...

When McDonnell supports drilling on Virgina Beach then he's true to his rhetoric. Fat chance.