http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/feeds/topics/politifact Daily news from The Telegraph of Nashua en-us dkiesow@nashuatelegraph.com onlineeditor@nh.com http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/960492-196/politifact-sorry-charlie-tax-claim-off-the.html The statement: “The expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts ... would be the biggest tax increase in the history of the country, about $4.6 trillion over 10 years.” – U.S. Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., in an April 3 interview with The Telegraph. Our ruling The trillions of dollars at stake this year with the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts place them among the nation’s most costly. Sat, 12 May 2012 10:01:39 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/954594-196/story.html Former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter refused to host town hall meetings during her time in Congress. – New Hampshire Republican party in a written statement March 8. Our ruling The Republican party says Shea Porter had a “record of refusing to host town halls when she was in Congress.” There was a point a few years ago when Shea-Porter did not hold town hall meetings. Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:00:10 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinionperspectives/951495-263/politifact-should-stick-to-facts-not-political.html “Facts are stubborn things,” John Adams wrote in a letter to Jonathan Sewall in 1759. But facts are also slippery things, it seems. PolitiFact, the national fact-checking operation run by the Tampa Bay Times, has been finding that out recently. The Pulitzer Prize-winning effort, which was joined by The Telegraph and other New Hampshire newspapers to fact-check statements made here during the New Hampshire primary, has been showing that fact-checking is not as straightforward as it seems. The national PolitiFact got into hot water over the State of the Union speech, when it decided to fact-check this statement by President Barack Obama: “In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005.” Given the depth of the recession, 3 million new jobs over the time Obama has been in office is not enough for a robust recovery. But he didn’t say it was. Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:00:22 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/946160-196/politifact-does-romney-really-like-to-fire.html Republican primary frontrunner Mitt Romney set off a firestorm on Jan. 9, 2012, when he said, “I like being able to fire people.” Or, at least, when Romney said something along those lines. While some commentators were careful to provide fuller context for Romney’s quote, not everyone did. So PolitiFact did. Read the full article in Thursday’s Telegraph or go to www.PolitiFact.com. Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:45:46 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/946039-196/romneys-figures-ok-bureaucrats-off-base.html “You can hire lots of bureaucrats. That’s what the president’s done. He’s added 135,000 people to the government workforce.” – Mitt Romney on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 in a town hall meeting in Peterborough, N.H. Our Ruling Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney cast President Obama as using expanded government to increase employment. PolitiFact does not attempt to assess motivations. Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:38:47 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/945729-196/politifact-has-checked-nearly-700-statements-by.html In the Republican debates and the avalanche of TV ads in New Hampshire and Iowa, the presidential candidates have made lots of claims about the credibility of their opponents – and themselves. PolitiFact has checked hundreds of statements ranging from Mitt Romney’s claim that Solyndra had robots that whistled Disney tunes (Half True) to Rep. Michele Bachmann’s statement that the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation (False). Collectively, those fact-checks have formed report cards for each candidate that reveal patterns and trends about their truth-telling. With the New Hampshire primary just two days away, PolitiFact is publishing the records to show how the candidates have fared on the Truth-O-Meter. A few findings: Romney and Rep. Ron Paul are tied for the largest percentage of True statements. Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:00:42 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/945685-196/politifact-2012-romney-doesnt-quite-get-the.html The statement: Mitt Romney says he "helped save" the Olympic Games. Campaign video, "Leader," Dec. 16 Our ruling While it may be stretch to suggest the future of the Olympics were at stake during Romney's time in Salt Lake City, by all accounts, he did help the city's moribund Olympic committee reverse its fortunes after an embarrassing scandal and brought the 2002 Winter Olympics to a successful conclusion. We rate Romney's claim Mostly True. Read the full article: How important was Romney in fixing troubled Salt Lake Olympic games? Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:58:21 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/944320-196/lie-of-the-year.html For the third year in a row a health care claim has won PolitiFact’s dubious honor of the “Lie of the year”. In 2009, the winner was the Republicans’ charge that the Democrats’ health care plan included “death panels.” In 2010, it was that the plan was a “government takeover of health care.” This year, it’s Democrats’ repeated claim that “Republicans voted to end Medicare.” To read the full article, go to http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/dec/20/lie-year-democrats-claims-republicans-voted-end-me/ Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:25:06 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/944321-196/lie-of-the-year-pick-comes-under.html At a Republican campaign rally a few years ago, I asked one of the attendees how he got his news. “I listen to Rush and read NewsMax,” he said. “And to make sure I’m getting a balanced view, I watch Fox.” My liberal friends get their information from distinctly different sources – Huffington Post, Daily Kos and Rachel Maddow. To make sure they get a balanced view, they click Facebook links – from their liberal friends. This is life in our echo chamber nation. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:03:53 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/944210-196/gingrichs-pants-on-fire-on-blanket-government-sponsored.html Says Freddie Mac, electric co-ops and credit unions are all “government sponsored” enterprises. Newt Gingrich on Thursday, December 15th, 2011 in a Republican presidential debate in Sioux City, Iowa ------- Our Ruling: Gingrich spoke of credit unions and electric cooperatives as if they were the same sort of entities as Freddie Mac. We find no support for that and find major differences in how they are created and operate compared with GSEs. Congress created Freddie Mac, as it does every GSE, by passing a specific law to bring it into being. Freddie Mac has stockholders and a direct line of credit with the U.S. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:27:12 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/943947-196/politifact-2012-dnc-taikes-aim-misses-romney.html Says it cost Massachusetts taxpayers $100,000 when Mitt Romney and his staff purchased computer hard drives. -- Democratic National Committee advertisement, “What IS Mitt Romney hiding?” December 6, 2011 ------ Our ruling The total difference between the original lease and the second computer contract signed by the Romney administration was about $97,000, close to the $100,000 mentioned in the DNC ad. But this is not an apples to apples comparison. Rather, the total difference in cost passed on to taxpayers during the term of the first lease was about $49,000 – not quite half of the DNC total. Further, administration officials had already been looking into a new computer lease when the aides purchased the hard drives, so the lease costs are not a direct result of the sale of the hard drives, as the DNC alleges. We rate the claim False. Read the full story: DNC says Mitt Romney and staff cost Massachusetts taxpayers $100,000 Visit Politifact 2012</ Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:00:52 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/943274-196/politifact-2012-gingrich-statement-insensitive-to-the.html The Statement: “The Obama administration just issued instructions that terrorism training should not involve any reference to Islam.” -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in his foreign policy debate with Jon Huntsman in Manchester, N.H., Dec. 12, 2011 The Ruling There is no question that the Obama administration has tried to address Islam carefully and to avoid blaming a religion with an estimated 1.6 billion adherents for terrorism. But we find Gingrich has greatly exaggerated what the Obama administration has done. Although the Justice Department clearly has yanked some questionable material related to Islam, and the recent White House document refers almost obliquely to Muslim Americans, it has not banned a discussion of al-Qaida or Islam in terrorism training. Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:53:54 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/943091-196/politifact-2012-u.s.-spends-lots-on-defense.html “You look at defense … we’re spending more than the rest of the world combined.” -- Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, December 12, 2011, in a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. ------ Our ruling: The evidence supports Huntsman’s underlying point -- that the U.S. spends far more than other countries on defense, but it falls short of his claim that U.S. spending exceeds that of all other countries combined. Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:48:21 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/942089-196/politifact-2012-romney-was-right-nothing-illegal.html Mitt Romney says he followed state law and the precedent of other Massachusetts governors when he erased electronic communications as he left office. – Romney on Monday, Nov. 21, in an editorial board meeting with The Telegraph in Nashua. Our ruling The Romney administration’s decision to erase most electronic files is neither illegal nor unusual. According to state records officials, past governors such as William Weld, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift haven’t made their electronic records available to the state archive or to the incoming administration. They’ve submitted some computer printouts to the state archive, but Romney did that, as well. Sun, 04 Dec 2011 08:46:19 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinionletters/942145-263/ntu-stands-by-medicare-mailer.html NTU stands behindits Medicare mailer In a Dec. 1 letter to the editor by Deidre Reynolds (“Medicare tax flier not what it seems“), a National Taxpayers Union mailer warning that Medicare Part Drebates amount to a tax is dis-puted based on a PolitiFact article. NTU has raised objections to this PolitiFact decision, but it is not surprising that Ms. Reynolds – a local Democratic Party activist – would try to use it to back shaky arguments. Sun, 04 Dec 2011 10:02:15 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinionletters/941734-263/medicare-tax-flier-not-what-it-seems.html I received a mailing the other day with a picture of U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte on it. According to the National Taxpayers Union, which sent the mailing, Sen. Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:56:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/newsstatenewengland/941551-227/politifact-2012-gingrich-wrong-when-he-claims.html “Community banks ...are being destroyed by Dodd-Frank.” - Newt Gingrich on Friday, November 11th, 2011 in remarks at Mandester, N.H. campaign headquarters ------ Our Ruling: Gingrich said that community banks “are being destroyed by Dodd-Frank.” But as a whole they are healthier than a year ago. No doubt the improvement in the economy has helped, but community banks also have benefited from a reduction in fees paid to the FDIC as a result of Dodd-Frank. From the point of view of community banks, Dodd-Frank is imperfect and still unfolding. But it has exempted community banks from many new regulations. Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:16:04 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/941217-196/perry-has-facts-wrong-on-shaheen-plan.html Under energy efficiency legislation sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, “federal bureaucrats could take over the local building code enforcement in your city if so-called ‘green mandates’ are not complied with quickly enough.” -- Rick Perry on Friday, October 28th, 2011, at the Cornerstone Action Dinner in Manchester, N.H. ------ Our ruling: Under Shaheen’s energy legislation, states would be required to report whether they plan to meet the model building codes. Those states that agree to the standards and accept federal dollars would be subject to a certification process to ensure they meet the regulations. Thu, 24 Nov 2011 23:00:39 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/940687-196/politifact-2012-bidens-middle-class-income-numbers-right.html The statement The median income of a middle-class family went down $2,100 from 2001-07. – Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, Oct. 20, speaking at Plymouth State University. Our ruling Biden said the median income of the middle class dropped by $2,100 from 2001-07, and the numbers check out. We rate Biden’s claim True. To read the full article, go to www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012. Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:03:29 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/936404-196/politifact-mostly-true-obama-adviser-says-gop.html Says Republicans want to cut education by 25 percent. Obama Adviser David Axelrod on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 in a speech to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics ----- Our ruling: Because Budget Resolution 34 doesn’t include detailed breakdowns of Function 500 spending reductions, it’s impossible to determine exactly how much of the cuts are proposed to come out of the education budget. Further, the plan itself, in resolution form, does not dictate exact spending levels, but instead sets the maximum amount that can be spent. Congressional committees and floor votes determine the rest. Still, because education spending makes up such a large proportion of the total Function 500 costs – over 90 percent – it’s safe to assume most of the cuts from this category would come from education. With that in mind, the percentages don’t lie. The Ryan budget proposal included more than 25 percent funding cuts every year between 2016 and 2021, and it proposed a total 24 percent funding cut between 2012 and 2021, within range of Axelrod’s 25 percent figure. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:35:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/936232-196/politifact-huntsman-exaggerated-discredited-numbers.html “The IRS is already planning on 19,500 new employees to administer” Obama’s health care mandate – Jon Huntsman, during the Republican debate at Dartmouth College on Oct. 11 Our ruling For not just recycling discredited numbers, but also increasing them, we rate Huntsman’s statement Pants on Fire. To read the full story, go to www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:01:15 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/935734-196/eight-candidates-span-politifact-truthful-range.html HANOVER – The eight familiar faces of the top Republican contenders for the 2012 presidential primary nomination were in the debate spotlight Tuesday night at Dartmouth University. It’s not a gamble to predict that one or more will assert, “My record speaks for itself,” during the Bloomberg and Washington Post-sponsored event. That’s why The Telegraph, a partner with the Valley News and New Hampshire Public Radio in PolitiFact 2012 New Hampshire, decided to check out each candidate’s Truth-O-Meter record on Politifact.com to be prepared for their debate. How do their Truth-O-Meter records speak to the validity of their debate statements? PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning project of the St. Petersburg Times, has been dedicated to finding the truth in American politics since 2007. PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter, a fact-from-fiction teller, rates claims that politicians make based on six rankings, including “True,” “Mostly True,” “Half True,” “Mostly False,” “False” and “Pants on Fire.” Like the meter suggests, political claims can be true, false or something in between. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:14:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/934564-196/politifact-2012-the-costs-of-the-death.html “It costs more money to put a person on death row than it does to lock them up for the rest of their lives because of attorney fees.” – Gary Johnson, on Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, in a meeting with The Telegraph editorial board Our ruling Johnson said life imprisonment is less expensive than the death penalty because of attorney fees. If we define attorney fees broadly, there is ample evidence that as soon as a prosecutor decides to seek capital punishment, it dramatically increases the price tag for taxpayers, who are paying for the defense, as well as the prosecution. The meter continues to run during the appeals process. The shorter that process, the greater the cost effectiveness of an execution. But as a practical matter, for reasons rooted in both state and federal procedure, the process often lasts close to a decade or more. That means that the costs in some states don’t support Johnson’s claim that life imprisonment is less expensive because of attorney’s fees. So, we rate his statement Half True. To read the full article, visit www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012. Sun, 02 Oct 2011 09:22:45 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/932998-196/buckleys-tea-party-claim-a-big-stretch.html The statement “Two-thirds of Granite Staters oppose the Tea Party” and its agenda on labor unions. – New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley in a news release Sept. 4, 2011. --- Our ruling Buckley said “Two-thirds of Granite Staters oppose the Tea Party” and its agenda on labor unions. But UNH polls show that the opposition to the tea party is about 35 percent, about half as much as Buckley says. And while New Hampshire voters support the right to form unions and negotiate, the polls Democrats cite don’t ask about the also-contentious issue of compulsory union dues. We rate Buckley’s claim Mostly False. To read the full article, go to www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012. Sun, 18 Sep 2011 08:41:26 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/932223-196/buckley-gets-number-affected-right-when-it.html Says Jon Huntsman supports changes in Medicare that would deny guaranteed benefits to 980,000 New Hampshire residents. NH Democratic Party statement by Raymond Buckley released Monday, August 29, 2011. --- Our Ruling The New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair said Huntsman supports a GOP Medicare plan that would deny guaranteed benefits to 980,000 Granite Staters. He’s right about Huntsman’s position and the number of New Hampshire residents that would be affected. But he ignores that there is the possibility that the current benefits could be trimmed and he is exaggerating the facts about the Ryan plan. Many details about the plan are still unclear, particularly what would be covered. The use of the word “guarantee” suggests something more certain in the future than is supported by the current state of the economy and the health care law. It suggests that hard choices for somebody don’t lie ahead and that’s not very likely. We rule the statement Half True. To read the full article, go to www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012 Sun, 11 Sep 2011 08:18:44 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/931538-196/politifact-2012-romneys-labor-stats-on-the.html Says that 500,000 federal workers -- one-fourth of the federal workforce -- make more than $100,000 a year. -- Mitt Romney Our Ruling Romney was slightly off by saying 25 percent, but the actual number is 21.5 percent, so he was in the ballpark. We rate his statement Mostly True. To read the full article, go to www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012 Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:28:18 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/930931-196/perrys-numbers-doctored.html The statement: Says Texas gained 21,000 doctors due to tort reform. Gov. Rick Perry, August 17, 2011 in Bedford, in response to a question on medical malpractice ----- Our ruling There is no question that tort reform drove down medical malpractice insurance premiums and reduced the number of malpractice suits. And there is no question that most health care providers like the change and say it's a factor that leads them to practice in the state. But the wholesale transformation that Perry describes is not backed up by the numbers. Perry said Texas has 21,000 more doctors thanks to tort reform. Tue, 30 Aug 2011 07:40:46 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/929969-196/huntsman-knows-facts-about-china-voices-them.html There are 500 million Internet users “and 80 million bloggers who are driving discussions in China. … So you’ve got a lot of people voicing frustration and discontent.” * Jon Huntsman on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 in a campaign appearance in Milford, N.H. ---------- Our ruling: Huntsman said there are 500 million Internet users in China and 80 million bloggers, “so you’ve got a lot of people voicing frustration and discontent.” He’s right about the 500 million and his estimate on bloggers is low, but his underlying point is valid. But it’s worth noting that experts say the vast majority of bloggers are writing about social rather than political topics. On balance, we rate his claim Mostly True. To read the full story, go to www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012 Sat, 20 Aug 2011 22:05:15 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/929970-196/politifact-2012-huntsman-still-has-a-little.html The statement: China is or soon will be “the largest English-speaking nation” in the world. -- Jon Huntsman, during a speech at Dartmouth College, July 26, 2011 Our ruling: There is some truth to Huntsman’s underlying that there is tremendous growth in English proficiency in China. But it’s important to note there is a significant difference between English learners and speakers. The statistics and our interviews with experts indicate China is still far away from having the largest number of speakers. We rate his claim Half True. To read the full story, go to www.politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012 Sat, 20 Aug 2011 22:05:22 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/929544-196/politifact-oft-rated-perry-draws-mixed-reviews-from.html No one in Texas politics has faced the Truth-O-Meter more than Rick Perry, who’s gotten more True ratings than anyone else in the state – 10 – while also leading in False (14) and Pants on Fire ratings (7). The just-declared presidential hopeful has fared well on our other meter, the Perry-O-Meter, which rates the fulfillment of campaign promises. To date, a dozen promises have been rated Kept, three as Broken. And now, given his speech in South Carolina, we’re also marking as Broken his repeated vow not to run for president. The West Texas Republican, an Eagle Scout who started in office as a Democratic member of the Texas House, has spoken accurately when airing figures calculated by others that don’t necessarily reflect on his own record – such as the 50 million abortions in the United States since 1973, the growth rate of the federal debt, an uptick in non-classroom employees in Texas schools and the number of people who move to Texas a day. The Texas A&M University graduate was also correct when he said he’s the first Aggie (as in A&M alum) to become governor of the state. His exaggerations and falsehoods have typically touched on federal issues, including border safety and actions by the Obama administration. For instance, he once inaccurately said he had not been called by the Obama White House and wrongly said that the state hadn’t heard a response from the federal government to its applications for Medicaid waivers. The Truth-O-Meter needle has rocked toward Half True or worse on Perry statements characterizing recent legislative history. As the state’s fiscal horizon clouded leading up to the 2011 regular legislative session, Perry distorted his vetoes of $3 billion in spending after the budget-tight 2003 session; all but $500 million was already nixed because accompanying legislation had not passed into law. Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:23:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/929279-196/checking-in-on-gop-politicians-claims-during.html PolitiFact Nation fact checked the statements made by Republican candidates at Thursday’s debate in Iowa. Here’s what they said and how they rated. For the full story, visit www.poltifact.com. Tim Pawlenty “Look, (Michele Bachmann) has done wonderful things in her life, absolutely wonderful things, but it is an undisputable fact that in Congress, her record of accomplishment and results is nonexistent.” Mostly True. Attacked Mitt Romney, saying “ObamaCare” was patterned after “RomneyCare.” True. Michele Bachmann Said Pawlenty had supported cap and trade when he was Minnesota governor. True. Accused Pawlenty of saying, “The era of small government is over.” Mostly True. When Standard & Poor’s “dropped our credit rating, what they said is, we don’t have an ability to repay our debt. Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:39:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/newsstatenewengland/928699-227/politifact-huntsman-claim-that-u.s.-has-oldest.html "We have the longest surviving constitution." * Jon Huntsman on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 in a campaign appearance in Milford, N.H. ---------- Our ruling: Historians and legal scholars alike may debate the definition, but most of us are clear in our concept of a constitution as a single governing document. As long as that's the case, there is little room for argument. The U.S. Constitution is the longest surviving constitution in the world. Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:45:05 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/927950-196/santorums-claim-that-tax-supported-churches-in.html Claim: In Europe, “church attendance rates (are) in the single digits” because churches are supported by taxes. Rick Santorum on Monday, July 18th, 2011 in a house party in Henniker, N.H. Our Ruling: While Santorum is right that some European countries have church attendance rates that are below 10 percent, we found others that have rates of worship well above the single digits. Santorum’s other claim, that European governments collect taxes and send the money to churches, is also a mixed bag. Santorum is correct when he says some countries assess so-called church taxes. But more importantly to his main point, scholars say they don’t see a connection between the taxes and church attendance. Indeed, the rate in Italy is about 39 percent. Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:25:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/927188-196/gop-expanded-health-care-first.html “When the Republicans were in charge, they actually expanded government health care with the prescription drug program.” – U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in a July 16, 2011, interview with The Telegraph ---- Our ruling: According to voting records, the GOP held a 229 to 205 majority in the House at the time of the Nov. 22 vote, and of the 229 Republicans, 204 voted in favor. Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:37:28 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinionperspectives/927059-263/politifact-nh-a-welcome-addition-to-telegraph.html Late in June, The Telegraph introduced “PolitiFact 2012 New Hampshire,” a cooperative effort among The Telegraph, The Valley News – and more recently NHPR – and PolitiFact, a project of the St. Petersburg Times. The Telegraph called it a “handy new tool” to help separate fact from fiction. Reporters check the claims of political figures and then rate them on a “Truth-O-Meter,” which has a scale of six judgments, ranging from true to false. There is also “Pants on Fire,” which is reserved for what are judged to be the biggest whoppers. Considering that New Hampshire is going to be overrun with candidates ranging from serious to silly who will pontificate on the issues of the day whenever they can get four voters together to listen, the Truth-O-Meter may need an oil change and tire rotation before primary day arrives. And while I am of course in favor of separating fact from fiction, I have some reservations about this particular effort, at least in how it has been implemented thus far. For instance, a recent story rated a statement by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as “Half True.” The rating was for remarks Geithner made at Dartmouth College on June 24. The quote was that for people in the top 0.5 percent or 1 percent for income, “your effective tax burden is in the low 20s, the lowest it’s been in decades and decades and decades – lower than somebody who might make substantially less money.” PolitFact concluded “Geithner was correct when he said the top 1 percent pay rates in the low 20s, a tax burden that is historically low. Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:07:13 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/926867-196/romney-defends-health-care-law.html The Statement: “Federal law requires that hospitals treat people whether or not they can pay. So someone (who) doesn’t have health insurance -- they can go to the hospital and get free care.” - Mitt Romney, Tuesday, July 5, 2011, at a Town Hall in Wolfeboro, NH ---- Our ruling Romney said that federal law “requires that hospitals treat people whether or not they can pay. So someone doesn’t have health insurance they can go to the hospital and get free care.” Experts told us that one aspect of Romney’s argument has some validity: Many people rely on emergency rooms for care when they have nowhere else to go, which is expensive and a burden on the health care system and the larger society. And hospitals sometimes provide more free care than the law requires. But Romney is wrongly suggesting more extensive treatment is required by federal law. Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:04:57 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinionletters/926684-263/politifact-deserves-pants-on-fire-rating.html Please remove articles written by PolitiFact from your paper or put them on the opinion page where they belong. I have written to this organization several times, asking it to describe the political biases of the individuals writing these articles, and my requests have been ignored. The only response I received never addressed my question. The latest article (July 20: “Romney’s claim about Obama not exactly true”) has a misleading headline. Why is the headline “not exactly true,” but the finding is “barely true”? You spent most of the article reprinting Obama’s speech but never bothered to print Romney’s in complete form, when he is the person being reviewed for factualness. Thu, 21 Jul 2011 07:42:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/926711-196/gingrich-wrong-about-required-down-payment.html The statement: Says the new Dodd-Frank financial law requires a 20 percent down payment to buy a house. -- Newt Gingrich in prepared remarks on June 13, Concord, N.H. at a meeting arranged by the Small Business Caucus at the Kimball Jenkins House. Our ruling: Gingrich is not correct that the law mandates a 20 percent down payment. There is no such requirement. The only element of the law that even comes close to that is a provision that requires banks to hold on to 5 percent of the value of their mortgages so they will retain a stake in mortgages. Thu, 21 Jul 2011 07:36:01 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/925996-196/claim-calls-for-strong-belt.html “There are 30,000 people that have been killed with seat belts.” – Joseph Trillo on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 in a Rhode Island House debate over mandatory seat belt use ------- Our Ruling In summary, when Trillo asserted that 30,000 people “have been killed with seat belts,” the context of his statement made it clear that he was saying that seat belts contributed to their deaths, not simply that 30,000 people who died happened to be wearing seat belts. When we asked him for the source of his information, he couldn’t produce it. “When we’re doing all those bills, I’m trying to assimilate a lot of information. I’m not taking notes on it. I’m just reading stuff,” said Trillo. In fact, when we suggested it might be wise to take note of his sources in case someone – like PolitiFact, for example – wanted to know where his facts came from, his response was, “I could care less.” But we care because, if seat belts are really that dangerous, we want to know. Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:57:34 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/924872-196/politifact-former-u.s.-rep.-richard-swett-says.html Says that in 2009, Jon Huntsman “said that the Recovery Act wasn’t large enough and as governor he asked for $14.4 billion in federal stimulus funds. Now he’s saying that he never supported it.” Former U.S. Rep. Richard Swett, on Tuesday, June 21. Sat, 30 Jul 2011 07:11:31 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinioneditorials/924704-263/politifact-good-fit-with-our-history.html The Telegraph’s first-ever mention of PolitiFact – then a fledgling, fact-checking project of the St. Petersburg Times – occurred in an editorial dated Jan. 2, 2008, about a week before that year’s New Hampshire presidential primary. In that editorial, titled “Fact-checking sites good tool for voters,” we encouraged our readers to take advantage of online sites such as PolitiFact and FactCheck.Org to “cut through the malarkey that has become a staple of American political campaigns” to reach an informed decision in the voting booth. We would go on to cite the work of PolitiFact in other editorials over the years, whether it was to acknowledge the organization’s introduction of the “Obameter” – an ambitious project to track the more than 500 promises then-candidate Barack Obama made in the 2008 campaign – or to remind voters to take advantage of this valuable resource in later elections. So the announcement last Sunday that The Telegraph and Valley News are partnering with PolitiFact for the New Hampshire presidential primary campaign is a logical progression of our longtime commitment to provide our readers with more than the standard day-to-day coverage of political campaigns. By way of some examples: n In 1995, The Telegraph joined with The Associated Press, New Hampshire Public Radio and New Hampshire Public Television to form Voters’ Voice, a media partnership whose goal was to find out what was on voters’ minds and then ensure the presidential candidates addressed those issues during that primary campaign. The organization commissioned an issues poll to develop a “citizens’ agenda” and then set to work to coordinate roughly a dozen forums around the state in which small groups of voters could directly question a presidential candidate for 90 minutes without interference from the media. n In 2002, we introduced “Ad Watch” into our political coverage of that year’s state elections, evaluating some of the candidates’ radio and TV ads for accuracy and effectiveness. n And in 2008, starting with the Sunday of June 29, we published a weekly series of pieces by FactCheck.Org that examined claims made by the nominees for president – Obama and U.S. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:04:12 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/924567-196/politifact-2012-obama-top-missile-firing-laureate.html President Obama “has fired more cruise missiles than all other Peace Prize winners combined.” -- sign along Route 12 near Keene, N.H. Our ruling Based on our review of historical records and interviews with military historians, it appears the sign along the New Hampshire highway is correct. The closest was Sadat during the Yom Kippur war, but it appears he was far short of the number fired by Obama, even in combination with other laureates. If we hear of additional evidence, we’ll revisit this item. But in the meantime, the numbers indicate the sign is correct. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:04:06 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinionletters/924182-263/telegraph-praised-for-politifact-2012.html Home run. Goal. Touchdown. Three-pointer. Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:03:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/924200-196/politifact-2012-bachmans-groceries-claim-inflated.html “If you threw a barbecue yesterday for the Memorial weekend, it was 29 percent more expensive than last year because Barack Obama’s policies have led to groceries going up 29 percent.” - Michele Bachmann on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 in a radio interview with WKXL-AM in Concord, N.H. ------------------------- Our ruling Bachmann says Obama is to blame for a 29 percent increase in Memorial Day barbecues, but she’s way off on both counts. Her figure comes from a New York Post article that relied on prices in the expensive New York metro area; national figures show the increase was much lower, about 9.9 percent. And she blames Obama for the increase when experts say he and his policies have little, if any, impact on food prices. Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:05:00 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/923972-196/how-politifact-works.html PolitiFact 2012 New Hampshire is a partnership among The Telegraph, the Valley News and PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking Web site. The newspapers are partnering with PolitiFact to publish fact-checking articles on the presidential candidates, political parties and other groups that make claims during the New Hampshire campaign that will use PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter to rate the accuracy of claims. How the Truth-O-Meter works Claims or attacks by candidates or their parties are rated using PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter. The Truth-O-Meter is based on the concept that – especially in politics – a statement can be true or false, or something in between. An accusation can be half true or barely true without being false. Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:03:46 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/923974-196/meet-the-nh-politifact-team.html A group of reporters and editors from The Telegraph and the Valley News, led byPolitiFact Editor Bill Adair, make up the PolitiFact 2012 New Hampshire team. They are: Jonathan Van Fleet is the metro editor of The Telegraph, where he has worked since 2000. He is the lead assigning editor in the newsroom who coordinates the newspaper’s watchdog and enterprise projects. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. Sun, 26 Jun 2011 08:04:04 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/923975-196/introducing-politifact-2012-new-hampshire.html For as long as newspapers have existed, we’ve tried to separate fact from fiction. We still do, every day. Today, we have a handy new tool to use in our pursuit of those who spread falsehoods. It’s called the Truth-O-Meter. We get to use it because of a new partnership among The Telegraph, the Valley News and PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning project of the St. Petersburg Times dedicated to helping you find the truth in American politics. In today’s paper, you get to read about the Democrats’ claim that Republican presidential candidates failed to utter the words “middle class” and “education” during a two-hour televised debate at Saint Anselm College. Was the accusation true? Well, not really. Likewise, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a GOP presidential hopeful, said President Barack Obama promised he would cut the deficit in half, but instead he will at least double it. No, not quite. The new PolitiFact 2012 New Hampshire partnership works like this: A presidential candidate or a party official comes to the state and says something that makes us say: “Hmmm. Sun, 26 Jun 2011 08:04:16 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/newsworldnation/924022-227/carney-off-base-about-debate-topics.html In the Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire, none of the candidates mentioned the “middle class” or “education.” White House press secretary Jay Carney: – Tuesday, June 14, 2011 in a gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Puerto Rico Our ruling: Carney was technically correct that education and the middle class were not mentioned in the debate. But several times candidates made references to middle-income people using other terms. And they never got asked about education. We rate the claim Barely True. To read the full article, go to politifact.com/subjects/new-hampshire-2012 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:55:44 EST http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/newsworldnation/924023-227/politifact-2012-pawlenty-exaggerated-deficit-numbers.html Says President Barack Obama promised he would cut the deficit in half, but instead will at least double it. – Tim Pawlenty Our ruling: There is some truth to Pawlenty’s claim: Obama made a pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. And he’s falling short so far. But there’s a lot more of Pawlenty’s statement that’s wrong. Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:56:19 EST