|
By CJP | September 4, 2008
 George Washington could not tell a lie, but we wondered if we could say the same about Barack Obama or Sarah Palin. They gave two of the most memorable, powerful speeches we've ever seen, but how faithful to the truth were they as they rallied their faithful?
Luckily, the fact-checking whiz kids at PolitiFact and FactCheck.org have been staying up late this week and have some answers for us:
- FactCheck.org found that Obama's statement in his acceptance speech that he'll pay for every dime of increased spending by closing corporate tax loopholes is MISLEADING (the Tax Policy Center says both candidates will badly increase the deficit); that the claim that McCain thinks people making $5 million are middle class is NOT ACCURATE (McCain was just kidding), and that Obama's claim that "the average American family saw its income drop $2,000 under George Bush is NOT TRUE- the average income dropped $348. That's still no great shakes, but it's not as bad as Obama said.
- PolitiFact checks all of Sarah Palin's public statements, which came almost entirely in last night's speech. When she said that Obama plans "to raise income taxes taxes and payroll taxes," that's only HALF TRUE. Only incomes over $250 K would get hit, while the payroll tax increases on high incomes would be phased in over the next ten years. When she claimed she said "thanks but no thanks to the Bridge to Nowhere," Alaska had already lost most of the roughly $400 million in federal funding that had been put aside for it. On the plus side, when she said Harry Reid said, "I can't stand John McCain," that was completely TRUE.
FactCheck.org has the thorough check on the Obama speech HERE, and you can see PolitiFact's entire dossier on Gov. Palin HERE. We'll keep an eye on McCain tonight, as well as Biden last week, and let you know when we find fibs, half-truths or outright howlers.
|
