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The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Obama says government has so far turned a profit on money used to stabilize banks

Admit it: When the federal government decided last fall to spend hundreds of billions to stabilize banks through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, you thought the money was as good as gone. Not so, President Barack Obama said at the White House on June 9, 2009. "Several financial institutions are set to pay back $68 billion to taxpayers," he said. "And while we know that we will not escape the worst financial crisis in decades without some losses to taxpayers, it’s worth noting that in the first round of repayments from these companies the government has actually turned … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Medical bankruptcy study not so clear-cut

Sen. Chris Dodd wrote about the need for health reform in an op-ed published in a Connecticut newspaper. "Health care costs are rising faster than our economy is growing, crushing family budgets and businesses alike," Dodd wrote. "This week, we learned that 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies were caused by medical problems," he added. Dodd correctly cites a number from a study published in the American Journal of Medicine. The report states without reservation, "Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical." But that’s not the end of the story. We first looked … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Pence claims that Obama said energy costs will skyrocket with a cap-and-trade plan

With Congress debating a cap-and-trade plan to reduce global warming, House Republicans are touting an alternative that they say will be less expensive. Instead of regulating carbon dioxide by forcing power companies to buy and trade polluting credits, why not subsidize renewable fuel production and build new nuclear reactors, posited GOP Congressman Mike Pence on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on June 10, 2009. Otherwise, he said, power companies will pass the cost of buying those credits on to the consumer, driving up the price of energy.   Pence wanted to make clear that he was not … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Sarah Palin says she vetoed stimulus money for energy efficiency because it required tougher building codes

In a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity on June 8, 2009, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin criticized the stimulus package as a "dizzying debt that we’re handing to our kids." She said, "I vetoed a bucket of the money, not a whole lot, we did accept education dollars and infrastructure dollars, but dollars that were tied to universal energy building codes for Alaska, kind of a one-size-fits-all building code that isn’t going to work up there in Alaska and really prohibits opportunity to build and to develop, and just wasn’t going to work up there in Alaska, so I vetoed … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Rove’s op-ed distorts health study

Republican strategist Karl Rove argued against the Democrats’ blueprint for health care, citing a Lewin Group study about what might happen under a public option for health care. The public option has become shorthand for the government offering an insurance plan to compete with private insurers. Advocates for the public option said it would be an insurer of last resort, such as for people who lose their health insurance when they lose their job. In a column in the Wall Street Journal, Rove said the public option would lead to America "becoming a European-style welfare state." "The Lewin Group … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: True | McCain says Obama has more czars than the Romanovs

How many czars does it take to run the federal government? More and more, it seems. In a Twitter message on May 30, 2009, Sen. John McCain took this poke at the Obama administration: "Obama has more czars than the Romanovs — who ruled Russia for 3 centuries. Romanovs 18, cyberczar makes 20." First of all, yes, John McCain — the guy criticized during the presidential campaign for being computer illiterate — is tweeting. But what about the czars? It sure seems like we keep reading about one czar after another being appointed to oversee the auto industry, the Great … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Jose is No. 1 baby name in Texas — Social Security Administration says so

It’s not unusual for a minority party to engage in soul-searching, finger-pointing and general agonizing over why it lost power. The Republican Party is in the midst of such a process right now. Mike Murphy, a GOP political strategist, has argued that the Republicans need to address why they lost so badly among two demographics: the young and Latinos. Obama crushed McCain among Hispanic voters by a 35-point margin, Murphy wrote in a column in Time magazine. "By 2030, the Latino share of the vote is likely to double," Murphy wrote. "In Texas, the crucial buckle for … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Sen. Bill Nelson says offshore drilling won’t pay for Florida schools

Floridians who support offshore drilling to rescue the crippled state budget will be disappointed, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., warned this week. The federal government limits what the offshore drilling revenues can be used for, Nelson said, and it doesn’t include things like paying for public schools. "I’ve had a few questions lately about this idea of Florida getting oil-drilling revenues to help with its sagging budget — and, things like schools," Nelson said in a statement on June 15, 2009. "If you’re swayed by this argument and big oil’s latest push to put rigs off the tourism state, then … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: False | 62 percent support new health care legislation, not Barack Obama’s particular plan

A new ad urges support for President Barack Obama’s push for major health care legislation. Created by the liberal group Americans United for Change, the ad argues that 62 percent of the public supports “the president’s plan to reform health care,” and that Republicans in Congress should too. Here’s the full script of the ad; you can also watch it via YouTube : “In the Senate, they call 60 percent support a supermajority. Well, a new poll shows 62 percent of Americans support the president’s plan to reform health care. That means … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | More than 500 Guantanamo detainees were released or transferred under Bush

For weeks, Republicans have questioned the wisdom of closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Barack Obama plans to transfer the approximately 230 remaining detainees to other countries or to prisons in the United States. Responding to the Republicans, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on June 16, 2009, that it’s important to consider Obama’s plans in context with the overall number of releases in the past seven years. "Some 500 detainees were released from Guantanamo during the Bush administration," Hoyer said. We wondered if he was correct. Indeed, government documents indicate more than 500 detainees were … >> More