January 27, 2012 11:01 am ET filed under Blog
The 5.6 Million Reasons Behind GOP Senators' Letter To Obama
January 03, 2012 2:30 pm ET filed under Blog
Ambitious Republicans Conveniently Discover Opposition To Abortion Just In Time To Woo Conservative Voters
November 09, 2011 3:19 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. McCain Laments "Plight Of The People" While Peddling Tax Cuts To Help Corporations Buy Yachts
November 08, 2011 1:45 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. McCain: Obama's Private Advocacy For Israel Proves He's Anti-Israel
October 27, 2011 10:08 am ET filed under Blog
How The GOP And Fox News Make Anti-Immigrant Ideas "Mainstream"
October 17, 2011 9:46 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - October 16, 2011
October 17, 2011 9:37 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - October 16, 2011
Republicans spent their Sunday morning TV appearances blaming Democrats for the economy and trying to convince Wall Street protesters to join them in their scapegoating. Contrary to what Herman Cain and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) claimed, the facts show that private firms, not government entities, inflated the subprime mortgage bubble, and Wall Street, not Democrats, turned those loans into an elaborate casino game that left the entire country on the hook for their bad bets. Similarly, Cantor and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) were wrong to suggest that Democratic policies on taxes and regulations are hurting the economy, and that Republican proposals will do more to create jobs than President Obama's proposed American Jobs Act. In addition, Cain claimed that his "9-9-9" tax plan won't hurt the poor and implied that Obama has cut defense spending, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) blamed the credit downgrade on the president, and Sen. McCain said that Obama never spoke up on behalf of Iranian protesters in 2009. In each case, the facts disagree.
September 21, 2011 10:36 pm ET filed under Fact Check
What Happened To The Republican Consensus On Climate Change?
In May right-wing activist Marc Morano said Republican candidates "can believe in the science of global warming ... if you keep your mouth shut about it and you advocate no quote-unquote solution to the problem." By contrast, the following statements show that in previous years, prominent Republicans spoke about both the robust body of evidence indicating that human activities are changing the climate and the need to address the problem. While the political discourse has since regressed, the scientific consensus has not.
August 22, 2011 11:15 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - August 21, 2011
This Sunday's talk shows echoed a quiet week in Washington, with newly-minted head of the Republican Governor's Association Bob McDonnell (R-VA) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) regurgitating standard lines on the President Obama's economic policies. McDonnell also faulted President Obama for the country's current debt and deficits, rejecting the notion that President George W. Bush bears any responsiblity. Long-shot presidential candidate Rick Santorum joined him in misplacing blame for deficits, claiming that safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps are "the core problem with our deficit," before wrongly suggesting that repealing the health care reform law would create jobs and increase growth. Fellow presidential contender Jon Huntsman trotted out his flat tax plan, glossing over the truth about its disproportionate effect on the lower and middle classes. He also blamed the fact that corporations aren't hiring on "uncertainty and confusion," when business leaders themselves point to weak demand, not government policies.
August 08, 2011 10:01 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - August 7, 2011
August 08, 2011 9:46 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - August 7, 2011
The highlight of yesterday's Sunday political talk shows was Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) deceptive performance on Fox. Ryan misled on a range of topics, from the causes of the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt, to the drivers of that debt, to President Obama's policy positions, to the reasons businesses aren't expanding today, with plenty of stops in between. By comparison, Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) dishonesty about Afghanistan and Social Security, Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) bogus economic statistics, and Sen. Jeff Sessions' (R-AL) deceit on deficits under President Bush and Democrats' willingness to cut spending were barely even blips on the radar.
July 29, 2011 5:20 pm ET filed under Video
Remember When Republicans Were Worried About Uncertainty?
As Republicans risk massive uncertainty for small businesses by playing chicken with the debt ceiling, Political Correction takes a look back at GOP leaders from the House and Senate bemoaning the risk of uncertainty for job creators in order to push the extension of the Bush tax cuts.
July 05, 2011 9:36 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - July 3, 2011
July 05, 2011 9:35 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - July 3, 2011
The pre-Fourth of July Sunday shows featured a lot of talk about America's involvement overseas, particularly in Afghanistan and Libya, but the GOP lawmakers found time to squeeze in some tired misinformation about the economy as well as a few new falsehoods. On CNN's State of the Union, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) claimed that the American people "don't want compromise" on the budget and debt ceiling, but polling shows Americans are amenable to combinations of tax increases and spending cuts. He also minimized the dangers of a default, even though economists and the financial sector warn that even a short default could prove economically catastrophic. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) spent much of his airtime bashing President Obama, claiming that the president ignored his own bipartisan fiscal commission's report in his State of the Union address and that Obama hasn't put forward a debt reduction plan of his own. Both of these are false. In addition, Cornyn blamed "the president and his party" for the unemployment rate even though the Recovery Act has helped slowly begin to turn the unemployment picture around from a place where it was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month.
June 21, 2011 9:56 am ET filed under Video
Sen. McCain Excuses His Comments Linking Illegal Immigrants To Fires
From the June 21, 2011, edition of NBC's Today:
June 20, 2011 6:33 pm ET filed under Blog
McCain Scrambles To Defend Comments Linking Illegal Immigrants To AZ Fires
May 31, 2011 12:21 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. McCain Suggests Muslims Are "Not Exactly Who We Would Like" Fighting Gaddafi
May 27, 2011 3:16 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. McCain's Judicial Filibuster Flip-Flop
May 17, 2011 4:31 pm ET filed under Blog
Santorum: Sen. McCain "Doesn't Understand How Enhanced Interrogation Works"
May 12, 2011 11:10 am ET filed under Blog
Sen. McCain: Torture Did Not Lead Us To Bin Laden, And It Undermines Our National Character
March 28, 2011 9:13 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. McCain Invents A Contradiction In Obama's Libya Speech
March 07, 2011 10:17 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - March 6, 2011
March 07, 2011 10:06 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - March 6, 2011
For the first time in weeks, the Sunday political shows didn't touch on GOP union-busting efforts in Wisconsin and elsewhere, choosing instead to focus on national economic issues. That meant a series of tired talking points from familiar Republican faces. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) implied Democrats have raised taxes, when in fact they've cut taxes by hundreds of billions. Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Michele Bachmann (R-MN) ignored economic growth and 1.5 million new private sector jobs in the past year to attack President Obama's economic policies. Bachmann also misled NBC viewers about the Affordable Care Act and the partisan nature of the Tea Party. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed the administration has protected government workers at the expense of private sector jobs. On less familiar topics, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) dishonestly insisted American Muslims don't cooperate with law enforcement despite much evidence to the contrary, and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) foolishly claimed that Apple electronics are manufactured in America. Somebody should tell that to the Chinese factory workers who built your iPhone.
February 28, 2011 10:25 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - February 28, 2011
February 28, 2011 10:12 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - February 27, 2011
This week's Sunday political chatter was focused on two very, very different places: Wisconsin and Libya. Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) defended his union-busting efforts on Meet the Press by arguing that union contract agreements in recent weeks prove public workers aren't being honest when they say they'll accept his pension and health insurance demands, but that's disingenuous; the agreements he referenced had been in the works long before his power grab. Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) joined Walker in suggesting that collective bargaining is to blame for state budget troubles, but the facts don't bear that out. Meanwhile on Fox News Sunday, Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) asserted that public employees are overpaid (before absurdly claiming that the Bush tax cuts worked) and Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) told ABC viewers that Walker is simply fulfilling a campaign promise. None of these claims is true. On other topics, Mike Huckabee (R-AR) lied about the national debt on Fox News and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) falsely asserted that President Obama never showed support for Iranian protesters in the summer of 2009.
February 24, 2011 10:51 am ET filed under Blog
Maverick No More: Sen. McCain Now Tied For Most Conservative U.S. Senator
February 14, 2011 10:13 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - February 13, 2011
February 14, 2011 9:54 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - February 13, 2011
With Valentine's Day looming, the Sunday shows provided a timely reminder of the GOP's love for false talking points. While Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wrongly claimed that President Obama "refused to support" pro-democracy protestors in Iran in 2009, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) confined themselves to stale misinformation about the economy. On Fox, Ryan implied that government workers have benefited most from Democrats' economic policies, alleged that President Obama tried to raise taxes by $2 trillion last year, and claimed that the president has increased spending by 84 percent. Meanwhile on NBC, Speaker Boehner told viewers that Obama's policies "destroy jobs." No matter how many times Republican leaders say these things, the facts continue to demonstrate that they're just not true.
January 26, 2011 10:47 am ET filed under Fact Check
Sen. McCain Repeats Rep. Ryan's "Nifty" Spending Distortion
This morning on Fox & Friends, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) praised GOP State of the Union responder Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), saying that Ryan "understands these issues better than almost anybody else." Maybe he should have stopped there. Instead, he repeated what PolitiFact calls Rep. Ryan's "nifty accounting maneuver" by saying, "we increased spending by some 84 percent in the last two years." In fact, spending levels have increased but they have not skyrocketed to these levels. In other words, McCain and Ryan deliberately hyperbolize spending numbers to scare the American public.
December 21, 2010 12:32 pm ET filed under Video
Sen. McCain Suggests Only Rationale For Terror Trials Is To "Employ A Lot Of Security People"
