Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is attacking Sen. Bill Nelson's vote in favor of the new health care law.

Chamber of Commerce distorts facts on Medicare

We check two claims from a Chamber of Commerce ad attacking U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and find the group is twisting the facts to scare senior citizens.

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The Latest from PolitiFact

A scorecard separating fact from fiction

Says President Barack Obama’s finance team is recommending a "1% tax on all transactions at any financial institution."

Promise: Increase non-military aid to Afghanistan by $1 billion

Update: Administration meets goal of boosting non-military funding in Afghanistan

On whether humans contribute to global warming

"20 million people could lose their current coverage" … "including our senior citizens who are on Medicare."

"Seniors will see $500 billion in Medicare cuts to fund Obamacare."

Says Marcy Kaptur has attacked his military service and training in the Air Force, showing disrespect for veterans.

Says Mitt Romney would deny gay people the right to adopt children.

"Sources show (Connie) Mack as a resident of California, living with his wife in Palm Springs."

Says the health care reform bill was paid for, in part, by taking money from students and the student loan system.

"When these [undocumented] students graduate from college, they're still illegal aliens. They cannot get a job."

On support for gay marriage.

Democrats plan to keep student loan interest rates low  "by raising taxes on small businesses, very small businesses … the kinds of small businesses that give jobs to graduates."

"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."

"The only time government employment has gone down during a recession has been under me."

New Jersey has "the highest property taxes in the nation and not by a little. They are the highest property taxes in the nation, more than double the national average."

Says he did not vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker of the House.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson "chose to side with President Obama" against the Keystone pipeline

Crime rises in communities with casinos.

Inside the Meter

Tracking our corrections and updates

We've created a new page so you can see Truth-O-Meter items that have a correction or update. The page will include articles or Truth-O-Meter ...
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'There's a fair chance PolitiFact spoke to other experts' -- yes, 13 others

We've gotten some criticism today about the Pants on Fire we gave to Mitt Romney for his claim that the size of the U ...
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Who is PolitiFact? Who pays for Politifact?

Updated Monday, January 9, 2012 at 11:04 a.m. As we've gained new readers over the years, every now and then we get ...
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How to contact us

We want to hear your suggestions and comments.

For tips or comments on our Obameter and our GOP-Pledge-O-Meter promise databases, please e-mail the Obameter. If you are commenting on a specific promise, please include the wording of the promise.

For comments about our Truth-O-Meter or Flip-O-Meter items, please e-mail the Truth-O-Meter. We’re especially interested in seeing any chain e-mails you receive that you would like us to check out. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise.

PolitiFact is a project of the Tampa Bay Times to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on our Truth-O-Meter:

TRUE – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing.

MOSTLY TRUE – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.

HALF TRUE – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.

MOSTLY FALSE – The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.

FALSE – The statement is not accurate.

PANTS ON FIRE – The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.

For more details, see the Principles of PolitiFact and the Truth-O-Meter.

We’re also tracking campaign promises of President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress. You can track the progress on our Obameter and our GOP Pledge-O-Meter.

To find out more about PolitiFact and the Times, see Who Pays for PolitiFact.

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PolitiFact has a new app for smartphones and tablets featuring the Truth-O-Meter, the Obameter and our new Truth Index. Click here for details.

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PolitiFact is tracking and rating the campaign promises of the Republican leadership and President Barack Obama.

The GOP Pledge-O-Meter follows dozens of promises made in 2010 by Republican leaders in their speeches and in the Pledge to America, their blueprint for the 112th Congress.

The Obameter follows more than 500 promises made by Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Rating their promises

Campaign promises of GOP leaders

Campaign promises of Barack Obama

10 (%)
Promise Kept
181 (%)
Promise Kept
1 (%)
Compromise
58 (%)
Compromise
69 (%)
Promise Broken
2 (%)
Promise Broken
5 (%)
Stalled
63 (%)
Stalled
14 (%)
In the Works
135 (%)
In the Works
2 (%)
Not yet rated
25 (%)
Not yet rated

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