Primary preview: Checking Mitt Romney's voting claim

The multi-state primary day, Super Tuesday, is less than a month away. Ohio is one of the key states voting that day, so we're spotlighting statements from the GOP presidential candidates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said recently he "never voted for a Democrat when there was a Republican on the ballot." We looked into it and found that's a matter of interpretation.

By Robert Higgs, Louis Jacobson :: Published on Thursday, February 9th, 2012 at 3:15 p.m.

Was Ohio runner up in the Sears derby?

Ohio and several other states all were in the bidding to try to coax Sears to move its headquarters. But when PolitiFact Ohio tried to nail down a claim that the Buckeye State was runner up to Illinois, we found the answers elusive.

By Joe Guillen :: Published on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 10:45 a.m.

Will recess appointment handcuff consumer cop?

Whether appropriately bold or outrageous, President Barack Obama stirred up the dust when he used a recess appointment to make former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray the nation’s consumer financial cop. We were intrigued by an argument put forth by Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio: that Obama might have limited Cordray’s ability to do his full job because of the way he put the Ohioan in the director’s chair. But sorting the issue out on the Truth-O-Meter proved to be a challenge.  

By Stephen Koff :: Published on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 10:30 a.m.

Dave Thomas anecdote a favorite from 2011

State Rep. Jay Hottinger served up a Whopper, er, Classic Triple, when he told a story about Wendy's founder Dave Thomas to illustrate why Ohio should repeal it's estate tax. We said "Where's the beef?" and made it one of our favorites from 2011.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Friday, December 30th, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.

Sherrod Brown's Red Sox claim one of 2011's big hits

Sen. Sherrod Brown hurled a high hard one in defense of the Cleveland Indians when he got some good-natured ribbing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. We raised our Chief Wahoo mug of morning Joe in salute and picked his claim about the Red Sox as one of the year's favorites.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Thursday, December 29th, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.

Location, location, location a favorite for 2011

Location is commonly cited as the most important consideration in buying real estate, and geographic location was the reason that Cleveland once was tagged as being -- or occupying -- "the best location in the nation." Gov. John Kasich put  a new spin on that pitch to help sell Ohio. His claim became one of our favorites of 2011.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Wednesday, December 28th, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.

Claim of foul deeds false, but a favorite from 2011

Demonstrations outside the Ohio Statehouse provided lasting images from the debate over Senate Bill 5, a proposal to restrict collective bargaining rights for organized labor. But did they do the particularly foul act that Senate President Tom Niehaus cited?

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.

Canadian anecdote lands on 2011 favorites list

Ohio House Speaker William G. Batchelder loves telling a good story. An anecdote about a top Canadian official seeking medical treatment in Ohio that he included in a floor speech got our attention and became one of our favorite items for 2011.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Monday, December 26th, 2011 at 1:20 p.m.

Water pollution claim tapped for favorites list

Water pollution from sanitary sewer and storm runoff has long been a concern for one Cleveland councilman. His ward has nearly 2 miles of Lake Erie shoreline, much of which is public beach. He compared the water quality to that of the Third World. We tapped as one of our favorites for the year. Could it really be that bad?  

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Friday, December 23rd, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.

Invasive species claim sails onto our favorites list

Invasive species, like zebra mussels, round gobies and bloody red shrimp, have hitchhiked into the Great Lakes from foreign ports in the ballast water that ships take on for stability. So we were surprised when Rep. Steve LaTourette commented  that the problem of invasive species in the Great Lakes today was due to ballast. We checked out the claim then. And now we've  picked it as one of our favorites for the year.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 4:00 p.m.

Governor's health benefits claim a favorite from 2011

No issue dominated Ohio headlines in 2011 more than the efforts to rein in collective bargaining rights for public employees. A claim by Gov. John Kasich put focus on a key point in the debate. We picked it as one of our favorites of the year.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 at 11:45 a.m.

Energy usage claim makes our 2011 list of favorites

In a newspaper column he penned earlier this, year Sen. Rob Portman made the claim that the U.S. government is the largest energy user in the country. We checked out his statement then and liked the item so much we tapped it as one of our favorites of the year.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 at 5:15 p.m.

Quip about Ben Franklin among 2011 favorites

None of the Founding Fathers is more quotable than Benjamin Franklin. Arguably the greatest mind of the founding generation his range of interests and prolific writing over his 84 years produced a shelf of memorable maxims, thoughts and observations. So when a state legislator said he doubted Franklin could have envisioned Ohio's estate tax, it got our attention (we had our doubts that there was anything Franklin couldn't have envisioned). We like this item so much we tapped it as one of our favorites of the year.

By Robert Higgs :: Published on Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.

Defining just what constitutes a 'jobs bill'

Led by Speaker John Boehner, Republicans cite the "Forgotten 15," which they describe as jobs bills that have passed the Republican-controlled House but not the Democrat-led Senate. But we found that nailing down the definitions needed to rate the speaker's claim about those bills wasn't so easy.

By Tom Feran :: Published on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 12:55 p.m.

Pat Boone earns his first Pants on Fire

Yes, THAT Pat Boone! The singer is way off-tune in an Ohio campaign commercial that tries to scare seniors. Ain't that a shame?

By Sabrina Eaton :: Published on Monday, November 28th, 2011 at 11:35 a.m.