Recent stories from Tom Feran

Is Ted Cruz constitutionally eligible to be president?

Rising Republican star Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, is being looked at as a potential presidential contender. But some question whether Cruz, who was born in Canada, could become the chief executive because of the Constitution’s requirement that the president be a "natural born citizen." PolitiFact Ohio dug in.

Is Ted Cruz eligible under the Constitution to become president?

Rising Republican star Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, is being looked at as a potential presidential contender. But some question whether Cruz, who was born in Canada, could become the chief executive because of the Constitution’s requirement that the president be a "natural born citizen." We look at the legal issues.

PolitiFact Ohio marks two years of the Truth-O-Meter

Observers decrying a decline in the quality of political discourse used to cite 30-second sound bites as a symptom or cause.  Thirty seconds is practically a filibuster now.   The typical statement in broadcast news stories today is closer to nine seconds. Just enough time to recite a talking point. Just enough words to fill a 140-character Tweet.    Long enough to grab our interest, to enlighten, mislead or enrage. Enough to make PolitiFact Ohio say "Really?"   PolitiFact Ohio is celebrating two years of checking these sound bites, and looking forward to more.

Blazing the way on health care reform claims

The debate over the Affordable Care Act will go on, even with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.   If history is any guide, the claims, both pro and con, that PolitiFact has been checking will continue to be used.   Here's some of the leading claims that each were set ablaze on the Truth-O-Meter.  

John Boehner and the state of the economy

A persistent talking point used by House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans is that President Barack Obama’s policies have actually made it worse. We took on the challenge of trying to gauge whether the economy is really worse today than when Obama took office.

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.

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.

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.

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?  

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.