PolitiFact.com
Statements about Children
Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

Mostly False

UPDATE: Labor Department withdraws rules

"This rule could prevent children under 18 from using such tools as a power screwdriver, a milking machine or something as simple as a wheelbarrow on the family farm . . . "

Rashad Taylor

Rashad Taylor

True

Sad, but true

"More children die in agricultural jobs than in any other industry."

Glenn Grothman

Glenn Grothman

True

Accurately quotes federal study

Says a study shows that children who live with a biological parent and the parent's boyfriend or girlfriend "have a 20 times greater chance of being sexually abused."

Elliott Naishtat

Elliott Naishtat

True

More than 200,000 babies in 2010

"More than half of the births in Texas are paid for by Medicaid."

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum

False

At most it would be 60 percent

After President Barack Obama’s health care law takes full effect, "100 percent" of Americans will "depend on some form of federal payment, some form of government benefit to help provide for them."

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum

Mostly True

It may even be higher now

"A little less than 50 percent of the people in this country depend on some form of federal payment, some form of government benefit to help provide for them."

Laurie Monnes Anderson

Laurie Monnes Anderson

True

Child abuse reports stack up to truth

"In 2010 about 75 percent of child abuse and neglect reports in Oregon were made by those required to report by law."

George LeMieux

George LeMieux

False

12 days late once

Says Connie Mack "failed to pay his child support."

David A. Clarke Jr.

David A. Clarke Jr.

Half-True

A split decision

Says Milwaukee blacks have 55 percent male unemployment, 60 percent truancy, a 50 percent graduation rate, the "worst" reading scores and "lead" in infant mortality. 

Barth Bracy

Barth Bracy

Mostly False

True in one 2009 poll, not since

The polls "show over half of Americans identify themselves as being pro-life."

Restore Our Future

Restore Our Future

Pants on Fire!

Distortion after distortion

Says Newt Gingrich "co-sponsored a bill with Nancy Pelosi that would have given $60 million a year to a U.N. program supporting China’s brutal one-child policy."

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum

Half-True

Economy was a big factor too

As a result of welfare reform, "poverty levels went down to the lowest level ever for ... African-American children."

Mike DeWine

Mike DeWine

Mostly False

Studies don't support cause-and-effect claim

"At a minimum, 40 percent of those who view child pornography end up molesting children as a result." 

Edith Ajello

Edith Ajello

True

Unplanned parenthood

"Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended."

James Langevin

James Langevin

False

Plausible but unproven

"Foster children are disproportionately victims of identity theft."

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney

Half-True

Data is mixed

When George W. Bush was governor of Texas, "the percentage uninsured went down." Under his successor, Rick Perry, "it's gone up."

Paul Broun

Paul Broun

False

Chester the Cheetah's not dead yet

Stimulus money funded a government board that made recommendations that would cost 378,000 jobs and $28.3 billion in sales. 

Daniel McKee

Daniel McKee

Mostly True

It was just one test that few schools take

"This year, the Blackstone Valley Mayoral Academy became the first public school in Rhode Island history to have 100 percent of its elementary-age students proficient in reading on state assessments."

Richard Tomlins

Richard Tomlins

Pants on Fire!

Robocall does not compute

"Mayor Fung wants to punish our children's education by removing 12 million dollars from current funding to pay for his private charter school. Your taxes would increase by between 6 and 8 percent per year."

Doreen Costa

Doreen Costa

False

Studies show the opposite.

"The studies have shown us that [drug testing for welfare recipients] will be saving us money"

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