PolitiFact.com
Statements about Government Efficiency
Jefferson Smith

Jefferson Smith

True

The city doesn't know for sure -- but his numbers hold up

Says the city of Portland has one manager for every six "front-line" workers.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney

Mostly True

GAO report says similar

There are "49 different federal job training programs that report to eight agencies."

Americans for Prosperity

Americans for Prosperity

Pants on Fire!

Nope — try loan for project in California

Says the stimulus bill sent tax credits overseas, such as "$1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico."

Tom Graves

Tom Graves

True

There's lots and lots of 'em

"The federal government owns tens of thousands of properties that are vacant or underused."

Ted Wheeler

Ted Wheeler

Mostly False

How do you define money "saved"?

Says the treasurer’s office has "saved $37 million in management costs for the oversight of public investments."

Ohio Democratic Party

Ohio Democratic Party

Pants on Fire!

Party's own timeline rebuts this claim

Says Ohio Treasurer Josh "Mandel first claimed bank fraud in June 2010 but did nothing for more than a year while raising money for his (Republican) Senate campaign."

Jeff Kruse

Jeff Kruse

Pants on Fire!

Layoffs and pay cuts definitely happened

Says "for the duration of this recession not a single person in government middle management has lost (a) job or taken a pay cut."

John Kasich

John Kasich

Half-True

Payroll actually is slightly larger

"The total (state) payroll has gone down. The total amount of the number of workers in the state has gone down. I like the fact that the bulk of that is just by retirements."

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Pants on Fire!

You don't have to be in Washington to get work done

Congressman Scott DesJarlais "is spending his one year anniversary on vacation -- only working 6 days in all of January."

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Pants on Fire!

Discounts any time spent helping constituents, visiting district

Freshman Rep. Bob Gibbs "is spending his one year anniversary on vacation — only working 6 days in all of January."

Barry Hinckley

Barry Hinckley

False

Only at 48 words per page

"Our tax code is . . . 80,000 pages."

Building a Better Ohio

Building a Better Ohio

Mostly False

Claim treats intangibles as actual costs

"Government employees make 43 percent more in wages and benefits" than private-sector workers.

Taxpayer Association of Oregon

Taxpayer Association of Oregon

False

That many may work in the city, but they don't all work for the city

Says "the City of Portland alone has 84 public relation representatives on payroll which cost taxpayers over $6.2 million (a year)."

John Kasich

John Kasich

Pants on Fire!

Out-of-state arbitrators a no go

"They talk about this problem with binding arbitration. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to have somebody from Los Angeles fly into Zanesville and impose a wage settlement on you ... and then they’re on the plane back to Los Angeles."

Kate Brown

Kate Brown

True

You get more than you pay for

Says for every dollar the state spent on audits last year, it delivered $64 in cost savings.

Facebook posts

Facebook posts

Pants on Fire!

Claim is based on a statistical quirk

Congressional Republicans have introduced dozens of bills on social issues and other topics, but "zero on job creation."

John Sherman

John Sherman

False

Land price claim has cracks in foundation.

The Atlanta Beltline paid nearly $3.5 million for less than a quarter-acre.

Alan Grayson

Alan Grayson

Mostly True

Fraudulent contract spending is kind of his thing

"$360 million of our tax dollars went straight to ... the Taliban."

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney

Mostly True

Not quite that many

Says that 500,000 federal workers -- one-fourth of the federal workforce -- make more than $100,000 a year.

Stephen Lisauskas

Stephen Lisauskas

False

Cites national average that isn't

Thirty-seven percent of Central Falls’ retired police officers and firefighters are out on disability pensions; in most municipalities, about 5 percent of retirees collect disability pensions.

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