PolitiFact.com
Statements about Poverty
Sherrod Brown

Sherrod Brown

True

A SNAP judgment that's spot on

"Some of these members of the House of Representatives get hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm subsidies" but want to cut food stamps.

Mark Warner

Mark Warner

Mostly False

Assumes worst-case estimate has already occurred

Says 70,000 children "have lost their Head Start slots" because of the sequester.

Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island

Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island

Mostly False

Strongly worded, not supported

"Half of all hospitalized seniors are suffering from malnutrition so severe that it either caused their illness or it prevents them from getting better."

Kathy Castor

Kathy Castor

Half-True

Feds haven't yet tallied actual cuts

"70,000 three-year-olds and four-year-olds across America will lose access to the preschool Head Start program. ... 2,000 in the state of Florida alone."

Fred Clark

Fred Clark

Mostly True

Not as clear-cut as described

A Wisconsin bill to limit use of food stamps for junk food would also "prevent -- or limit --  the extent to which" food stamps could be used for organic foods.

Gina Raimondo

Gina Raimondo

Half-True

Not that simple

"Women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men."

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

False

A misreading of the studies

"Expanding Medicaid will worsen health care options for the most vulnerable among us in Texas."

Sean Duffy

Sean Duffy

Half-True

Mostly distortions

The United States spends "$2.2 billion on free cell phones, $27 million on Moroccan pottery classes" and pays for "the travel expenses for the watermelon queen in Alabama."    

Frank Keating

Frank Keating

False

Catholic charity is big, but not that big

"In the United States, 50 percent of social services are provided by the Catholic church."

Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann

Pants on Fire!

Overhead is 5 percent at most, not 70 percent

Of every "three dollars in food stamps for the needy, seven dollars in salaries and pensions (go to) the bureaucrats who are supposed to be taking care of the poor."

Scott Walker

Scott Walker

Mostly True

Yes, but why is important

Two-thirds of Wisconsinites receiving unemployment checks "are not required to search for work due to current work search exemptions."

Carolyn Medeiros

Carolyn Medeiros

Mostly False

Claim needs rehabilitation

"There's a tax credit of $2,400 to bond [former inmates] that an employer would get for hiring a convicted felon. There's a federal bonding program -- you can get $5,000 to $25,000 in federal money to hire a convicted felon. And there's federal grants for felons to set up their own small businesses."

John Kasich

John Kasich

Mostly True

Costly care

Without a Medicaid expansion, 275,000 more Ohioans could be getting their primary care in emergency rooms, costing "everybody a lot of money."

Sarah Eckhardt

Sarah Eckhardt

Mostly True

UPDATED: Poverty up since 2000, but local rate sometimes goes down

Says Travis County's unemployment rate is below the national average while its poverty rate exceeds the national average--and local poverty is rising.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Mostly True

Romney, Obama on same side

Says he and Mitt Romney agreed on tying minimum wage increases to inflation.

Marcia Fudge

Marcia Fudge

False

More in poverty, but numbers wrong

"When George Bush became president of the United States, 17 million people were in poverty. When he left, 30 million people were in poverty."

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders

Mostly False

2010 was highest rate in 17 years, but available data doesn't support sweeping claim

"Poverty levels (are) at an all-time high."

Don Pridemore

Don Pridemore

True

Newly revised figures accurately quoted

Among Milwaukee Public Schools students, "86 percent are behind in reading and 80 percent are behind in math."  

Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan

Mostly True

On target, for public schools

"One out of every four students fails to earn a high school diploma. In our major cities across America, half of our kids don’t graduate."

Anne Goodman

Anne Goodman

True

This claim served with accuracy

Says food stamp growth, while high, lagged the rise in unemployment.

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