Michael Williams claim about Obama and gas prices No. 8 reader favorite

By W. Gardner Selby
Published on Thursday, December 20th, 2012 at 6:00 a.m.

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Says the Department of Homeland Security has ordered "enough rounds of .40 caliber ammunition to kill every man, woman and child in the United States," possibly to combat "massive civil unrest" or "an invasion by a foreign power."

Chain email, Saturday, March 24th, 2012.

Ruling: Mostly False | Details

"Just on Jan. 1 of this year, there were 40,000 new laws put on the books in one day."

Ron Paul, Tuesday, April 10th, 2012.

Ruling: False | Details

"Gas prices have gone up $2 since Obama took office."

Michael Williams, Tuesday, April 26th, 2011.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

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Michael Williams aired a claim in 2011. Our fact-check became a 2012 reader favorite (Austin American-Statesman photo, Jay Janner).

Michael Williams, a former member of the Texas Railroad Commission, ran for Congress in 2012 before being appointed Texas education commissioner. But a claim he made the previous year, while running for the U.S. Senate, fueled our readers' No. 8 favorite fact-check of 2012.

In an April 2011 tweet, Williams urged recipients to join him in seeking national policy encouraging all forms of energy production, writing: "Gas prices have gone up $2 since (Barack) Obama took office."

Williams accurately tracked gas prices on President Obama’s watch.

Yet we rated his statement Half True because it incorrectly implied the president was at fault; key factors driving gas prices are beyond any president’s control.

Our looks at claims by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and from a chain email landed 10th and 9th among readers. Those stories along with our check of Williams appear to the right.

We'll post the No. 7 reader favorite tomorrow.