Debatable claims in N.H.

By Bill Adair
Published on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 4:16 p.m.

Related rulings:

Guantanamo detainees "get taxpayer-paid-for prayer rugs…they had honey-glazed chicken and rice pilaf."

Duncan Hunter, Wednesday, September 5th, 2007.

Ruling: True | Details

"We've lost over 5,000 Americans over there in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and plus the civilians killed."

Ron Paul, Wednesday, September 5th, 2007.

Ruling: Mostly True | Details

"I would love to see us have in this country what I helped lead in Arkansas...Amendment 65 (which) says that we believe life begins at conception, and that we ought to do everything in the world possible to protect it until its natural conclusion."

Mike Huckabee, Wednesday, September 5th, 2007.

Ruling: Mostly False | Details

In countries that allow gay marriage, the rates of heterosexual marriage "have plummeted to where you have counties now in northern Europe where 80 percent of the first-born children are born out of wedlock."

Sam Brownback, Wednesday, September 5th, 2007.

Ruling: Mostly False | Details

"I built that border fence in San Diego...and it reduced the smuggling of people and drugs...by 90 percent."

Duncan Hunter, Wednesday, September 5th, 2007.

Ruling: Mostly True | Details

"Currently, we're at 36 percent of our children born out of wedlock."

Sam Brownback, Wednesday, September 5th, 2007.

Ruling: True | Details

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• Duncan Hunter, a Republican House member from Southern California, earns a True for his claim that detainees at Guantanamo Bay get chicken and rice. And he can rightly take credit for building a border fence between San Diego and Tijuana, and he's correct that smuggling declined. But it declined along the entire San Diego County section of the border, which contains only sections of secure fencing. We give him a Mostly True.

• Ron Paul overstated the number of U.S. deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the number is "over 5,000," but the official count is 4,349. Since he was off by 13 percent, we rate the statement a Mostly True.

• Mike Huckabee is right that Arkansas has an amendment to its state constitution concerning human life, but he oversimplifies and overstates its impact. We give him a Barely True.

• Sam Brownback is correct that rates of heterosexual marriage have declined in Europe, but he fails to note that the decline began before gay marriage was legalized and is influenced by larger demographic trends. We give his claim a Barely True.

But Brownback has his numbers right for his claim about out-of-wedlock births, which earns a True.