Obama on the meters

By Angie Drobnic Holan
Published on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 at 5:36 p.m.

Related rulings:

On recess appointments.

Barack Obama, Saturday, March 27th, 2010.

Ruling: Half Flip | Details

"A lot of the ideas in terms of the (health insurance) exchange, just being able to pool and improve the purchasing power of individuals in the insurance market, that originated from the Heritage Foundation."

Barack Obama, Tuesday, March 30th, 2010.

Ruling: Mostly True | Details

Related campaign promises:

Expand Pell grants for low-income students | Details

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President Obama speaks in Portland, Maine, on Thursday.

We've rated President Barack Obama three different ways today.

• On the Truth-O-Meter, we examined Obama's claim on the origins of health insurance exchanges. "A lot of the ideas in terms of the (health insurance) exchange, just being able to pool and improve the purchasing power of individuals in the insurance market, that originated from the Heritage Foundation," Obama said. We found that Heritage is against all the regulations that the Democrats' new health care law imposes, but the group is widely credited for the idea of exchanges as a way to pool risk. We rated Obama's statement Mostly True.

• On the Flip-O-Meter, we looked at the issue of recess appointments. As a senator, Obama opposed the controversial recess appointment of a new ambassador to the United Nations. But Obama made his own controversial appointment last weekend when he nominated Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. We rated the move a Half Flip.

• On the Obameter, we looked at Obama's promise to expand Pell grants for low-income students. We rated it Promise Kept.

Read the complete items for details and sources.