PolitiFact Staff Writer
Catharine Richert is a staff writer for PolitiFact. Previously, she covered agricultural policy and the Senate leadership for Congressional Quarterly. In 2008, Catharine was named Agricultural Journalist of the Year by the North American Agricultural Journalists. In the same year, she was one of the National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting fellows, and in 2009, she was was one of three journalists to be given the Milena Jesenská Fellowship, a grant that allowed her to travel to Vienna, Austria, to research and write about the European biofuels industry. Catharine has a bachelors of arts from Oberlin College and is completing her masters in public policy at the University of Minnesota.
The latest Truth-O-Meter items from Catharine Richert
"There is no precedent for what the Democrats are doing with this deception... We have never written a reconciliation bill to amend a law that does not exist."
People "can't go fishing anymore because of Obama."
"Obama has proposed a 1.4% pay increase for active duty military in 2011. This is THE LOWEST SINCE 1973 ... A LOWER PAY INCREASE THAN WELFARE RECIPIENTS!!!"
The health care bill will "create 4 million jobs, 400,000 jobs almost immediately."
The health care bill "dumps 15 to 18 million low-income Americans into a Medicaid program that none of us want to be a part of because 50 percent of doctors won't see new patients."
"Congresswoman Bachmann actually said we should be 'weaned' off our Social Security and Medicare. She wants to privatize Social Security and replace Medicare with some kind of voucher system."
"We were promised (the stimulus) would provide 'green jobs' for Americans, but 80% of the $2 billion they spent on alternative energy went to purchase wind turbines built in China!"
"In the three months before the act took effect, America lost 750,000 jobs a month. In the last three months, we've lost about 35,000 jobs a month."
Vice President Joe Biden's meeting "with the transparency and accountability board . . . was closed to the public."
Recent stories from Catharine Richert
Top 5 lies about health careWe look at five persistent talking points that don't have much to them.
Top 10 facts to know about health care reformWe boil down more than a year's worth of reporting and research to ten important points.
Deem and pass explainedWe delve into the arcane procedures that Congressional Democrats want to use for health care reform.
Chain e-mail evolves to Facebook updatesWe check out a chain Facebook status update on President Obama and whether he gave a puny raise to the military. PLEASE RE-POST THIS!!!
Democrats' health care bill: Job killer or job creator?We sort through the numbers and find conflicting evidence when it comes to jobs.
Fact-checking Obama's bipartisan health care reform meetingWe're watching the president's health care summit with our Truth-O-Meter handy.
A stimulus report cardOne year after the passage of the economic stimulus, we assess how many jobs have been created and how much money has gotten into the economy.
Fact-checking O'Reilly's interview of Jon StewartThe Daily Show host is grilled in the "No Spin Zone." We check a couple of the facts.
Palin says transparency meeting was behind closed doorsWe examine Sarah Palin's claim that Vice President Biden met with the transparency board behind closed doors.
Scott Brown faces the Truth-O-MeterThe senator-elect claims that federal employees make twice as much as private-sector workers. We check the facts.
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. For tips or comments on our campaign promise database, please e-mail the Obameter. If you are commenting on a specific promise, please include the promise number. For comments about our Truth-O-Meter or Flip-O-Meter items, please e-mail the Truth-O-Meter. We’re especially interested in seeing any chain e-mails you receive that you would like us to check out. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise.
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