On Bob Marshall and light bulbs

We do not dispute that precautions should be taken when mercury is released. But there’s a big difference between mercury beads spilling from a broken glass thermometer and the amount released from a shattered CFL light bulb. Marshall, in his statements, glosses over this key distinction.

By Sean Gorman :: Published on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 at 10:42 a.m.

Fact-checking the pension debate

PolitiFact Virginia has been closely following the debate over the ailing state pension. We thought this would be a good time to review our findings.  

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 3:57 p.m.

The ups and downs of small business employment

Several readers asked how it is possible that small businesses consistently create 70 percent of the nation's private sector jobs but employ only half of the workers. Here's our answer.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 11:36 a.m.

Truth-squading the Senate debate

The 90-minute debate gave us just what we wanted for the holidays: a new list of political claims to fact check.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 at 1:42 p.m.

Wolf corrects statement on missing soldiers from Korean War

"At least 8,000 American servicemen are still listed as POW/MIA on North Korean soil," Wolf  said in a November 1 news release.  The  Defense Department’s estimates a similar number of missing soldiers from the Korean War, but believes almost one-third of them are not in North Korea.

By Sean Gorman :: Published on Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 at 1:41 p.m.

Fact-checking Solyndra

If you're interested in the Solyndra story, take a look at these fact checks.

By Becky Bowers, Angie Drobnic Holan :: Published on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 12:01 p.m.

Mailbag: Not all birthday cards contain warm wishes

"For you to give an overall `score’ based on your own selectivity about which quotes to analyze, and which to ignore, simply says more about you than about the featured politicians or their political parties."

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 3:46 p.m.

PolitiFact Virginia turns 1!

We hope you usually agree with our ratings and understand when you don’t. During an age of blaring rhetoric from all political sides, our goal is present facts to help you reach your own judgements. That’s what makes this work important.  

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 at 4:01 p.m.

Put PolitiFact to work for you

Elections are coming Nov. 8. If you come across a political claim that raises your eyebrows, or sounds too good or too bad to be true, let us know. We’d be interested in researching it for you and putting it to the Truth-O-Meter.  

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 at 3:19 p.m.

Introducing the Bob-O-Meter

We’re introducing the Bob-O-Meter, a service aimed at monitoring some 50 campaign promises by McDonnell. The Bob-O-Meter will report what progress, if any, has been made on each pledge and rate whether it’s been kept, broken, altered in a compromise, or in the works. Those ratings will be tallied on PolitiFactVirginia.com, creating an up-to-the-minute and evolving report card on McDonnell’s administration.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Friday, September 16th, 2011 at 12:35 p.m.

The Bob-O-Meter is coming

We’ve calibrated it to monitor campaign promises Gov. Bob McDonnell made during his 2009 campaign and measure how well he is fulfilling them. 

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 1:57 p.m.

Democrats persist with false Medicare claim

The radio ad says: "Congressman Scott Rigell voted to end Medicare, forcing seniors to pay more to protect tax breaks for Big Oil and millionaires."

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 1:57 p.m.

Readers weigh in on Cantor's "blank check" claim

We received more than 120 comments about our False rating on Cantor's recent claim that a Democratic plan to lift the debt ceiling would give the president a "blank check."  Most of the comments took issue with Cantor, but a few were directed angrily at us. We thought we’d share a sampling of the response.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 at 2:33 p.m.

A change in the meter: Barely True is now Mostly False

After an overwhelming response from readers, we're changing the Truth-O-Meter. Barely True will now be called Mostly False.

By Bill Adair :: Published on Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 at 8:00 a.m.

Debt debate keeps the Truth-O-Meter whirling

PolitiFact has been watching the debt-limit debate closely. As the deadline nears and the partisan impasse over tax increases and spending cuts remains, we thought we’d review a few major claims  that have been weighed on the Truth-O-Meter.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 at 1:06 p.m.