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For your consideration: Our favorites from 2010 -- True to False with a bit of burning breeches.
After more than 100 Truth-O-Meter rulings, the editors who rate the items for PolitiFact Ohio looked back over the year and selected the Top 10 for 2010.
Selections weren't just based on which articles were most true or false. In fact, only two that got Pants On Fire ratings — awarded to statements that are both false and ridiculous — made the cut.
Rather, editors considered how quirky or unusual the statements were and the impact they had. Perhaps the biggest criterion was the same one PolitiFact Ohio uses to decide which statements to check: Did it pique our curiosity and make us say "Really? Is that true?"
The selections were made by the four editors and two bureau chiefs from The Plain Dealer who have sat on Truth-O-Meter panels since PolitiFact Ohio was launched at the end of July.
Nearly 30 items received votes, but 10 stood out among the rest. Today we reveal No. 10 down to No. 5. We'll announce the others this week, one each day, and reveal No. 1 on New Year's Eve.
No. 10
"If you want to see the jobs that I've saved and created in this storm he (Rob Portman) helped create, go anywhere in Ohio."
-- Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher during his campaign for U.S. Senate.
No. 9
"The Great Lakes Compact has a loophole. And the loophole is that while you cannot remove the water in a big transport, you can remove it in containers of 5.7 gallons or less."
-- Rep. Dennis Kucinich
No. 8
"We (Democrats) have made steady progress creating jobs and improving our schools."
-- Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish after Democrats lost control of the Ohio House the November election
No. 7
"They tried to give us $400 million to build a high-speed train that goes 39 miles an hour."
-- Gov.-elect John Kasich decrying federal funding for rail development
No. 5 (Tie)
"(Kevin) Boyce gave (a lobbyist"s) wife a sensitive job in the treasurer"s office, a job Boyce admitted he only made available at their mosque."
-- State Rep. Josh Mandel during his campaign for state treasurer
No. 5 (Tie)
"In recent years, Rep. LaTourette has sponsored legislation that would increase spending by 551.6 percent."
-- Bill O'Neill in a letter to Portage County Republicans while campaigning against Rep. Steven LaTourette
Coming Tuesday: PolitiFact Ohio's pick for No. 4, a statement from John Boehner on the quirks in the healthcare reform law.
No. 7
"They tried to give us $400 million to build a high-speed train that goes 39 miles an hour."
-- Gov.-elect John Kasich decrying federal funding for rail development
No. 5 (Tie)
"(Kevin) Boyce gave (a lobbyist"s) wife a sensitive job in the treasurer"s office, a job Boyce admitted he only made available at their mosque."
-- State Rep. Josh Mandel during his campaign for state treasurer
No. 5 (Tie)
"In recent years, Rep. LaTourette has sponsored legislation that would increase spending by 551.6 percent."
-- Bill O'Neill in a letter to Portage County Republicans while campaigning against Rep. Steven LaTourette
Coming Tuesday: PolitiFact Ohio's pick for No. 4, a statement from John Boehner on the quirks in the healthcare reform law.
Our Sources
PolitiFact Ohio's editors and writers
