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Dale Zipperer is a military veteran without insurance who suffers from chronic bronchitis and emphysema. He prepares to take albuterol sulfate inhalation solution using a Misty-Neb nebulizer for his medical care. Photo credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC. Dale Zipperer is a military veteran without insurance who suffers from chronic bronchitis and emphysema. He prepares to take albuterol sulfate inhalation solution using a Misty-Neb nebulizer for his medical care. Photo credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC.

Dale Zipperer is a military veteran without insurance who suffers from chronic bronchitis and emphysema. He prepares to take albuterol sulfate inhalation solution using a Misty-Neb nebulizer for his medical care. Photo credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC.

April Hunt
By April Hunt August 12, 2014

Within days of the leaked memo, the conservative Ending Spending Action Fund, had a TV ad playing off some worries that Nunn's strategists said they anticipated.

The portion we fact checked dealt with the claim that the non-profit Points of Light, which Nunn ran from 2007 until she took a leave to campaign, directed money to an Islamic group with ties to terrorists.

We found the claim centered on MissionFish, a business entity that Points of Light owned until 2012 and collected donations from eBay buyers and sellers for any of 20,000 charities. One of those charities, Islamic Relief USA, received about $13,500 through this process.

Islamic Relief USA is part of a global network of charities that is under the umbrella of Islamic Relief Worldwide. That organization has been accused by one top Israeli official of having links to the terrorist group Hamas. Islamic Relief has denied any such connections. And the way MissionFish worked, there's no indication that Points of Light directed money to Islamic Relief USA or any specific charity.

We rated the claim Mostly False.

Nunn on layoffs

Ending Spending Action Fund was more on target with its first attack ad in the race, claiming Nunn "earned as much as $300,000 running a nonprofit that had laid off 90 workers."

The claim focuses on Nunn's job when HandsOn Network merged with the Points of Light Foundation. About 90 jobs were lost, and Nunn's salary was increased from $120,000 to $250,000 by her board of directors as she took charge at Points of Light. Her total compensation exceeded $300,000 three years later.

So the political action committee was on target with the numbers, showing Nunn got a huge raise while some employees were getting pink slips.

But some context is missing. Layoffs following mergers are common. And a nonprofit's success can hinge on whether the public believes that it's operating as efficiently as possible.

We rated the statement Mostly True.

Nunn and Obamacare

Like Perdue, Nunn has is running as an outsider to traditional politics.

Nunn is campaigning as a problem-solver, responding last year to a question about the federal health care program known as Obamacare with an interest to reform, not repeal it. Specifically, she said Georgia was depriving 25,000 veterans of insurance coverage by rejecting Medicaid expansion.

The claim was based on research done by the Urban Institute nationally and the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute statewide. That research hasn't’t been reviewed for a second opinion but appears on target. We rated this claim True.

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