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Our 5 most-clicked in 2015 (that weren't about Scott Walker)

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, campaigned in Madison, Wis., on July 1, 2015. (AP photo) U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, campaigned in Madison, Wis., on July 1, 2015. (AP photo)

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, campaigned in Madison, Wis., on July 1, 2015. (AP photo)

Tom Kertscher
By Tom Kertscher December 28, 2015

As we reported in our most recent item, Gov. Scott Walker, by a considerable margin, was fact checked by PolitiFact Wisconsin more than anyone else in 2015.

But plenty of other pols took their turn on the Truth-O-Meter, too.

Based on page-views in 2015, these were our five most popular non-Walker fact checks that were published during the year.

They touch on wealth inequality, Iran, taxes, kings and more taxes.

1. Bernie Sanders: "The top 1/10th of 1 percent today in America owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent."

Rating: Mostly True.

The Vermont senator, who is seeking the 2016 Democratic nomination for president, was greeted by some 10,000 supporters when he campaigned in Madison in July. Calling for a political revolution against greed, Sanders repeated a finding from a study by two internationally known economists -- the results of which were supported by two other major economists we contacted. The study has been criticized, though, for not including Social Security in the wealth calculations.

2. Restoration PAC: President Barack Obama met with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani.

Rating: Pants on Fire.

This claim was made in a July TV ad by a super PAC that supports the re-election of U.S. Sen Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, who faces a rematch in 2016 with Democrat Russ Feingold, the man he defeated in 2010.

Through an image in the ad, Restoration PAC claimed Obama had met with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. The image showed the two men together smiling and shaking hands. But there is no record that any such meeting ever occurred. (The group replaced the image with side-by-side photos of the two men.)

3. Tammy Baldwin: Middle-class Americans "pay a higher tax rate than millionaires and billionaires."

Rating: Half True.

Wisconsin’s Democratic U.S. senator made her claim in a January news release, saying the federal tax code "has unfairly favored the wealthiest Americans, while middle-class families in Wisconsin have struggled to get ahead."

We ended up at Half True because some middle-class taxpayers pay a higher rate than millionaires and billionaires, but some don’t.

4. Reince Priebus: Hillary Clinton took "money from kings of Saudi Arabia and Morocco and Oman and Yemen."  

Rating: Half True.

The Wisconsinite, who is chairman of the Republican National Committee, made his attack on CBS’ "Face the Nation" on the same day in April that Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner for president in 2016, announced her run.

The monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Oman contributed to the Clinton Foundation, but Yemen, which does not have a king, did not.

And although Priebus’ claim was made during a discussion of the foundation as well as contributions to political candidates, his phrasing could have left the impression that Clinton herself, rather than the foundation, received the money.

5. Paul Ryan: The U.S. "tax rate on successful small businesses is 44.6 percent," while the business tax rate in Canada is 15 percent.

Rating: True.

The Janesville Republican made this statement in November, while spelling out his agenda shortly after being elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In comparing tax rates for small businesses in the United States with the general business tax rate in Canada, Ryan was right on both numbers. It’s important to note that the claim was limited to the rates -- not to what individual businesses may pay based on their own circumstances.

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Our 5 most-clicked in 2015 (that weren't about Scott Walker)