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President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin were part of our most-clicked fact checks in January 2018.
Actions taken by President Donald Trump, on immigration and taxes, took top billing among our fact checks in January 2018.
But also receiving high page views during the month were fact checks on statements relating to elections for U.S. Senate and governor.
The primaries in those races are in August 2018, followed by the general elections two months later.
Here’s the rundown of the High Five:
1. Under "his own legislation," Donald Trump's "own family would not have been allowed into the country."
The statement was made by Randy Bryce, one of two Democrats running in 2018 for the southern Wisconsin U.S. House seat held by Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan.
It seems unlikely, perhaps highly unlikely, that either the president’s grandfather or his wife would have earned enough points under legislation backed by Trump to be eligible for immigration. But, particularly with Melania Trump, it can’t be known for certain.
2. "Come February (2018), Americans will see their paychecks grow at the tune of saving $1,000 or more a year."
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany made the claim on conservative talk radio in Green Bay.
It’s expected that some Americans, though it’s impossible to know how many, will start seeing larger take-home pay from their paychecks in February 2018 as less money is withheld for taxes as a result of the law. Meanwhile, it’s expected that about 60 percent of households will see tax cuts of at least $1,000 per year from 2018 through 2025. But those would largely go away after 2025, when various individual tax cuts in the law expire. As for whether Americans in large numbers will get raises or bonuses -- because of the tax law -- that remains to be seen.
3. Conservative groups have spent $5 million "against" Tammy Baldwin -- five times more than against all other Democratic U.S. Senate incumbents up for election in 2018 combined.
Martha Laning, chairwoman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, made the claim in assessing Democrat Baldwin’s run for a second term in the Senate.
Based on reports to the Federal Election Commission as of when Laning made the claim that were analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics, the total exceeded $5 million and is actually seven times more than what had been spent against the other Democrats. The only caveat is that $3 million had been spent directly attacking Baldwin, while the rest had been spent in support of one of her Republican opponents, Kevin Nicholson.
4. In 2011 under Scott Walker, Wisconsin for the first time spent "more on our prison system than we did" on the University of Wisconsin System.
The attack on the Republican governor, who is running for a third term, was made by Kelda Helen Roys, one of the Democrats in the race.
Walker’s first state budget, for 2011-’13, directed more state taxpayer dollars to the Department of Corrections than the UW System. But the eclipse was years in the making before Walker took office; and it’s worth noting that the UW System, with tuition and federal grants, has a much larger total budget than Corrections.
5. "Road projects across the state are staying on track or getting done sooner thanks to the good work of the team at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation."
Walker made the statement in a tweet.
Walker was referring to the early completion of the State Highway 441 project. But that was not specified in the tweet, and a wide range of other projects -- including major ones -- have been delayed.
Our Sources
PolitiFact Wisconsin items as noted
