The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Bennett says stimulus is spending too much on road signs promoting stimulus Critics of the $787 billion economic stimulus package are up in arms about a particularly visible reminder of the legislation: roadway signs that are sprouting up across the nation, touting construction projects funded by the bill. In June, Sen […]
The Truth-o-Meter says: Half Flip | Obama statements on single-payer have changed a bit President Barack Obama has been prodding Congress to follow his principles on health care reform. He's advocating the same principles he supported during the campaign: Keeping employer-provided insurance in place, making it easier for people to shop for private i […]
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Sen. Jon Kyl says only 6.8 percent of stimulus has been spent One of the most common Republican attack lines against President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package has been that the money isn't flowing to the nation's economy quickly enough. If the bill's supporters really wanted […]
The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Ad on Rush Limbaugh and Sonia Sotomayor gets Adam Putnam's position wrong UPDATE: We've updated this item after hearing back from Presente.org, but we haven't changed our ruling. A group called Presente.org is using some political sleight-of-hand to suggest that a Republican House member from Florida endorse […]
The Truth-o-Meter says: False | Republican National Committee claims Obama administration offered $900 million to Hamas to rebuild Gaza The Republican National Committee recently put out a questionnaire called the "2009 Obama Agenda Survey" in which it asks Republicans to rate their agreement or disagreement with a number of so-called Obama adm […]
The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | GOP claims Obama has ordered FBI to read Miranda Rights to terrorist detainees captured on the battlefield The Republican National Committee recently put out a questionnaire called the "2009 Obama Agenda Survey" in which it asks Republicans to rate their agreement or disagreement with a number of so-called Ob […]
The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Supreme Court nominees got Senate votes with big margins Sen. Lindsey Graham got a few chuckles during the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. "Now, unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed," he said, adding that he didn't expect such a meltdown. Graham, […]
The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Poll on Sonia Sotomayor support shows even divide The day before the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Sonia Sotomayor began, Sen. Jon Kyl said President Barack Obama's nominee was losing the support of the American public. "It's interesting that I just reviewed the Rasmussen poll, most recent poll ab […]
Question: On Passage. Bill: H R 1018 Vote description: Restore Our American Mustangs Act Result: Passed, 239-185, with 9 not voting. Al Green voted Yes.
Question: On Agreeing to the Resolution. Bill: H RES 653 Vote description: Rule Providing for the Consideration of H.R. 1018, the Restore Our American Mustangs Act Result: Passed, 236-186, with 11 not voting. Al Green voted Yes.
Question: On Agreeing to the Amendment. Bill: H R 3183 Result: Agreed to, 424-0, with 1 voting Present and 14 not voting. Sheila Jackson-Lee voted Yes.
Question: On Passage. Bill: H R 1018 Vote description: Restore Our American Mustangs Act Result: Passed, 239-185, with 9 not voting. Sheila Jackson-Lee voted Yes.
Question: On Agreeing to the Resolution. Bill: H RES 653 Vote description: Rule Providing for the Consideration of H.R. 1018, the Restore Our American Mustangs Act Result: Passed, 236-186, with 11 not voting. Sheila Jackson-Lee voted Yes.
At the six-month mark of his presidency, Barack Obama has made progress on some of his biggest campaign promises. Of the Top 25 we're tracking with our Obameter, we've rated two as Promise Kept, one as a Compromise and 10 as In the Works. (The rest: one earned a Promise Broken, one Stalled and 10 No Action.) But when you step back and look at all 5 […]
We've heard lots of talk about health care reform over the past few months, but this week we got the actual bill to look at. On Tuesday, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced major legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system. The 1,000-plus page bill, called America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, inclu […]
A group called Presente.org is using some political sleight-of-hand to suggest that Adam Putnam, a Republican House member from Florida, endorses Rush Limbaugh's comment that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was a racist. That's not correct, and we rated their statement False. Read our full report here to find out why. >>More
The hearings began Monday for Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first nominee to the Supreme Court, but there weren't any fireworks. The senators on the Judiciary Committee made opening statements. Sotomayor made an opening statement. End of Day 1. In fact, Sen. Linsdey Graham went so far as to predict confirmation as long as Sotomayor avoi […]
When senators deliver their opening statements at the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Monday, you can be sure of a few things: Someone will mention that she's a lifelong Yankees fan (no need to fact-check that) and Republican senators will criticize her for the New Haven firefighter case, her comments about how race an […]
With unemployment rates continuing to rise nearly five months after the economic stimulus plan was passed, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor said the Obama-backed plan is a bust. "Clearly the stimulus or so-called stimulus plan that spent almost $800 billion dollars has not worked," Cantor said in a PBS interview on July 8, 2009. "We were prom […]
In a tongue-in-cheek Web ad from House Republican leader John Boehner, the GOP "releases the dogs on the money trail" to find jobs created by the Obama-backed economic stimulus package. The stimulus was supposed to be all about jobs, according to the folksy narration by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., "but after five months and billions in debt […]
A television ad from the Democratic National Committee gives the impression that Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell hates jobs, unemployment compensation, health care for little children, and equal pay for women. The ad makes generalizations about what McConnell opposed, to the point of distorting what his votes actually signified. When we dug into the […]
What the country could easily see this week was a major success story for the Obama White House: A confirmation drama featuring Judge Sonia Sotomayor that left even Republican critics predicting an easy path to confirmation.
The fight over health care reform took center stage on Capitol Hill on Friday, as the House Democratic leadership stepped up its push for passage of a bill before the August congressional recess.
The House Intelligence Committee will investigate whether any laws were broken when the CIA concealed a now-canceled counterterrorism program from Congress, the panel's chairman announced Friday.
In the past decade, it's become a given that Supreme Court nominees are expected to tell you -- not to mention the senators actually voting on confirmation -- absolutely nothing about how they will rule on the Supreme Court.
If Sonia Sotomayor fulfills her long-held dream to sit on the Supreme Court, she would have the prestige of joining the highest court in the land, lifetime job security and a public forum as the first Hispanic on that bench.
One of the enduring myths about Supreme Court justices is that they often turn out to "surprise" the presidents who appoint them. Sure-thing conservatives, it is said, turn out to be liberals, and vice versa. In fact, the evidence is almost entirely the opposite: that with justices, as in life, what you see is what you get.