When I initially saw this result in my Excel “sort” I straight off dismissed it: Half True at PolitiFact versus False at FactCheck.org , for Michele Bachmann’s statement that “Obamacare” would require 16,500 new IRS agents to police it. After all, Half True can just as well mean Half False, and because the False could arguably just as well be a Mostly False at Factcheck since it’s subject to my own interpretation as to ranking, I didn’t think it was a candidate for a major post. But, just in case, I decided to first read FactCheck’s take on it. FactCheck was pretty emphatic (and a bit snarky, I might add) about the False:
Bachmann not only exaggerates but is flat-out wrong when she repeats the oft-stated false claim about the need to hire "16,500 IRS agents in charge of policing President Obama’s health care bill." As we reported previously, the figure of 16,500 originated from a House Republican report that relies on false assumptions and outright misrepresentation. The CBO estimated in March 2010 that the health care law would increase IRS administrative costs by $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years. But that money will not be going for "16,500 IRS agents in charge of policing" health care mandates. The IRS is mostly responsible under the new law for administering tax credit programs, not collecting penalties.
When I looked at what PolitiFact had to say, I saw opportunity a-knocking for an excellent Grading PolitiFact Liberal Style piece. Because now I had another website verifying the same claim which was basically saying through its harsher “grade” that PolitiFact was going way too easy on Republicans/Conservatives. So, here's the best of both worlds!
Bachmann made this statement in January when she followed up President Obama’s State of the Union message. In February, an actual estimate emerged as reported by U.S. News, of 1,054, besides the required systems changes to implement the law. So, compared to 16,500, we can safely say Bachmann’s claim is False to maybe Mostly False. But that conservatively biased (snark snark) PolitiFact just had to elevate it to an inconclusive Half True.
The difference between PolitiFact’s evaluation and that of FactCheck was that PolitiFact took the employee number seriously and tried to verify it; FactCheck, on the other hand, summarily dismissed the claim and made a differentiation between the specific dictates of the law by saying the IRS was only responsible for administering tax credits under the PPACA and not collecting penalties (as defined by Bachmann’s verbage that IRS agents would “police” Obamacare). I find that difficult to believe, however, since it’s always been the responsibility of the IRS to initiate penalties on Federal taxes, that it would be only responsible for administering tax credits under the PPACA. Say, for example, a company or person fails to pay their Federal taxes, and part of that includes failure to file appropriately under PPACA, which in turn directly affects the amount owed and any penalty, how does the IRS handle the intersection of the two? Obviously they can’t penalize one without the other.
It appears PolitiFact may have been in some agreement with this, since they did not address this issue in their evaluation. It noted the CBO report where FactCheck may have derived its interpretation.
… CBO did offer an estimate of the costs to the IRS for "implementing the eligibility determination, documentation, and verification processes for premium and cost-sharing credits." The IRS, the analysis said, "would probably" need to spend "between $5 billion and $10 billion over 10 years."
FactCheck was also more scathingly critical of the source of the number, a report issued by the Republican House Ways and Means Committee, stating it “stems from a partisan analysis based on guesswork and false assumptions, and compounded by outright misrepresentation.” PolitiFact was much more polite and simply said that the Committee was “not a neutral arbiter” since every Republican opposed the law.
So this conflict between two rulings on the same statement by Bachmann is really not that reconcilable. In a sense, FactCheck’s ruling deserves a “Mostly True” while PolitiFact’s has turned out to be “Mostly False” by settling with its inconclusive “Half True” ruling. And chalk one up to Grading PolitiFact Liberal Style.
No comments:
Post a Comment