For my blog Politi-Psychotics, I've written a series of PolitiFact ruling critiques aimed at showing PolitiFact’s conservative or Republican bias, structured on Sublime Bloviations and PolitiFact Bias's criticisms without the patronizing grades and other flourishes , called “Grading PolitiFact *Liberal*-Style." I started this about November of 2010, and here are the ones done so far (the most recent at the top):
(37) Barack Obama, Democrat, Mostly False, Tricky Mitt (8/16/2012): Is Mitt's carried interest a tax "trick"? Well, it's often called a "tax loophole" or "tax maneuver" and Romney himself has called it a "ruse"--and the first word that comes up in the Word Thesaurus as a synonym for the word ruse is "trick."
(36) Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, False, Pelosi and the ACA (8/5/2012): Pelosi needs to avoid using such all-inclusive terms like "everyone gets..." But it doesn't necessarily mean she deserves an all-inclusive False.
(35) John Boehner, Republican, Half True, Crash on Delivery (7/30/2012): PolitiFact takes the equivocal way out with its ruling on this statement by Boehner that the United States has the best health care delivery system in the world. There's just too much out there to prove it's less than Half True.
(34) Pat Quinn, Democrat, Pants on Fire, Land of Linkin' (7/26/2012): PolitiFact Wisconsin hands the governor of Illinois its harshest rating for making a very obvious typo and because later press releases are (mistakenly) attributed to his "facts", except that there's no proof of the attribution, and his campaign readily admitted the typo.
(33) Loretta Weinberg, Democrat, False, Yes, Scott Walker is #1 “Liar” (7/3/2012) PolitiFact doesn’t react too kindly to those who “take its name in vein.” Weinberg makes a very poor case that Scott Walker is the Numero Uno of governors who lie the most, misusing PolitiFact stats. But if she had stated it correctly, she would be right.
(32) Kathleen Falk, Democrat, False, Skirting the Wage Gap (7/2/2012): This statement was rated in four versions by PolitiFact, and was criticized for its methodology by SB, so made it to Lil White Lies as well. The PolitiFact Wisconsin ruling was the most egregious and points up its standing a bit further to the right than the rest of PolitiFact.
(31) Hank Johnson, Democrat, Half True, Hokey ‘bout the Pokey (5/25/2012): “The United States incarcerates more than any nation in the world.” When most people talk about the United States having the highest prison population they are talking about it relative to other democracies, not military dictatorships. How else could you compare it?
(30) Mitt Romney, Republican, Two Pinnochios, 3+3, Six or Half Dozen (5/24/2012): “We should be seeing numbers in the 500,000 jobs created per month [range]. This is way, way off from what should happen in a normal recovery.” This is actually not a PolitiFact check, but one from the Washington Post Fact-Checker. A criticism of Fact-Checker author Glenn Kessler’s methodology in evaluating Romney’s claim was posted by another anti-factcheck blog called counterirritant, so I thought I’d check out what that blog had to say about it, and in doing my own analysis of counterirritant’s methodology, the result was significant enough to include in the Grading (WaPo) Liberal Style List.
(29) Rick Scott, Republican, Mostly True, Boomers Going Bust (5/21/2012): “About 230,000 people that were on unemployment when I took office are not on unemployment now.” Between those retiring, dropping out and being prevented from applying for unemployment by laws he helped enact, that doesn’t seem like anything that’s either Mostly True or something to brag about.
(28) Rick Santorum, Republican, Mostly True, Walmart Welfare 2012 (4/26/2012): “A little less than 50 percent of the people in this country depend on some sort of federal payment, some form of government benefit to help provide for them.” This begs the question of social security as an insurance program, as well as what happens in a country where right-to-work creates mostly jobs where one cannot make a living.
(27) The State Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Democrats, False, Silence is Golden Like Fine Wisconsin Cheddar (3/20/12): “Over one million signatures were submitted in attempt to recall Governor Scott Walker.” If they had kept their mouths shut this might have been a Half True instead of a False. But the fact is, the “about 70,000 short” was relative in that it was 7 percent off the number of signatures they claimed to have submitted. As I point out, there are a number of “Mostly True” Republican claims that are off 15 percent. PolitiFact harshly discounts what should be a Mostly True to False because they contend the State Democratic Party responded this was an estimate, although I’m not buying PolitiFact's explanation of why they didn't consider it to be one.
(26) Lawrence O’Donnell, Liberal, Mostly False, Please Relief Me (3/10/12): “Critics called [the original G.I. Bill] welfare.” Back in 1947 there wasn’t such a thing in politics as “code words” and welfare was considered a good thing, it was really one prominent southern racist congressman's complaints about fearing it would result in negroes on relief. But PolitiFact just won’t go there, despite complaints from both O'Donnell and Rachel Maddow.
(25) Marco Rubio, Republican, Mostly True, The Unadmitted Majority (2/20/12): “The majority of Americans are conservatives.” PolitiFact uses a single Gallup Poll and a best guestimate this to a make a verifiable plurality a majority. But there are too many nuances (other polls) which dispute this and really make it an inconclusive Half True at best. (Note 2/24/12: PolitiFact revised this to Half True.)
(24) Barack Obama, Half True updated to Mostly True, Pink-Slipping PolitiFact (1/26/12): “In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005." I borrowed this one from a “Debunktion Junction” piece done on this PolitiFact ruling by Rachel Maddow on her nightly MSNBC show. It certainly didn’t deserve a Half True.
(23) State Democratic Party of Wisconsin, False, Raise Malaise (12/21/11): "Gov. Scott Walker received a $7,300 pay raise." Walker technically did get a congressionally-mandated raise over his predecessor as he started office--so does that make this claim false?
(22) Jim Jordan, Republican, Mostly True, Deficit Obfuscation (12/4/11): “President Obama's recent plan to cut $100 million of waste within his administration won't actually save money because he's going to spend it elsewhere.” It’s not $100 million, but that’s beside the point. Spending it elsewhere still means not charging the credit card for both.
(21) Newt Gingrich, Republican, Half True, Poor is More (12/1/11): Under President Barack Obama, "more Americans are in poverty ... than at any time since the Census Bureau began keeping records on it over 50 years ago." According to Newt’s party, however, poverty has a different definition than the one we’re used to.
(20) Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, Half True, Pelosi and the Polls (11/17/11): “in April of 2009 ... the Democrats were in control and the congressional (approval) rating was 40 percent.” It was closer than what the ruling led you to believe, and her underlying argument was strong.
(19) Rick Perry, Republican, Half True, Rick Perry’s Budget Bliss (11/16/11): “We cut a record $15 Billion from our state budget” and why it’s a Texas Tall Tale.
(18) Rachel Maddow, Liberal, Mostly False: Flat Tax Fever (11/8/11): The Rick Perry Tax Plan means huge tax cuts for the rich (True) and big tax increases for "everybody else" (not completely True)--but does that mean she deserves a Mostly False? [Added 11/8/11]
(16) PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Liberal*, Half True: Politi-Fishing PETA (9/6/11): Are sea creatures animals? Does PETA showcase sea creatures on their website? Should they be counted shrimp by shrimp when included on a list of how many animals Bill Clinton spared by turning Vegan? Find out. *I'm calling PETA liberal because I've seen and heard Rush Limbaugh disparage them a number of times. [Added 9/7/11]
(15) Harry Reid, Democrat, Pants on Fire: Lagging Behind (9/4/11): PolitiFact awards its worst of the worst, all the while using a single data source, and ignoring the lagging indicator inherent in unemployment rates as well as Reid's underlying argument that tax cuts don't work in stimulating the economy. [Added 9/4/11]
(14) PolitiFact's introduction of the Truth Index compelled me to re-invent my Politi-Score as one encompassing other fact-checking websites. In the process, I came across a PolitiFact ruling much more forgiving of a statement by Michele Bachmann than one of its co-fact-checkers, the highly esteemed FactCheck.org. [Added 8/5/11]
(9-10-11-12-13) This is a combined review of five PolitiFact rulings on the statements of such notables as Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman, and Tim Pawlenty during the month of June, with a little help from PolitiFact readers. [Added 7/6/11]
(8) Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (Pants on Fire!): RyanCare: Pay or Die (4/28/11): There are many others who also believe that the Pants on Fire ruling was not quite correct. This post starts with links to a list of those who were critical of this ruling and give their case as to why. I've since added them to this page. [Added 4/29/11]
(37) Barack Obama, Democrat, Mostly False, Tricky Mitt (8/16/2012): Is Mitt's carried interest a tax "trick"? Well, it's often called a "tax loophole" or "tax maneuver" and Romney himself has called it a "ruse"--and the first word that comes up in the Word Thesaurus as a synonym for the word ruse is "trick."
(36) Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, False, Pelosi and the ACA (8/5/2012): Pelosi needs to avoid using such all-inclusive terms like "everyone gets..." But it doesn't necessarily mean she deserves an all-inclusive False.
(35) John Boehner, Republican, Half True, Crash on Delivery (7/30/2012): PolitiFact takes the equivocal way out with its ruling on this statement by Boehner that the United States has the best health care delivery system in the world. There's just too much out there to prove it's less than Half True.
(34) Pat Quinn, Democrat, Pants on Fire, Land of Linkin' (7/26/2012): PolitiFact Wisconsin hands the governor of Illinois its harshest rating for making a very obvious typo and because later press releases are (mistakenly) attributed to his "facts", except that there's no proof of the attribution, and his campaign readily admitted the typo.
(33) Loretta Weinberg, Democrat, False, Yes, Scott Walker is #1 “Liar” (7/3/2012) PolitiFact doesn’t react too kindly to those who “take its name in vein.” Weinberg makes a very poor case that Scott Walker is the Numero Uno of governors who lie the most, misusing PolitiFact stats. But if she had stated it correctly, she would be right.
(32) Kathleen Falk, Democrat, False, Skirting the Wage Gap (7/2/2012): This statement was rated in four versions by PolitiFact, and was criticized for its methodology by SB, so made it to Lil White Lies as well. The PolitiFact Wisconsin ruling was the most egregious and points up its standing a bit further to the right than the rest of PolitiFact.
(31) Hank Johnson, Democrat, Half True, Hokey ‘bout the Pokey (5/25/2012): “The United States incarcerates more than any nation in the world.” When most people talk about the United States having the highest prison population they are talking about it relative to other democracies, not military dictatorships. How else could you compare it?
(30) Mitt Romney, Republican, Two Pinnochios, 3+3, Six or Half Dozen (5/24/2012): “We should be seeing numbers in the 500,000 jobs created per month [range]. This is way, way off from what should happen in a normal recovery.” This is actually not a PolitiFact check, but one from the Washington Post Fact-Checker. A criticism of Fact-Checker author Glenn Kessler’s methodology in evaluating Romney’s claim was posted by another anti-factcheck blog called counterirritant, so I thought I’d check out what that blog had to say about it, and in doing my own analysis of counterirritant’s methodology, the result was significant enough to include in the Grading (WaPo) Liberal Style List.
(29) Rick Scott, Republican, Mostly True, Boomers Going Bust (5/21/2012): “About 230,000 people that were on unemployment when I took office are not on unemployment now.” Between those retiring, dropping out and being prevented from applying for unemployment by laws he helped enact, that doesn’t seem like anything that’s either Mostly True or something to brag about.
(28) Rick Santorum, Republican, Mostly True, Walmart Welfare 2012 (4/26/2012): “A little less than 50 percent of the people in this country depend on some sort of federal payment, some form of government benefit to help provide for them.” This begs the question of social security as an insurance program, as well as what happens in a country where right-to-work creates mostly jobs where one cannot make a living.
(27) The State Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Democrats, False, Silence is Golden Like Fine Wisconsin Cheddar (3/20/12): “Over one million signatures were submitted in attempt to recall Governor Scott Walker.” If they had kept their mouths shut this might have been a Half True instead of a False. But the fact is, the “about 70,000 short” was relative in that it was 7 percent off the number of signatures they claimed to have submitted. As I point out, there are a number of “Mostly True” Republican claims that are off 15 percent. PolitiFact harshly discounts what should be a Mostly True to False because they contend the State Democratic Party responded this was an estimate, although I’m not buying PolitiFact's explanation of why they didn't consider it to be one.
(26) Lawrence O’Donnell, Liberal, Mostly False, Please Relief Me (3/10/12): “Critics called [the original G.I. Bill] welfare.” Back in 1947 there wasn’t such a thing in politics as “code words” and welfare was considered a good thing, it was really one prominent southern racist congressman's complaints about fearing it would result in negroes on relief. But PolitiFact just won’t go there, despite complaints from both O'Donnell and Rachel Maddow.
(25) Marco Rubio, Republican, Mostly True, The Unadmitted Majority (2/20/12): “The majority of Americans are conservatives.” PolitiFact uses a single Gallup Poll and a best guestimate this to a make a verifiable plurality a majority. But there are too many nuances (other polls) which dispute this and really make it an inconclusive Half True at best. (Note 2/24/12: PolitiFact revised this to Half True.)
(24) Barack Obama, Half True updated to Mostly True, Pink-Slipping PolitiFact (1/26/12): “In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005." I borrowed this one from a “Debunktion Junction” piece done on this PolitiFact ruling by Rachel Maddow on her nightly MSNBC show. It certainly didn’t deserve a Half True.
(23) State Democratic Party of Wisconsin, False, Raise Malaise (12/21/11): "Gov. Scott Walker received a $7,300 pay raise." Walker technically did get a congressionally-mandated raise over his predecessor as he started office--so does that make this claim false?
(22) Jim Jordan, Republican, Mostly True, Deficit Obfuscation (12/4/11): “President Obama's recent plan to cut $100 million of waste within his administration won't actually save money because he's going to spend it elsewhere.” It’s not $100 million, but that’s beside the point. Spending it elsewhere still means not charging the credit card for both.
(21) Newt Gingrich, Republican, Half True, Poor is More (12/1/11): Under President Barack Obama, "more Americans are in poverty ... than at any time since the Census Bureau began keeping records on it over 50 years ago." According to Newt’s party, however, poverty has a different definition than the one we’re used to.
(20) Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, Half True, Pelosi and the Polls (11/17/11): “in April of 2009 ... the Democrats were in control and the congressional (approval) rating was 40 percent.” It was closer than what the ruling led you to believe, and her underlying argument was strong.
(19) Rick Perry, Republican, Half True, Rick Perry’s Budget Bliss (11/16/11): “We cut a record $15 Billion from our state budget” and why it’s a Texas Tall Tale.
(18) Rachel Maddow, Liberal, Mostly False: Flat Tax Fever (11/8/11): The Rick Perry Tax Plan means huge tax cuts for the rich (True) and big tax increases for "everybody else" (not completely True)--but does that mean she deserves a Mostly False? [Added 11/8/11]
(17) Michele Bachmann, Republican, True: Slam Bam Bachmann! (10/25/11): How to award an undeserved True to Michele Bachmann in 240 words or less by completely ignoring the underlying argument. [Added 11/2/11]
(16) PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Liberal*, Half True: Politi-Fishing PETA (9/6/11): Are sea creatures animals? Does PETA showcase sea creatures on their website? Should they be counted shrimp by shrimp when included on a list of how many animals Bill Clinton spared by turning Vegan? Find out. *I'm calling PETA liberal because I've seen and heard Rush Limbaugh disparage them a number of times. [Added 9/7/11]
(15) Harry Reid, Democrat, Pants on Fire: Lagging Behind (9/4/11): PolitiFact awards its worst of the worst, all the while using a single data source, and ignoring the lagging indicator inherent in unemployment rates as well as Reid's underlying argument that tax cuts don't work in stimulating the economy. [Added 9/4/11]
(14) PolitiFact's introduction of the Truth Index compelled me to re-invent my Politi-Score as one encompassing other fact-checking websites. In the process, I came across a PolitiFact ruling much more forgiving of a statement by Michele Bachmann than one of its co-fact-checkers, the highly esteemed FactCheck.org. [Added 8/5/11]
(9-10-11-12-13) This is a combined review of five PolitiFact rulings on the statements of such notables as Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman, and Tim Pawlenty during the month of June, with a little help from PolitiFact readers. [Added 7/6/11]
(8) Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (Pants on Fire!): RyanCare: Pay or Die (4/28/11): There are many others who also believe that the Pants on Fire ruling was not quite correct. This post starts with links to a list of those who were critical of this ruling and give their case as to why. I've since added them to this page. [Added 4/29/11]
(7) Ed Schultz (False), Lawrence O’Donnell (True) --Wage Deductions Gone Nuclear (3/30/11): A comparison of two PolitiFact rulings on these two liberal pundits found that both numbers/percentages claims made no sense when it came one being True and one being False.
(6) Corrine Brown, Democrat, False-- Railroaded in Florida (3/11/11): About the number of jobs high-speed rail would have brought to Florida. Her number of jobs (60,000) may be off but didn't merit a False.
(5) Matthew Dowd, Republican, Half True-- Statistics, Damnable Lies and Lies (1/12/11): “Barack Obama is in an economy that's only worsened since he's been president of the United States.” More like Barely True.
(4) Sherrod Brown, Democrat, False—Tax Break Mistakes (12/16/10): “The tax cut deal is giving $700 billion to millionaires and billionaires.” PolitiFact calculates it to $327 billion based on faulty assumptions.
(3) Allen West, Republican, Half True—Denying the Profiling (12/12/10): “We [the U.S.] had the opportunity with Israel coming and talking to us about improving our security screening procedures, and we turned them down.” Allen West is using code words, and PolitiFact didn’t notice. There was no “opportunity” because of this, so it should have been ruled less than Half True.
(2) Michael Steele, Republican, Half True—Steele-ing a Half True from PolitiFact (12/4/10): “I have won more elections than any chairman since 1938.” Underlying argument ignored; should be Barely True.
(1) John Boehner, Republican, True--John Boehner and Finance Reform (11/30/10): "The new financial services law requires 358 regulatory filings." Source is suspect and PF didn't consider redundancies.
(1) John Boehner, Republican, True--John Boehner and Finance Reform (11/30/10): "The new financial services law requires 358 regulatory filings." Source is suspect and PF didn't consider redundancies.
