HOW DOES POLITIFACT GEORGIA’S TRUTH-O-METER WORK?
Our goal is to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution fact-check statements by local, state and national political leaders, including lobbyists and interest groups. We then rate them on the AJC Truth-O-Meter.
To fact-check the claim, reporters first contact the speaker to verify the statement. Next, the research begins. Reporters consult a variety of sources, including industry and academic experts. This research can take hours or a few days or even longer, depending on the claim. Reporters then compile the research into story form and include a recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling.
The fact check then moves on to a three-member panel of editors who debate the statement and the reporter’s recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling. The panel votes on a final ruling; majority prevails.
The U.S. government is partially shut down, but that hasn’t stopped the political rhetoric coming out of Washington about the shuttering of our federal government, or its causes.
PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia have closely monitored the comments coming from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
We thought it would be a good time to review some of our fact checks on the issue and what got us here in the first place.
Abbreviated versions of the fact checks are below. Full versions can be found at: www.politifact.com.
To comment on our rulings or suggest one of your own, go to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/politifact.georgia). You can also find us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/politifactga).
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President Barack Obama: "The United States Senate — Democrats and Republicans — (voted) to keep our government open." — Sept. 27, 2013, in remarks at the White House
PolitiFact examined the president’s claim in conjunction with a similar, but opposite, claim by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz about how the parties broke on key votes in the federal funding conflict.
Obama’s comment came shortly after the Senate passed a bill to keep federal funding flowing but without a provision that would defund Obama’s health care law.
By the most literal reading, Obama was incorrect. The final measure passed by a 54-42 margin, with two Republicans not voting. All 54 who voted for the measure were either Democrats or independents who caucus with the Democrats.
The White House pointed not to the final vote but rather to the preliminary vote to proceed to debate. Twenty-five Republicans voted for that.
But experts said that when analyzing Obama’s comment, it’s more important to note that not a single Republican ultimately voted “to keep our government open” when the chamber took up the bill itself.
We rated the president’s claim Mostly False.
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U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla.: If the government shuts down, "all military personnel will continue to serve and accrue pay but will not actually be paid until appropriations are available." — Sept. 20, 2013, in a House address
Though Young supported a House measure to defund Obamacare, he urged the House to avoid a government shutdown, reminding fellow members of how that affects military pay. Young, the longest-serving Republican in Congress, called the House plan to fund the government only if the Affordable Care Act is defunded a “painful and inefficient way to govern.”
A Defense Department official said the department’s plan will be similar to plans from past threats of government shutdowns. That means the military would delay paychecks. In April 2011, the department announced that the military would continue to work but would be paid retroactively. The new government shutdown means military members should have received their Oct. 1 paychecks on time, but Oct. 15 paychecks would be delayed. Civilians who work for the Defense Department wouldn’t fare as well, based on the 2011 report. Many would go on unpaid furlough during a shutdown.
We rated Young’s claim True.
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U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.: "The American people support defunding Obamacare and oppose shutting down the government." — Sept. 20, 2013, in a press release
Rubio makes it sound like he has support from the public for his main objective, which is defunding Obamacare. He doesn’t.
When asking the public about Obamacare, word choice matters, and “defund” leads to a different result than “repeal.” When poll respondents are asked if they favor “defunding” Obamacare, they oppose that, experts said. But when respondents are asked if they support repealing the law, they support some type of repeal.
Americans think the law spends too much money, but they don’t want to cut it back to zero funding. The public is in the middle, which is to keep some and get rid of some. Neither party is giving them exactly what it is they want, an expert said.
On his second point, Rubio is right that most people tell pollsters they don’t want a government shutdown. But both sides in the budget battle in Congress say they don’t want a shutdown.
We rated Rubio’s claim Mostly False.
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U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.: "Obamacare … carries on even under a government shutdown." — Aug. 4, 2013, in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation"
Some Republicans like Paul Ryan warned that a government shutdown is a bad idea and won’t work anyway. During this interview, Ryan, who is also the House budget chairman, noted that Obamacare is an entitlement like Medicare and Social Security that carries on even under a government shutdown.
With entitlements, any American who meets the criteria for receiving the benefit will keep receiving payments even in the absence of congressional appropriations.
The health care law, for example, creates online insurance marketplaces, and it offers subsidies to help pay the premiums for those plans. The subsidies fit the definition of an entitlement most directly because they are provided in the form of tax credits.
For various other reasons, most key parts of the law should continue unimpeded. But shutdowns are rare and unpredictable, so we can’t be entirely sure that there will be no major interruptions.
We rated Ryan’s claim Mostly True.
