PolitiFact Georgia last week reviewed claims ranging from voting rights to public communication, running them all through the AJC Truth-O-Meter to parse the facts.
We took another look at the new Atlanta Falcons stadium deal — which got final approval last week. We researched a claim about complying with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court could be ruling on this summer. And we looked at statements reviewed by our PolitiFact colleagues involving tax delinquents in the Obama administration as well as a road-weary claim about free-loading foreign students.
Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below. Full versions can be found at: www.politifact.com/georgia/.
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William Perry: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed held not one conversation with the public about the new Falcons stadium project.
Perry, an ethics watchdog as director of Common Cause Georgia, criticized Reed for saying there would be a “big public conversation” about the new Atlanta Falcons stadium project, and then, he claimed, not holding one public conversation.
It is typically the legislative branch of government that initiates public meetings — in this case the Atlanta City Council — and not the executive branch, or mayor’s office. There were meetings; most of them were open to the public and many were televised and streamed on the city’s website. And Reed or at least one of his senior staffers did attend stadium meetings held by the City Council and other city entities.
But the mayor did not initiate any of those meetings. And Reed did not host any town hall meetings in the communities that will feel the greatest impact from the stadium.
Perry has a point. But Perry’s statement needed a lot of context to be fully understood.
We rated his claim Half True.
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Chain email: College students “who are NOT U.S. Citizens and who get the PELL Grant” plan to return to their home countries after getting free gas cards and child care.
This claim was included last month in a chain email supposedly from a Florida teacher. Supposedly one of the teacher’s students from the Dominican Republic didn’t want a job after finishing her college program because she was returning to her home country. The email said the student received several types of public assistance.
Initial research found that this chain email has had a long life — it was debunked in fact checks by Snopes.com and Factcheck.org in 2008.
The chain email paints a picture of free-loading foreigners. While green card residents can get Pell Grants, those people are generally legal permanent residents — not people looking to return to their own countries.
And there’s no free gas cards or child care.
We rated the chain email’s claim Pants On Fire!
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U.S. Rep. John Lewis: “Opponents of Section 5 (of the Voting Rights Act) complain of state expense, yet their only cost is the paper, postage and manpower required to send copies of legislation to the federal government for review.”
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires certain jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination, including Georgia, to obtain preclearance from the federal government to implement elections changes.
Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia and civil rights pioneer, said in a Washington Post opinion column that opponents of this section are wrong when they say adhering to the requirements can be expensive.
For administrative reviews on minor issues, Lewis appears to be correct. The Justice Department provides an administrative process for preclearence submissions that is designed to cut litigation costs. And most of the covered states choose this option. But there is also another more costly option for states that involves taking the case through the court system, which is likely to require significant amounts of money in legal fees.
Lewis’ claim is partially accurate. But it leaves out important details about the second review method’s cost for more complex elections changes.
For this missing information, we rated Lewis’ claim Half True.
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Bloggers: Forty aides who serve President Barack Obama “owe $333,485 in back taxes.”
This claim, which circulated in the blogosphere and in some media reports, came just in time for the income tax filing period.
The Internal Revenue Service is required to provide annual reports on the tax delinquency of federal employees. And agency data affirm that the claim is factually accurate.
Altogether, these taxes owed by all civilian employees was just over $1 billion.
This claim, when presented as an Obama White House phenomenon, omits pertinent facts. It fails to mention that this is neither new nor unique to this president or this branch of government.
The claim was accurate but leaves out some details necessary to get the full picture.
We rated this claim Mostly True.
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