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 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.
PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia last week looked at candidate claims in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, which is expected to be one of the year’s most closely followed political contests.
We also fact-checked claims by conservative columnist Bill Kristol, who told a national audience that President Barack Obama’s position has evolved on government spying programs, and Glenn Beck’s claim about wedding cakes and gay rights.
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Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below.
Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/.
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens: “(Jack Kingston) had more earmarks at one time than every member of the Georgia delegation put together.”
Broun spokeswoman Christine Hardman said the congressman examined several databases created by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group, to gather information to support his claim about Kingston, a rival for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.
The nonprofit said Broun made a mistake in his interview with the Tea Party News Network.
“What Congressman Broun should have clarified was that at one point,
Congressman Kingston had more earmarks than the entire Republican Georgia
delegation combined, ” Hardman told us via email.
Broun gave anyone who viewed his interview the wrong impression of Kingston’s record on earmarks.
We rated Broun’s statement False.
Bill Kristol: President Barack Obama “came into office very concerned about” wiretappings but “then he became president of the United States, he got all the briefings … (and) he decided … the balance is probably pretty appropriately struck.”
We wanted to know whether the conservative columnist is correct in saying Obama’s position has evolved on government spying programs.
The New York Times in 2005 exposed a Bush executive order allowing the National Security Agency to tap Americans’ international phone calls and emails in an effort to track terrorists without court-approved search warrants.The Senate subsequently voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act at that time and Obama, then a U.S. senator, decried the administration’s “fishing expedition” of Americans’ every-day electronic records in a floor speech.
But he voted in 2008 for legislation that essentially legalized warrantless wiretapping. Of late, the president has defended ongoing, recently exposed confidential surveillance programs.
We rated Kristol’s statement Mostly True.
U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger: “More Americans believe the moon landing was fake than believe Obamacare is affordable.”
Graves campaign spokesman Tim Baker sent us two polls to support the Georgia congressman’s point, made in a tweet Dec. 19.
The first poll, by Public Policy Polling, a Raleigh, N.C.-based operation, asked: “Do you believe the moon landing was faked, or not?” Seven percent of respondents answered they believed it was faked; 84 percent did not believe it was faked, while 9 percent were not sure.
The second, by The Washington Post and ABC News, sought to find out what Americans believe would be the impact of the health care law on their wallets. They specifically asked: “Do you think your health care costs (are increasing) as a result of these changes to the health care system, (are decreasing), or are remaining about the same?” Five percent said they expected their costs to decrease. Forty-seven percent said the costs would increase. Forty-four percent believe their costs will remain about the same. The remaining 4 percent had no opinion.
One problem for Graves is the ABC News/Washington Post poll doesn’t actually use the word “affordable.” There is a difference between saying you believe something will in increase or decrease as opposed to whether a buyer considers something affordable.
If you look solely at the percentage of respondents who say their health care costs will decrease and those in the PPP poll who say they believe the moon landing was faked, the congressman’s claim doesn’t seem out of this world. The numbers are close, though, and within the margin of error.
The poll also clearly shows a lot of people think Obamacare will make health insurance more expensive and a relatively few think that costs will come down.
Graves has a point here. But it needs a lot of context to be properly understood.
We rated Graves’ claim Half True.
Glenn Beck: Bakers are being forced to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples.
There have been a few legal battles recently involving wedding vendors who refuse to provide their services to same-sex couples on religious grounds. We wanted to investigate whether people are forced to make wedding cakes against their will and what those cases mean more broadly.
What we found is there have been disputes between businesses and gay and lesbian couples over wedding photographs, flowers and cakes. In one recent court case, a judge ruled that a cake shop must “cease and desist from discriminating” against gay couples or face financial penalties.
But laws that protect customers from being discriminated against because of sexual orientation do not exist for the whole country.
Beck ventured into cake talk while discussing the recent “Duck Dynasty” uproar. He should have clarified that many states do not have the same protections for sexual orientation in their public accommodation laws.
We rated Beck’s claim Mostly True.
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