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 government remained shut down last week, so PolitiFact Georgia and the AJC Truth-O-Meter decided to check some claims about how we got to this place in history.
Our PolitiFact national colleagues researched a claim by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia about the history of government shutdowns. They also examined a claim by U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia about the financial impact of the federal health care law, known as Obamacare. On the local front, we investigated the tenure of an Atlanta city councilwoman for a claim about her public service. And we revisited a health care tax expanded by state lawmakers this year to determine whether it was legally passed.
Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below. Full versions can be found at: www.politifact.com/georgia/.
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Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich: Shutdowns are “a normal part of the constitutional process,” with 12 shutdowns under Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill and two during his own speakership.
Gingrich, who represented Georgia as a Republican congressman, made this claim last month during a segment on CNN’s “Crossfire” program, which he co-hosts. In 1995 and 1996, when Gingrich was speaker, he was involved in the two most recent government shutdowns before the one we’re experiencing now.
Shutdowns happen when appropriations bills expire and Congress and the president can’t agree on new ones.
Gingrich is right on the number, but the shutdowns under O’Neill, when Ronald Reagan was president, were quite different in reach and duration than either of the ones under Gingrich or the current one.
Also, just because shutdowns have been relatively common doesn’t mean they are the way the Founders intended government to operate. The normal situation has been for agencies to be funded through appropriations bills, not closed because of the lack of those bills.
We rated Gingrich’s claim Half True.
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U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss: With Obamacare, “we’re fixing to get hit with the biggest entitlement program the American taxpayers have ever seen.”
This recent claim also originated during a discussion on CNN’s “Crossfire” about President Barack Obama’s health care law. Chambliss said the nation simply can’t afford the law’s ongoing financial entitlements, particularly for subsidizing health insurance for Americans who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
“Entitlements” typically refer to programs deemed mandatory by the government. Measured by the most obvious standard — whether there’s ever been a bigger entitlement program — Obamacare is hardly the biggest. Over the next 10 years, Obamacare ranks no higher than fourth, trailing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
If you use a less obvious standard — restricting it to the initial projected costs for the first 10 years of any entitlement program — Obamacare does rank as the biggest as a percentage of GDP, though that’s shaped by differences in population growth and medical inflation that make comparisons questionable.
We rated Chambliss’ claim Mostly False.
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Dalton Mayor David Pennington: Any state tax law has to start in the House, and the renewal of the state hospital bed tax this year started in the Senate, which is unconstitutional.
Pennington is one of the GOP candidates challenging incumbent Nathan Deal for governor. He made this claim last month during comments to a tea party group in west Georgia. There the mayor detailed some of Deal’s missteps, including pushing for a flawed tax bill.
Our research found that Pennington was correct in his claim that tax laws must begin in the House of Representatives. But because the “bed tax” bill called for a state agency — and not lawmakers — to levy the fee, a legislative law opinion deemed the approval process acceptable. Also, challenges to the bill’s constitutionality would be difficult because the Georgia Supreme Court has not overturned legislation that has been passed by both houses and signed into law.
He may not agree with how the bill was passed or how the hospital levy was classified, but the law appears not to be on his side.
We rated Pennington’s claim Mostly False.
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Bill Powell: Says “(t)his 12 year council ‘seat-warmer’ has never chaired, vice chaired or led a single committee meeting.”
A PolitiFact Georgia reader saw this claim this week in Powell’s campaign flier and asked us to investigate. Powell is a candidate for the Atlanta City Council, vying for the seat currently held by Carla Smith.
The flier makes Smith appear to be a do-nothing councilwoman who needs to go, but the facts tell a vastly different story. Our research found that Smith has chaired the Committee on Council, a committee that looked into the city’s policy on street name changes, the zoning committee and the utilities committee.
Powell told us he was given inaccurate information from someone at City Hall when he went there to research Smith’s positions. He apologized and said he planned to issue a retraction.
Powell could have done more research, such as reading Smith’s biography on the City Council’s website. It has information about committees she has chaired. He apologized several times for the error.
We rated Powell’s claim False.
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