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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 a 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 veteran editors who debate the statement and the reporter’s recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling. The panel votes on a final ruling; majority prevails.
The parade of presidential candidates shows no real sign of ending.
The list of GOP candidates for 2016 was up to 13 by press time. Last week, we fact checked a statement from Donald Trump’s announcement speech. We also continued our series on some of the presidential hopefuls who’ve taken past spins on the Truth-O-Meter. (That continues tomorrow with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas). We also truth-tested claims about state water use, guns and higher education.
Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below.
Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/
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Donald Trump on Tuesday, June 16th, 2015 in his presidential announcement speech
“The last quarter, it was just announced, our gross domestic product … was below zero. Who ever heard of this? It’s never below zero.”
During his presidential announcement speech, real estate developer and television personality Donald Trump took on many, many targets, including economic growth under President Barack Obama.
“The last quarter, it was just announced, our gross domestic product — a sign of strength, right? But not for us. It was below zero. Who ever heard of this? It’s never below zero.”
First of all, his claim wasn’t phased correctly. He meant the growth in the GDP, not the real gross domestic product, which was in the millions of dollars. (Trump’s staff did not return inquiries from PolitiFact.)
The real annualized change in gross domestic product during the first quarter of 2015 was indeed negative — it fell by 0.7 percent. But “never below zero.” That’s way off.
Negative GDP growth — in other words, GDP shrinkage — from quarter to quarter is one of the hallmarks of a recession. And there have been lots of recessions over the years — 11 since World War II.
The growth in the gross domestic product has been below zero 42 times over 68 years. That’s a lot more than “never.”
We rated Trump’s claim Pants on Fire!
Hank Johnson on Monday, June 15th, 2015 in a House floor speech
“Two weeks ago, a man entered the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta, Georgia, carrying a loaded AR-15 automatic weapon with an extended-capacity, 100-round magazine.
Jim Cooley’s decision to carry his AR-15 rifle fully loaded with a 100-round drum into Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport last month revived a Georgia congressman’s efforts to restrict weapons in airports nationwide.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, cited the incident in again proposing the Airport Security Act. That measure would ban loaded weapons outside airports’ security areas. Federal law already bans carrying weapons through airport security checkpoints.
“Two weeks ago, a man entered the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta, Georgia, carrying a loaded AR-15 automatic weapon with an extended capacity, 100-round magazine,” Johnson said in a House floor speech June 15.
The problem: Johnson misidentified Cooley’s weapon as a an automatic rather than semiautomatic weapon.
Ben Waldon, his director of intergovernmental affairs, told us the congressman conceded he misspoke. Waldon added that the 100-round drum also was a concern, regardless of the status of the weapon.
Since Johnson had the gun wrong and magazine right, we rated Johnson’s statement Half True.
Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, May 10th, 2015 in a news report
Between 1980 and 2010, water usage in Georgia dropped even as the state’s population grew.
A seemingly surprising headline in the Athens Banner-Herald read: “Water use in Georgia declines, even as population grows.”
The trend, the May 10, 2015 story said, was a 30 percent drop in water usage in the three decades between 1980 and 2010, the last year that federal data was available.
Suffice it to say the claim whet our appetite for more info.We reached out to the U.S. Geological Survey, which has a mandate to file a water usage report for the nation every five years.
We learned: in 1980, Georgia sucked 6.7 billion gallons of water from its rivers and aquifers every day. In 2010, it sipped 4.7 billion gallons every day — or 30 percent less in three decades.
Census figures, meanwhile, show the number of people living in Georgia over that period exploded, from 5.46 million in 1980 to 9.69 million in 2010. That’s a 77 percent increase. Given the well-known water woes in the Peach State, how is that possible?
Conservation plays some role. But the biggest factor was the change in how thermoelectric plants across the state operated, converting from r plants converted from to natural gas from coal-fired, which needs plenty of water to cool.
We rated the statement True.
John Brown on April 14th, 2015
Out of the 16 states that are part of the Southern Regional Education Board, Georgia has the seventh lowest tuition and fees for four-year institutions.
Students heading off to the state's 30 colleges and universities this fall will be paying tuition that's up 2.5 percent to 9 percent, based on a vote by the Board of Regents in April.
John Brown, the university system's vice chancellor for fiscal affairs, said Georgia still has "some of the lowest tuition rates among our peer state public higher education systems."
“For example, out of the 16 states that make up the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), our university system is the seventh lowest in tuition and fees for four-year institutions,” Brown said at the Regents meeting in April 14.
Brown based his statement on an SREB report looking at 2013-2014 median annual tuition and fees for full-time, in-state undergraduate students at public, four-year colleges and universities in the 16 states.
Tuition increases since then may have changed the landscape. But the report provided tuition in Georgia in comparison to its peer states, and Brown quoted it accurately.
We rate the statement True.
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