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Truth-O-Meter rulings
The goal of the Truth-O-Meter is to reflect the relative accuracy of a statement.
The meter has six ratings, in decreasing level of truthfulness:
TRUE – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing.
MOSTLY TRUE – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.
HALF TRUE – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.
MOSTLY FALSE – The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.
FALSE – The statement is not accurate.
PANTS ON FIRE – The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.
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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.
Has Georgia Democratic Congressman John Barrow been a rubber stamp for President Barack Obama?
Can Chris Matthews really be right when he says Dick Cheney created ISIS?
Did U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Nunn spend most of her childhood in Georgia?
Do men get paid more than women for the exact same work?
Candidates are busy courting voters in advance of the November elections. And the pundits are pontificating on the latest of the world’s worries, so there’s no shortage of fodder for PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia’s fact-checkers.
Abbreviated versions of our recent fact checks are below.
Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/
Want to to comment on our rulings or suggest one of your own? Just go to our Facebook page (
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National Republican Congressional Committee on Monday, September 8th, 2014 in a campaign ad
“John Barrow voted with Obama 85 percent of the time.”
One of the biggest obstacles to a strong Democratic showing in the 2014 midterm elections is that approval ratings for President Barack Obama are mired in the 40 percent range — and even lower in many red states.
Because of this, it’s no surprise that the National Republican Congressional Committee — the House Republicans’ campaign arm — is creating ads that emphasize the degree to which vulnerable Democratic incumbents — including U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Georgia — have voted with Obama.
In 2010, according to the same CQ study, Barrow voted with Obama 83 percent of the time. But that dropped to 59 percent in 2011, and fell even further to 28 percent in 2012 and 35 percent in 2013. (Data for 2014 has not yet been posted.)
Clearly, the 85 percent figure for voting with Obama was a more attractive one for the NRCC to highlight. But it amounts to cherry-picking. Democrats could easily run an ad saying Barrow voted with Obama 28 percent of the time and be just as correct (if not more so, since the data backing up the Democratic assertion is more recent).
The statement about Barrow’s voting record contains some element of truth, but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.
We rated the statement by the National Republican Congressional Committee Mostly False.
Invitation to fundraiser for Nunn for Senate
Michelle Nunn “spent most of her childhood” in Perry, Ga.
Former President Bill Clinton was in Atlanta recently, at the home of R&B singer Usher, raising money for Democrat Michelle Nunn’s U.S. Senate bid.
The invitation to the event invoked a small Southern town to tell Nunn’s story.
“Daughter of Sam and Colleen Nunn,” the bio section read, “Michelle was born in 1966 in Macon, near her grandparents’ farm in Perry, Ga., where she spent most of her childhood.”
Nunn herself has acknowledged her family moved away when her father was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 and she was 6. And her campaign has conceded there was an error on the invites.
We rated the invite claim Mostly False.
Connie Stokes on Wednesday, August 27th, 2014 in a fundraising email
Women still do not get paid as much as men, even “for the same work, period.”
Connie Stokes, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, recently referenced an issue that has tripped up candidates all year: the pay gap between men and women.
“After serving in the state Senate for 10 years, it saddens me that women still do not get paid as much as men,” Stokes wrote.
“There appears to be some discrepancy about the difference in the amount of money women are paid compared to men,” she continued. “You know It does not matter what the difference is, women are paid less than men for the same work, period. “
Experts agree there is a gender-based wage gap. Looking at weekly wages, a 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics report found women earned 81 percent of men’s wages for all occupations Yet differences in life choices — such as occupational choices and hours worked — can make simple comparisons tricky.
The gap can narrow, for instance, based on education level and specific jobs.
Stokes’ claim is accurate on one level. But a lot of context is needed to really understand what is going on.
We rated Stokes’ claim Half True.
Chris Matthews on Wednesday, September 10th, 2014 in a broadcast on MSNBC
Dick Cheney “de-Ba’athisized the Iraqi government and created ISIS.”
After President Barack Obama’s address on ISIS on Sept. 10, Hardball host Chris Matthews leveled this dig at former Vice President Dick Cheney, a major backer of the original invasion of Iraq.
“Do not listen to Dick Cheney,” Matthews said. “He’s the one that created al-Qaida by taking over the holy land in Saudi Arabia. He’s the one that de-Ba’athisized the Iraqi government and created ISIS.”
We set aside the reference to Saudi Arabia and decided to take a closer look at the link between Cheney, ISIS and Iraq.
We found that Cheney played a key role in creating the circumstances that led to the formation of ISIS. Former Ba’athists provide important military ISIS leadership, as they did in the first few years after the invasion when they joined forces with the group that preceded ISIS, al-Qaida in Iraq.
But many of those same Ba’athists later turned against al-Qaida in Iraq. They shifted back into the orbit of what became ISIS due to the repressive policies under Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki.
The causal link is too distant to say Cheney created ISIS. His decisions contributed to the group’s formation, but not more than that.
We rated the claim by Matthews Mostly False.
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