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 Truth-O-Meter was smoking last week as fact-checkers delved into a claims about the effects of marijuana use on IQ and about gun violence at houses of worship.
PolitiFact also looked at another attempt by a candidate to draw a connection between an opponent and the Obama White House.
Fact-checkers also examined a claim that living in the new city of Brookhaven is paying off for homeowners.
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Gov. Nathan Deal: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jason Carter has “gotten David Axelrod to come down and be his campaign adviser
During a radio interview July 17, Deal said Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, is advising the campaign of his opponent, Carter.
Deal was wrong.
Carter’s campaign has paid nearly $60,000 this year to the nationally known political consulting firm AKPD Message and Media. Axelrod founded the company but sold it in 2009, before he went to the White House with Obama.
Deal spokeswoman Jen Talaber said the campaign was not aware that Axelrod had sold the company. She said it was an “honest mistake.”
We rated Deal’s statement as False.
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Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus: “The best evidence is that you lose — if you use marijuana as a teenager regularly — eight IQ points.”
About two dozen states have moved to loosen the reins on marijuana. The legal ground is shifting and a New York Times Sunday editorial tried to shake things up a bit further. The paper’s editorial board said the federal government should be silent on marijuana and let states decide for themselves.
Marcus said she was OK with letting states experiment. But in a discussion on NBC’s Meet the Press on July 27, Marcus said she was against letting states “go the full legalization route.”
“We do not know the outcome except that the best evidence is that you lose — if you use marijuana as a teenager regularly — eight IQ points.”
We didn’t hear from Marcus, but we’re pretty sure she is citing a 2012 study from Duke University researchers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Duke researchers found kids who began smoking pot weekly before they turned 18 showed an average drop of about eight IQ points.
An equally reputable analysis found that IQ loss could be tied to household incomes as much as marijuana use. Clearly, a scientific consensus has yet to emerge.
We rated the claim by Marcus Half True.
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The city of Brookhaven: Brookhaven homeowners pay hundreds of dollars less in property taxes compared with owners of the same-value homes in unincorporated DeKalb County.
Brookhaven became Georgia’s newest city in December 2012, and supporters of the move promised a local government closer to residents and their needs.
Last month, leaders in Brookhaven mailed out a flier to property owners, touting the “facts” about property taxes there. Included was information showing the taxes on a $200,000 home in Brookhaven are $260.84 less than the same house in unincorporated DeKalb County.
But the tax figure was off.
It didn’t include the 1.67 mill tax levied to cover the cost of new parks and libraries that Brookhaven residents must pay because they were part of unincorporated DeKalb when the money was borrowed. It also calculated the wrong credit DeKalb gives to all property owners on their county taxes.
Adding back those elements, a homeowner with property valued at $200,000 in Brookhaven would save $58.52, assuming both a frozen assessment and homestead exemption. The tax bill for a home worth $500,000 would be $110.93 lower.
Add in the fact that Brookhaven residents pay $12 more in stormwater fees than those in unincorporated DeKalb, and the final savings is less than $50 and $100, respectively, DeKalb Deputy Tax Commissioner Robert Goodman said.
“On the face of it, to say your property tax bill will be lower in Brookhaven is correct, but not nearly by the amounts stated,” Goodman said.
We rated the claim in the city flier Half True.
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Jerry Henry, executive director of GeorgiaCarry.org: Since 1999, 440 people have been killed in attacks on church property in the U.S.
House Bill 60 has cleared the way for Georgians to carry concealed weapons in several new venues. And it’s prompted some discussion about guns in places of worship.
Henry repeated a strikingly high and somewhat specific number: 440 people have been killed on church property in the U.S. since 1999.
Henry said he relied on two specific websites, www.CopandCross.org and www.CarlChin.com, for the statistic. He used the term church generically to cover all houses of worship.
But GeorgiaCarry.org’s claim could not be backed up with unimpeachable data elsewhere. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the majority of the 166 deaths that occurred at houses of worship between 2003 and 2011 were suicides. And that data cover only 17 states.
The claim includes some truth, but it gives the wrong impression.
We rated Henry’s statement as Mostly False.
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