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.
With the May 20 primaries fast approaching, candidates, their supporters and opponents are racing to get their messages out in fliers and radio and television ads. The Truth-O-Meter is working overtime to check the claims and counterclaims.
Last week, we looked at what folks were saying about two U.S. Senate candidates, Republican David Perdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn. State Sen. Don Balfour faced a truth test on his statement that he’s the only senator to opt out of the state pension plan. We also examined a statement by another newsmaker, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory.
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Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below.
Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/.
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State Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville: “I am the only senator who turned down the state pension plan for part-time legislators.”
Balfour sent out a flier recently that, among other things, declared that he was the only one of Georgia’s 56 state senators who opted not to participate in the state pension plan.
We confirmed with officials at the state Employee Retirement System that they had indeed told Balfour that.
Balfour said this was his rationale: “Nobody in the private sector gets a guaranteed retirement plan for a part-time job, and neither should a state legislator.”
Subsequent to giving the information to Balfour, ERS officials said they discovered that another state senator also had opted out of the pension plan. But Balfour put out what he believed to be true, and ERS officials said he remains one of only a small number of Senate and House members who aren’t in the pension plan.
We rated Balfour’s statement as True.
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Ending Spending Action Fund: Georgia Democratic Senate hopeful Michelle Nunn supports higher taxes.
Nunn, the daughter of former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, is vying to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. She’s under attack in an ad from the Ending Spending Action Fund for, the group claims, supporting Obamacare and higher taxes.
“Michelle Nunn, the last thing Georgia taxpayers need,” the narrator says at the end of the ad.
Nunn’s positions are more nuanced than the ad suggests. Nunn has said several times that she favors a revenue-neutral tax approach, which her campaign notes is a position some major conservative groups say is not a tax increase. Her campaign also says it’s odd to say Nunn supports raising taxes because Obamacare is already a law.
We believe the statement in the ad about Nunn oversimplifies her position and needs a lot of context.
We rated it Mostly False.
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“The David Perdue Files” website: Georgia Republican Senate hopeful David Perdue supports Common Core.
Perdue is now the subject of a website attack.
It’s called “The David Perdue Files,” and it accuses the political newcomer of being a RINO — Republican in Name Only — with “liberal positions and establishment ties.”
“David Perdue supports Common Core,” it says.
Perdue has said in several interviews that he believes in the initial intent of Common Core as a means of states setting their own educational goals by what was proposed by the National Governors Association. Perdue, though, also has made it very clear he has soured on the plan.
We rated the website attack on Perdue as Mostly False.
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Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory: The Cathedral of Christ the King is one of the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s largest and fastest-growing parishes.
Gregory got an earful from some Catholics — and unwelcome national attention — about his new 6,196-square-foot, $2.2 million residence on Habersham Road in Buckhead. He moved to the mansion in January, but, because of the backlash, now plans to sell and more elsewhere.
In explaining part of what sparked the move, he said the Cathedral of Christ the King had a problem, albeit a happy one.
It is “one of our largest, most vibrant and fastest-growing parishes — but it is landlocked,” Gregory said.
According to the Official Catholic Directory, the Cathedral of Christ the King was the second-largest church in the archdiocese in 1997, based on the number of families, or households. It had 3,505 at the time.
Fast-forward to 2013, and the cathedral on Peachtree Road in Buckhead was the archdiocese’s third-largest parish, with 4,842 families. The data we were provided allowed for only limited comparison and the information could not be independently verified.
We rate the archbishop’s statement Mostly True.
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