Monday, October 06, 2008

Truth in Politics

Seriously, the title of this blog post is either an oxymoron or a bit of jest on my part. You decide for yourself. However, my fellow human beings regardless of your country of origin, we have this nasty habit of believing what we read, hear, or just know in our hearts. Checking out the facts and fallacies is often ignored whether it is due to lack of interest, time, or resources. Yet, the next time the subject arises, we add our 2 cents, 2 forints, 2 pence, or whatever to the conversation as if we were aware of the facts of the matter. To aid those who want to know more of the Truth with a capital T, I have here the link to the facts of who lied and who told the Truth at the Vice Presidential debate. Now it is up to you! I was going to put it here, but it was way too long, but here is a summary.

Biden and Palin debated, and both mangled some facts.
  • Palin mistakenly claimed that troop levels in Iraq had returned to “pre-surge” levels. Levels are gradually coming down but current plans would have levels higher than pre-surge numbers through early next year, at least.
  • Palin repeated a false claim that Obama once voted in favor of higher taxes on “families” making as little as $42,000 a year. He did not. The budget bill in question called for an increase only on singles making that amount, but a family of four would not have been affected unless they made at least $90,000 a year.
  • Biden wrongly claimed that McCain “voted the exact same way” as Obama on the budget bill that contained an increase on singles making as little as $42,000 a year. McCain voted against it. Biden was referring to an amendment that didn't address taxes at that income level.
  • Palin claimed McCain’s health care plan would be “budget neutral,” costing the government nothing. Independent budget experts estimate McCain's plan would cost tens of billions each year, though details are too fuzzy to allow for exact estimates.
  • Biden wrongly claimed that McCain had said "he wouldn't even sit down" with the government of Spain. Actually, McCain didn't reject a meeting, but simply refused to commit himself one way or the other during an interview.
  • Palin wrongly claimed that “millions of small businesses” would see tax increases under Obama’s tax proposals. At most, several hundred thousand business owners would see increases.
This came from the link below with further analysis and more: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_biden-palin_debate.html

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