The Truth-o-Meter says: Pants on Fire! | Cathie Adams, who chairs Texas GOP, says Bill White supports "ObamaCare socialized medicine plan" and jobs-killing pollution cap-and-trade legislation

We conclude our trifecta of Truth-O-Meter rulings on a February fund-raising letter sent by Texas GOP chair Cathie Adams. She levelled six charges against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White including these pops: "He supports the ‘ObamaCare’ socialized medicine plan, as well as ‘Cap and Trade’ legislation that would kill thousands of Texas jobs.” Socialist? Job-killer? We decided to test the politically potent charges. (We deal with the rest of Adams' letter in separate Truth-O-Meter items.) On Adams’ claim that White supports the “‘ObamaCare’ socialized medicine plan,” the Republican Party initially referred us to an August article in the El Paso ...

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The Truth-o-Meter says: False | GOP Chair Cathie Adams says Bill White gave sanctuary to illegal immigrants as mayor of Houston

Republicans had former Houston Mayor Bill White in their sights well before he won the Democratic nod for governor this month. In February, Cathie Adams, who chairs the Republican Party of Texas, distributed a fund-raising letter calling White an extreme liberal with the kind of record only a Chicago politician — like President Barack Obama — could admire. Her letter levels six charges. For this ruling , we're zeroing in on the one that gave us the biggest workout (and we address her other statements in separate Truth-O-Meter items.) Adams wrote: “Bill ...

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Barely True | Cathie Adams, chair of Texas GOP, says Bill White spent Houston billions into debt as crime soared and he backed gun control

In a February fund-raising letter, the Texas GOP’s chairwoman, Cathie Adams, calls Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White an extreme liberal with the kind of record only a Chicago politician — like President Barack Obama — could admire. Her letter levels six charges against the former Houston mayor, too many for us to cover in a single PolitiFact Texas item so we've split them into three Truth-O-Meter rulings. For this one, we'll focus on the opening part of Adams' blast: “Bill White spent his city billions of dollars into debt (and) saw crime rates soar while be backed gun control." Goodness. ...

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After spending most of Wednesday gathering public comment, the Texas State Board of Education began hashing out how history, government and economics are taught in Texas public schools.The board's efforts to revise social studies curriculum standards had drawn national attention, from the Fox News Channel in particular. On Wednesday morning's broadcast of "Fox & Friends," co-anchor Gretchen Carlson sounded scandalized by what the network dubbed the "Texas Textbook Wars.""Stage set for a bitter debate — the Texas Board of Education begins hearings today on proposed changes to textbooks that could change what students across the country learn," she said. "About ... >>More

The Truth-o-Meter says: Pants on Fire! | Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson says the State Board of Education is considering eliminating Christmas and the Constitution from textbooks

After spending most of Wednesday gathering public comment, the Texas State Board of Education began hashing out how history, government and economics are taught in Texas public schools.The board's efforts to revise social studies curriculum standards had drawn national attention, from the Fox News Channel in particular. On Wednesday morning's broadcast of "Fox & Friends," co-anchor Gretchen Carlson sounded scandalized by what the network dubbed the "Texas Textbook Wars.""Stage set for a bitter debate — the Texas Board of Education begins hearings today on proposed changes to textbooks that could change what students across the country ...

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Americans United for Change says health insurance premiums for individuals and small businesses will increase up to 39 percent without health care reform

Seeking support for health care reform, the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change launched a phone campaign March 3 urging Americans to stand up to health insurance companies. The Washington-based group was formed in 2005 to challenge President George W. Bush’s efforts to privatize Social Security and has since broadened its scope to build public and congressional support for a variety of policy initiatives, including health care.Austin American-Statesman reporter Mary Ann Roser, who analyzed the call on her health blog, was one of 3.5 million voters nationwide who heard the recorded message: "I ...

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If you're on Facebook, you've probably seen it: Someone types a message into their status update and urges all their friends to do the same. It could be to support a cause like breast cancer awareness, to find out your friends' middle names, or to share a line from your favorite movie. Readers notified us that there was a new one going around about President Obama: "Obama has proposed a 1.4% pay increase for active duty military in 2011. This is THE LOWEST SINCE 1973! Nice to know that during a time of rampant inflation, while war is fought in ... >>More

Abortion has been a long-simmering controversy in the battle over health care reform. Opponents of abortion want to make sure the federal government does nothing to increase the number of abortions even as it expands insurance access to millions. Advocates for abortion rights, on the other hand, want women to have coverage that includes abortion services. Congress, trying to bridge this yawning divide, has created plans that are complicated to explain and easy to distort. We've covered the many claims from the left and the right about how abortion would be treated under health care reform, and you can read ... >>More