August 07, 2009

The Truthometer

Last year The St. Petersburg Times created Politifact, a fact-checking site designed to measure the truth of candidates' statements during the 2008 campaign. That got the paper a 2009 Pulitzer Prize.

On the heels of that success, it's kept up its work. The paper is now focusing on national issues, including health care. It's got a wonderful page assessing whether various claims are accurate or not.

Samples:

  • From something called Liberty Counsel: Page 992 of the health care bill will "establish school-based 'health' clinics. Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted! That merits a Liar, liar, Pants on Fire.
  • From the tax-hating Club for Growth: The health care reform plan would set limits similar to the "socialized" system in Britain, where people are allowed to die if their treatment would cost more than $22,000. That gets a False.
  • From a chain e-mail: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services. Liar, liar, Pants on Fire.
  • And, one that's gotten a lot of publicity, from the repellent Betsy McCaughey: The health care reform bill 'would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner.' Liar, liar, Pants on Fire. No, the government isn't going to kill Granny.

I'd say Politifact is continuing to provide an invaluable resource for seekers of Truth.

Posted by Linkmeister at August 7, 2009 01:45 PM | TrackBack
Comments

You are a provider of great links.

Posted by: Karan at August 7, 2009 05:56 PM