There are some real whoppers from last night’s debate, via FackCheck.org. Summary:
The three leading Democratic presidential candidates debated in Las Vegas and we noted the following:
- Clinton once again mischaracterized the 2005 energy bill, saying it had “enormous giveaways” to oil and gas companies. In truth, the measure raised taxes on those industries.
- Obama accused the Bush administration of failing to make “any serious effort” to encourage use of alternative fuels or raise fuel efficiency of automobiles. In fact, President Bush has signed major bills that do both.
- Edwards said he dropped his support for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site in part because of a scandal over forged documents. But he switched his position in 2004, and the scandal came along a year afterward.
- The three candidates made sweeping claims about their intentions to remove troops from Iraq quickly, but all three admitted under questioning that they could have U.S. combat troops fighting in Iraq for years to come.
- Clinton puffed up her role in stopping the “Bush administration” from taking back signing bonuses from those later wounded too seriously to complete their enlistments. Actually the Pentagon said its policy has been not to reclaim such bonuses and that a bill the Army sent to one soldier was an isolated case that was reversed.
- Edwards said “you should learn to speak English” before becoming a U.S. citizen. In fact, the law already requires, with few exceptions, that applicants for citizenship “must be able to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage in the English language.”