(Jim Bourg / AP)
According to the nonpartisan researchers at Factcheck.org (a
NEWSWEEK partner), Obama and McCain delivered a few "misleading statements and mangled facts" last night in Nashville, with McCain coming out on top in terms of untruths. Here's the skinny:
McCain proposed to write down the amount owed by over-mortgaged
homeowners and claimed the idea as his own: "It's my proposal, it's not
Sen. Obama's proposal, it's not President Bush's proposal." But the
idea isn't new. Obama had endorsed something similar two weeks earlier,
and authority for the treasury secretary to grant such relief was
included in the recently passed $700 billion financial rescue package.
Both
candidates oversimplified the causes of the financial crisis. McCain
blamed it on Democrats who resisted tighter regulation of federal
mortgage agencies. Obama blamed it on financial deregulation backed by
Republicans. We find both are right, with plenty of blame left over for
others, from home buyers to the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Obama
said his health care plan would lower insurance premiums by up to
$2,500 a year. Experts we've consulted see little evidence such savings
would materialize.
McCain misstated his own health
care plan, saying he'd give a $5,000 tax credit to "every American." His
plan actually would provide only $2,500 per individual, or $5,000 for
couples and families. He also misstated Obama's health care plan,
claiming it would levy fines on "small businesses" that fail to provide
health insurance. Actually, Obama's plan exempts "small businesses."
McCain
lamented that the U.S. was forced to "withdraw in humiliation" from
Somalia in 1994, but he failed to note that he once proposed to cut off
funding for troops to force a faster withdrawal.
Obama
said, "I favor nuclear power." That's a stronger statement than we've
heard him make before. As recently as last December, he said, "I am not
a nuclear energy proponent."
McCain claimed "1.3
million people in America make their living off eBay." Actually, only
724,000 persons in the U.S. have income from eBay, and only some of
them rely on it as their primary source.
For full details--and additional quibbles--click here.
