The Biggest Political Lie of the Year

Which politico told the biggest lie in 2010?



PolitiFact's 'Lie of the Year' Winner (PHOTOS)
Which elected official told the biggest lie in 2010?

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/slideshow/politifactcoms-lie-year-12406577

PolitiFact.com is an independent political website that researches the accuracy of statements made by the president, members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, lobbyists and people who testify in front of Congress. They then rate these statements on their Truth-O-Meter. PolitiFact announced their biggest "Lie of the Year" winner on "Nightline" on Dec. 16, 2010, which we included here as well as summaries of the rest of PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year" finalists.

PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year" winner is... the several elected officials who said "Obama Care" was a "government takeover." One such official was Wisconsin's Lt. Gov.-elect Rebecca Kleefisch. She made headlines when she released a campaign TV ad railing against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Barrett. "Tom Barrett supports a government takeover of our health care," the ad said. PolitiFact said the "government takeover" statement by itself was "ridiculously false" because the health care law offers a competitive marketplace for private insurance companies.

When Rep. Michele Bachmann, R.-Minn., appeared on CNN's Anderson Cooper on Nov. 3, 2010, she said, "The president of the United States will be taking a trip over to India that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day." That figure had cropped up in conservative blogs, but PolitiFact traced it back to an Indian news agency that was relying on an anonymous source. In response, the White House issued a statement saying, "These numbers are wildly inflated."

While fighting a tough battle for re-election, Democratic candidate Rep. Alan Grayson ran an attack ad against his opponent, former Florida House Speaker Daniel Webster. The ad was called "Taliban Dan Webster" and featured a black-and-white video of Webster saying, "Wives submit yourself to your own husband." PolitiFact reported that Webster was actually speaking to a religious group and quoting from the Bible, Ephesians 5:22–33, in the video.

Alan Grayson: Nancy Pelosi Did Her Job Well
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls "Taliban Dan Webster" ad "entirely accurate."





In what became a fierce gubernatorial battle in Florida, Gov.-elect Rick Scott used harsh (and false) language to beat down on his Democratic opponent, Alex Sink. PolitiFact cited a press conference on Sept. 3, 2010, during which Scott said, "[Sink] clearly believes in the stimulus, and we know the stimulus has not created one private sector job." Citing Recovery.gov, PolitiFact found that 40,604 full-time jobs were created or saved in Florida alone just for the April to June quarter from stimulus funds. They conceded that Recovery.gov didn't break that number down between private and public sector jobs.

The Economic Stimulus: Bonus or Bogus?
Perhaps No Single Campaign Issue Has Been Subject to more Disinformation and False Claims
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/presidents-862-billion-economic-stimulus-program-emerges-central/story?id=11965904

Jonathan Karl on what the affect the stimulus has had on jobs.

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On July 29, 2010, Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, contributed a blog post to Townhall.com, which said, "94 percent of small businesses will face higher taxes under the Democrats' plan." PolitiFact said Neugebauer's statement was incorrect for several reasons. One, Democratic officials have consistently said that they only want tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals to lapse, not all individuals. Also, two independent studies found only 2 to 3 percent of tax filers who report having a small business income would be affected by the Democratic proposal.

The House Ethics Committee released a report on Feb. 26, 2010 that accused Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., of violating congressional gift rules by letting corporations pay for Caribbean trips in 2007 and 2008. PolitiFact reported that the report found that Rangel's aids tried three times to explain the offenses to him, but he denied ever seeing their notices. Instead, he said the report cleared his name. "I'm glad for the wording of it because clearly the wording exonerates me," he said. On Dec. 2, 2010, Rangel was convicted of 11 counts of ethics violations and became the first U.S. House member in 27 years to be censured.

The Florida Democratic Party sent out a press release on Feb. 3, 2010 that attacked the state's Attorney General, Bill McCollum, saying he "voted to dismantle Social Security." PolitiFact reported that the party backed up its claims by citing nine votes McCollum made relating to Social Security in the 1990s. At the time, then-President Bill Clinton had proposed setting aside the surplus for Social Security -- the infamous "lockbox." According to PolitiFact, McCollum voted against it because Republicans were pushing to use the surplus to broaden tax cuts -- hardly an attempt to "dismantle" the Social Security system.

In his weekly address, the president discusses protecting senior benefits.