Subject: =?Windows-1252?Q?FACT_CHECK:_Donald_Trump_Won, _The_Truth_Lost_Last_Night?= ’s Debate
From: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
To: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:25:09 +0000

<http://factivists.democrats.org/fact-check-donald-trump-won-the-truth-lost-last-nights-debate/>

FACT CHECK: Donald Trump Won, The Truth Lost Last Night’s Debate.

The fact checkers had their work cut out for them after last night’s Fox News GOP Debate. Here are a few highlights.

Rubio and Cruz peddle tired, false talking point on U.S. military strength<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article57203288.html> – McClatchy Fact Check

Rubio said the U.S. is “on pace to have the smallest Army since the end of World War II, the smallest Navy in 100 years, the smallest Air force in our history.” It’s a claim that’s been made in some form by several 2016 Republican presidential candidates. And it’s misleading because the military’s equipment has changed. Military experts say that the claim doesn’t take into account the improved firepower of today’s ships and aircraft. In previous debates, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina all have said that the U.S. Navy is the smallest since 1917. So did former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney when he ran for president in 2012. PolitiFact<http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/aug/03/anatomy-talking-point-navy-ship-counts-1917-and-/> concluded then that the claim wasn’t true because the number of ships had risen in recent years, and that the ships today are more powerful than their predecessors.

Ted Cruz falsely claims the ACA has hurt jobs<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/01/29/fact-check-seventh-republican-debate/79499936/> – USA Today Fact Check

Cruz repeated an increasingly shopworn GOP claim that the Affordable Care Act has forced 'millions' into unemployment and part-time work. […] The facts are otherwise, as we’ve noted in 2011<http://www.factcheck.org/2011/01/a-job-killing-law/>, 2012<http://www.factcheck.org/2012/06/romney-obama-uphold-health-care-falsehoods/> and 2013<http://www.factcheck.org/2013/08/obamacare-by-the-numbers/>. And the latest jobs statistics make it even more clear that what Cruz said is a partisan falsehood, no matter how many times it is repeated. The fact is, the law hasn’t prevented the economy from adding millions of jobs, month after month. Furthermore, fewer people are being forced to work part-time, not more.

John Kasich’s "Ohio miracle” claim doesn’t pass muster<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/01/29/fact-check-seventh-republican-debate/79499936/> – USA Today Fact Check

Ohio Gov. John Kasich credited the Medicaid expansion with a reduction in the prison recidivism rate in Ohio. But the rate isn’t as low as he claimed, and the latest figures are on inmates released well before the expansion. [...] Kasich boasted of 400,000 jobs gained in the state under his governorship. But the rate of growth is below the national average.

Chris Christie, whose state ranked 49th in job creation under his tenure, misleads on construction wages under Obama<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_2016_DEBATE_FACT_CHECK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT> – AP Fact Check

THE FACTS: There may be some in hard hats who've lost income, but on the whole, construction workers are faring much better than they did when Obama first took office. The latest federal jobs report showed their average weekly earnings have risen 2.7 percent annually since 2009 - much faster than the national average for non-management employees. Their weekly earnings jumped to $1,021 in December, compared with a weekly income of $858 seven years ago.

Did Marco Rubio flip flip on amnesty? – PolitiFact<http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2016/jan/29/marco-rubio/did-marco-rubio-flip-flip-amnesty/>

Rubio opposed amnesty while running for Senate in 2010. He flatly said that he would oppose granting "blanket, legalization, amnesty" in an interview with a conservative blogger. In a CNN debate that year, he again opposed amnesty and linked it to a path to citizenship when he said that an "earned path to citizenship is basically code for amnesty" and that it would be unfair to "create an alternative pathway for individuals who entered illegally and knowingly did so."

But in 2013, he was one of eight authors of a Senate bill that included a path to citizenship and declared that it was not amnesty.

Rubio can argue that the bill -- which died in the House -- was not "blanket amnesty," because it included significant hurdles including fines and a waiting period.

That’s a partial change of position, so we rate it a Half Flip.

Ted Cruz continues his push to “carpet bomb” civilian areas – AP Fact Check<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1ae68b7101f54cd5b74831beae23b93e/ap-fact-check-gop-claims-carpet-bombs-kurds-and-economy>

[…] Cruz has not explained how carpet bombing a terrorism group that is mingled with citizens in areas they control can be done without substantial deaths of innocents.

Carson’s ridiculous “three-story building” worth of federal regulations claim – PolitiFact<http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jan/29/ben-carson/ben-carson-stacked-total-pages-regulations-2015-ar/>

There are too many government rules stifling small businesses, said retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. "Last year, there were an additional 81,000 pages of government regulations," he said. "If you stack that up, it would be a three-story building.” […] The statement has an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so we rate it Mostly False.

VIDEO: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_pw7dTPrfU&feature=youtu.be> Rubio "False" to Say He Never Supported Cap and Trade<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_pw7dTPrfU&feature=youtu.be> - CNN
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_pw7dTPrfU&feature=youtu.be>
View this post on our Factivists site here<http://factivists.democrats.org/fact-check-donald-trump-won-the-truth-lost-last-nights-debate/>.

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