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American And Chinese Currency Policies

After economy after economy failed and everyone blamed everything from bad loans to balsamic vinegar, we finally have it right, global economies are not failing because of internal issues but rather from external currency manipulation. Most economic experts are now agreeing that China is keeping the value of its currency, the renminbi, artificially low to [...]

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The Gratitude Campaign

I’m sure most of our readers have ran across soldiers in uniform during our day-to-day activities. How many have wanted to thank but didn’t? Many times this can be an awkward situation. How do I approach them? What do I say? How will they react? These are all valid questions. Now, thanks to the Gratitude [...]

Fact Check

• The $32,000 Question -- July 8, 2008: The McCain campaign claims that Obama voted to raise income taxes on individuals who earn as little as $32,000 per year. That's wrong. The resolution Obama voted for would not have increased taxes on any single taxpayer making less than $41,500 per year in total income, or any couple making less than $83,000. The $32,000 figure is approximately the taxable income of a single person making $41,500 per year, after all deductions and exclusions. Obama's vote (for a non-binding budget bill) does not change the fact that his own tax plan would provide a tax cut of $502 for a non-married taxpayer earning $35,000. #
• Errors en Español -- July 8, 2008: A Spanish-language McCain radio ad gets nearly all its facts wrong. McCain's new radio ad, in Spanish, aims to show Florida would benefit from the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which he supports. But every number in the ad is wrong, except one, a prediction of job gains taken from a group favoring the trade deal. And even that number is rounded upward so generously as to flunk third-grade arithmetic. #
• Tax Tally Trickery -- July 3, 2008:  Republicans claim Obama "voted 94 times for higher taxes." But their count is inflated and misleading. The McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee both claim that Obama has voted 94 times "for higher taxes." We find that their count is padded. #
• Obama's Work Claim -- July 2, 2008:  His new ad says he "worked his way" through college and law school. His campaign says he had two summer jobs. Obama's latest ad repeats an often-stated claim, saying he "worked his way through college and Harvard Law." We know Obama took out loans to get himself through school. But the campaign provided information on just two jobs Obama had in those years, and they were both in the summer. The ad also says he "passed a law to move people from welfare to work, slashed the rolls by 80 percent." Actually, the Illinois law was a required follow-up to the 1996 federal welfare reform law worked out by President Clinton and the Republican Congress. Welfare rolls did go down by nearly as much as the ad says, but Obama can't claim sole credit. #
• Obama Polishes His Resume -- June 21, 2008:  Obama has released his first post-primary ad, a 60-second spot that's airing in 18 battleground states. In effect, "Country I Love" is Obama's first ad of the general election campaign, and as such it invites scrutiny. (FactCheck will address McCain's first general election ads in a separate article.) We don't find this ad egregiously misleading, but it paints a picture of Obama's accomplishments that could leave viewers with a misimpression or two. His description of his upbringing and work history are accurate. He describes the "strong values" he says he learned from his mother and her parents. But when Obama discusses his legislative accomplishments, he leaves out some important context. The ad talks about laws that Obama "passed," but in fact, he sponsored only one of the three bills mentioned and cosponsored another. The third included provisions from some bills he'd sponsored earlier, but his name wasn't attached to the one that passed. And two of the three laws were accomplishments of the Illinois Legislature, not the U.S. Senate. #