Republicans get three times more ‘false’ ratings from PolitiFact than Democrats

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

An analysis of PolitiFact ratings suggests Republicans are significantly less credible than Democrats.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University found Republican’s had made three times as many false statements as Democrats this year.

PolitiFact examines a variety of political statements and assigns a “Truth-O-Meter” rating to each one. For their analysis, the researchers examined 100 “Truth-O-Meter” ratings of Republican and Democratic statements between January 20 through May 22.

PolitiFact rated 32 percent of Republican statements as “false” or “pants on fire,” compared to 11 percent of Democratic claims, according to a news release.

“While Republicans see a credibility gap in the Obama administration, PolitiFact rates Republicans as the less credible party,” CMPA President Dr Robert Lichter said.

A similar analysis published by the Center for Media and Public Affairs last year looked at election-related statements and found similar results. PolitiFact rated Republican statements as false roughly twice as often as Democratic statements between June 1, 2012 to September 11, 2012.

Yet another analysis of PolitiFact’s ratings by the University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics blog in 2011 also found Republicans were more likely to have false statements. Examining ratings between January 2010 to January 2011, the Smart Politics blog found Republicans were rated as false about three times more often than Democrats.

Memo To Politifact: Conservatives Lie About The Stimulus All The Time

by Marcus Feldman/Media Matters

Politifact, the St.Petersburg Times fact-checking organization, has unveiled its annual "lie of the year" for 2011: the statement that "Republicans voted to end Medicare." This designation is deeply flawed, given that the assertion that "Republicans voted to end Medicare" is arguably a true statement.

But that isn't all that was wrong with Politifact's decision. Politifact's Editor Bill Adair wrote an editor's note trying to explain why Politifact's editors did not choose something else as their "lie of the year." And the explanation rings hollow.

Regarding the false claim that the stimulus created "zero jobs" (the winner in Politifact's reader poll), Politifact stated that "it was more a falsehood from last year." Similarly, regarding the false claim that Obama has traveled the world and "apologized for America," Adair noted that Romney says this repeatedly but claimed that "it wasn't picked up much by other candidates and didn't reach critical mass."

When asked about his explanation about the "zero jobs" lie by Media Matters' Joe Strupp, Adair said that the Lie of the Year "is a subjective decision of Politifact editors. ... [I]t's not based on data points."

Given how often the lies about the stimulus and the Obama apology tour were repeated by conservatives, it may have been helpful for Politifact to look at "data points" rather than just their editors' "subjective" sense of how widespread the lie was.

Conservatives Lie About The Stimulus' Effect On Job Creation All The Time

Adair acknowledges that the claim that the stimulus created zero jobs "had been a popular Republican talking point that was uttered by everyone from Rick Perry to the National Republican Senatorial Committee." Adair is right. Here are examples Politifact itself cited as examples of politicians lying about the stimulus not creating jobs:

• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA): The Stimulus "Failed To Get People Back To Work." [Politifact Virginia, 5/26/11],
• Texas Governor Rick Perry: The Stimulus "Created Zero Jobs." [Politifact 9/12/11]
• National Republican Senatorial Committee: The Stimulus Created "Zero Jobs." [Politifact Virginia10/13/11]

But the lie wasn't limited to politicians. The claim that the stimulus failed to get people back to work was also repeated ad nauseum by the right-wing media. The enduring popularity of these attacks on the stimulus is a testament to the stubborn perniciousness of the falsehood:

Here is a small sample of conservative attacks on the stimulus for supposedly failing to create jobs:

• Washington Times: Obama Sold The Stimulus As A Way To "Jump Start Job Creation," But It "Didn't Work."

As with Mr. Obama's $825 billion spending spree in 2009, the ostensible goal of the latest giveaway is to jump-start job creation. At least he has the priority straight. The economy failed to create any jobs at all last month, the unemployment rate has been stuck above 9 percent for most of this year, and the rate of long-term joblessness has been growing steadily while labor-force participation has declined. It's his "solution" that will make the situation worse. Temporary tax cuts and permanent spending on "shovel-ready" infrastructure didn't work in 2009, and they won't work now. [The Washington Times, 9/7/11]

• Fox Business Reporter Sandra Smith: "We know That The First Stimulus Failed." [Fox News, Hannity, 9/7/11]
• Stuart Varney: Unemployment Data Shows That "The First Stimulus Program Did Not Work."

VARNEY: Look, there's a lot of pressure on the president to come up with something big, bold and new come next Thursday evening. And there's a lot of skepticism that he can do it. Is he going to propose a brand new trillion dollar stimulus program? I mean, this forecast of nine percent unemployment is an admission that the first stimulus program did not work. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/2/11]

• Gretchen Carlson: "The Democrats Believe That Spending And Putting More Stimulus Money Into The Economy Is What Will Create Jobs ... So Far, Nothing Is Working For The Economy." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/4/11]
• The Washington Examiner: "Obama's Economic Stimulus Follies In 2009 Failed Miserably To Get The Economy Growing." [The Washington Examiner, 8/22/11]
• Charles Krauthammer: The $1 Trillion Stimulus "Won't Leave A Trace." [Fox News, Special Report, 5/31/11 via Media Matters]
• Sean Hannity: The "Failed Stimulus" Made The Recession "Worse." [Fox News, Hannity,7/13/11 via Media Matters]
• Discussing Unemployment Data, Eric Bolling Claimed: "All These Economics, These Stimulus Programs, Obamanomics, Epic Fail." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/30/11]
• Laura Ingraham: "The President's Economic Plan, The Stimulus, The Bailouts, More Big Government Stuff, Failed." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 2/4/11]

Conservatives Also Always Repeat The False Claim That Obama Apologizes For America

Adair also wrote off the false conservative talking point repeated ad nauseam by Mitt Romney that Obama engaged in an "apology tour":

Another finalist was Mitt Romney's claim that President Obama traveled the world and "apologized for America." Romney said this many times (he even titled his book No Apology), but it wasn't picked up much by other candidates and didn't reach critical mass.

However, Romney was hardly the only GOP candidate to make this claim in 2011. Here are a few examples:

• Tim Pawlenty. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty delivered a speech in February in which he demanded that Obama "stop apologizing for our country." (Pawlenty dropped out of the race in August.) [The Washington Post, 2/11/11]
• Rick Perry. In October, Rick Perry claimed that "this President has traveled around the country making excuses for America. Apologizing for America." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 11/18/11]
• Rick Santorum. Just two days before Politifact announced its lie of the year, Rick Santorum responded to the question "is President Obama undermining American statute in the world" by saying, in part: "We shouldn't be going around apologizing for America." [The Daily Caller, 12/18/11]

And other prominent conservative voices, including media figures and even former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have also repeated the falsehood in 2011. A Nexis search of Fox News primetime transcripts shows that people have accused Obama of going on an "apology tour" at least 16 times in 2011. And people have accused Obama of "apologizing for America" at least 11 times.

Some examples of these false attacks include:

• Liz Cheney: One Of The "Three Pillars" Of Obama's Foreign Policy Is "Apologizing For America." [Fox News, Hannity, 12/13/11, via Nexis]
• Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton: Recent Obama Actions Fit In "With The American Apology Tour. He Thinks America Shouldn't Be Documenting Its Victory. [Washington Times, 11/9/11]
• Investor's Business Daily: "The Obsessive Need Of This President To Apologize For American Exceptionalism And Our Defense Of Freedom Continued Recently."[Investors.com, 10/11/11]
• Michelle Malkin: Obama's "Apology Tour Has Been Around The World And Back."[MichelleMalkin.com, 8/31/11]
• Charles Krauthammer: "It's A Line Of Attack That Republicans Can Easily Use On The President And Ought To Use On The President." [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier,8/30/11]
• Sean Hannity: "[Obama] Went On An Apology Tour." [Fox News, Hannity, 6/21/11]
• Rush Limbaugh: "Of Course Obama Has Apologized" For America. [Premiere Radio Networks'The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/3/11]
• Heritage: "Though The President Has Embarked On A Worldwide "Apology Tour" For What He Believes Are America's Transgressions, He Now Truly Has Something To Apologize For." [The Heritage Foundation, 5/24/11]
• Fox's Steve Doocy: Will Obama's Speech To The Arab World "Turn Into Another Apology Tour?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/19/11]
• Donald Rumsfeld: "I Think He Had Made A Practice Of Trying To Apologize For America. I Personally Am Proud Of America." [CNN, 2/20/11]
• Glenn Beck on Obama: "I'm Not Really Feeling Confident That At The Dinner, Mr. Apology Tour Is Going To Stand Up And Give One For America." [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 1/18/11, via Nexis]
• Fox's Gretchen Carlson: "Some Would Say" That Obama Is "Apologizing To These Muslim Terrorists." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/7/11]

Politifact's Flawed "Lie of The Year" Selection Only Encourages More Lying

 by Jamison Foser/Media Matters

In naming as its 2011 "Lie of the Year" a statement that is, at worst, arguably true, Politifact has inadvertently said more about itself and the media's failure to adequately combat the lies and deception that act as a cancer on American democracy.

Politifact's assertion that it is a lie to say "Republicans voted to end Medicare" -- and that this is the most important lie of the year -- suffers from some basic flaws: Republicans did, in fact, vote to end Medicare; and Politifact overlooked actual lies that have had and continue to have a profound and debilitating effect on the nation's attempts to come out of lingering economic troubles.

Politifact's "Lie of the Year" announcement provides little in the way of actual evidence that the claim is a lie, instead referring readers to previous efforts for its substantive case, such as it is. The weakness of Politifact's ruling that the House GOP budget written by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) did not "end Medicare" can be seen in its April 20, 2011, explanation:

One of the its major features is dramatically restructuring Medicare, the government-run health insurance program for those 65 and older. Right now, Medicare pays doctors and hospitals set fees for the care beneficiaries receive. [...] In 2022 [under the GOP plan] new beneficiaries would receive "premium support," which means they would buy plans from private insurance companies with financial assistance from the government. [...]the Republican plan would be a huge change to the current program, and seniors would have to pay more for their health plans if it becomes law. [...] Both Republicans and Democrats would no doubt agree that Ryan's plan for Medicare is a dramatic change of course. But we don't agree with the ad's contention that the proposal ends Medicare.

So, according to Politifact, the House Republican plan constitutes a "dramatic restructuring" of Medicare, a "huge change to the current program," and a "dramatic change of course" by ending the direct payment of fees for service and replacing it with a voucher program. In its "Lie of the Year" write-up, Politifact again concedes the GOP plan "dramatically changed the program [for people currently under age 55] by privatizing it and providing government subsidies." That's ending Medicare, just as replacing the armed services with government vouchers for private bodyguards would be ending the U.S. military. As Igor Volsky wrote earlier this month, "closing the traditional fee-for-service program, and forcing seniors to enroll in new private coverage, ends Medicare by eliminating everything that has defined the program for the last 46 years." 

But Politifact concluded in April that "we don't agree [...] that the proposal ends Medicare." That should set off some alarm bells: As fact-checks go, "we don't agree" is remarkably weak tea. As justification for naming something the "Lie of the Year," it's an embarrassment. 

Paul Krugman and Dan Kennedy and Steve Benen and Jonathan Cohn and Jonathan Chait and Matthew Yglesias and David Weigel, among countless others, have debunked Politifact's ruling, which holds that as long as something called "Medicare" has something to do with health care for the elderly, it's a lie to say the program has ended, no matter how "dramatic" the "change of course" has been. Even Robert VerBruggen of the conservative National Review has written that Politifact "does not make a good case" and that the Democratic claim does not "rise to the level of 'lie,' much less 'Lie of the Year.'" 

The incoherence of Politifact's ruling is driven home by its repeated statements that the claim "end Medicare as we know it" is significantly different from -- and more justifiable than -- the statement "end Medicare." This is nonsensical hair-splitting. Medicare isn't a broad concept; it's a specific, concrete program. Ending it "as we know it" is ending it. Otherwise, ending it would require ending it as we don't know it, which would be a neat trick. (Revealingly, Politifact has been confused by their own hair-splitting: After having declared "as we know it" a crucial qualifier on multiple occasions, they shifted course and claimed "the GOP proposal does not 'end Medicare as we know it.'")

So as a fact-checking exercise, Politifact's "Lie of the Year" designation fails badly. But even if one were to stipulate that the underlying claim is false, it would still be a dubious selection as the most important lie of the year. Politifact, which describes "Lie of the Year" as "the most significant falsehood, the one that had the most impact on the political discourse," has now awarded this designation three times. During the three years in question, the most pressing matter confronting the nation has been the persistently weak economy that has millions of Americans out of work and millions more struggling to stay afloat. Efforts to address this economic crisis have been stymied by countless economic falsehoods. But Politifact has yet to choose a lie about the economy as Lie of the Year -- even though one such lie won its 2011 readers' poll:

[T]the winner in our reader poll was the Republican claim that "zero jobs" were created by the economic stimulus.

[...]

The "Zero jobs" claim, which won the readers' poll with 24 percent of the vote, had been a popular Republican talking point that was uttered by everyone from Rick Perry to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. But we concluded it was more a falsehood from last year, when there was more debate about the stimulus, than this year. Indeed, our first fact-check of that claim was in February 2010 -- nearly two years ago.

Note that Politifact doesn't claim that nobody is telling this lie anymore -- indeed, Politifact debunked it again just two months ago. So, at a time when the possibility of further -- badly needed -- economic stimulus is ruled out by nearly all politicians because of the efficacy of the lie that the 2009 stimulus failed to create jobs, Politifact doesn't think it qualifies as "Lie of the Year" because it's been told for too long? How does that make any sense? If anything, it speaks to the impact the lie has had, and continues to have.

This is the first time Politifact's "Lie of the Year" selection has differed from the winner of its reader's poll. Meanwhile, the organization has recently come under withering attack from conservatives who accuse it of being part of "the liberal media's latest attempt to control the discourse." And Rep. Paul Ryan engaged in a public campaign to influence Politifact's choice (in the process repeating claims Politifact has previously declared false.) 

Might that have something to do with Politifact's decision to part with its readers for the first time -- and to avoid its third consecutive "Lie of the Year" that implicates conservatives? This wouldn't be the first time a news organization caved to conservative pressure or strove for a false "balance" that prioritizes criticizing both sides equally over taking a proportionate approach to falsehoods. (Nor would it be the first time such spinelessness served only to embolden conservatives who seek not to influence journalistic outlets but to destroy them.)

In an interview with Media Matters today, Adair denied that the "Lie of the Year" selection was motivated by conservative pressure or a desire for balance.

While Politifact has done some valuable work and will likely continue to do so, its 2011 "Lie of the Year" selection highlights the organization's weaknesses: A tendency towards false balance, an occasional lack of rigor and consistency, and a flawed concept that results in fact-checking differences of opinion and forcing falsehoods into confusing categories like "barely true" that often obscure more than they illuminate. 

But it is the inevitable consequences of these failures that is the most important part. False balance has the effect of a thumb on the scale in favor of the less meritorious position. Treating a falsehood and the truth as though they are equivalent gives lies -- and the people who tell them -- an advantage in the marketplace of ideas. It encourages politicians who lie to continue to lie, and those who tell the truth to start lying. And it distorts, rather than clarifies, the public's understanding of key issues. Those are things an organization called that calls itself Politifact should avoid at all costs.

PolitiFact's "Lie Of The Year" Is One Of Fox's Favorite Health Care Lies

From Media Matters

PolitiFact recently named "a government takeover of health care" as its 2010 "Lie of the Year" -- a lie that Fox News hosts and contributors have repeatedly promoted.

PolitiFact: "Government Takeover Of Health Care" Is The "Lie Of The Year"

PolitiFact: "Government Takeover Of Health Care" Is The "Lie Of The Year." In its article declaring "a government takeover of health care" the Lie of the Year, PolitiFact wrote:

"Government takeover" conjures a European approach where the government owns the hospitals and the doctors are public employees. But the law Congress passed, parts of which have already gone into effect, relies largely on the free market:

· Employers will continue to provide health insurance to the majority of Americans through private insurance companies.

· Contrary to the claim, more people will get private health coverage. The law sets up "exchanges" where private insurers will compete to provide coverage to people who don't have it.

· The government will not seize control of hospitals or nationalize doctors.

· The law does not include the public option, a government-run insurance plan that would have competed with private insurers.

· The law gives tax credits to people who have difficulty affording insurance, so they can buy their coverage from private providers on the exchange. But here too, the approach relies on a free market with regulations, not socialized medicine.

PolitiFact reporters have studied the 906-page bill and interviewed independent health care experts. We have concluded it is inaccurate to call the plan a government takeover because it relies largely on the existing system of health coverage provided by employers.

It's true that the law does significantly increase government regulation of health insurers. But it is, at its heart, a system that relies on private companies and the free market.

Republicans who maintain the Democratic plan is a government takeover say that characterization is justified because the plan increases federal regulation and will require Americans to buy health insurance.

But while those provisions are real, the majority of Americans will continue to get coverage from private insurers. And it will bring new business for the insurance industry: People who don"t currently have coverage will get it, for the most part, from private insurance companies. [PolitiFact, 12/16/10]

Fox News' Sammon Directed Fox Reporters To Use "Government Option" Instead Of Public Option

Fox News Boss Ordered Reporters To Use Term "Government Option." As Media Mattersreported, at the height of the health care reform debate last fall, Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington managing editor, sent a memo directing his network's journalists not to use the phrase "public option." Instead, Sammon wrote, Fox's reporters should use "government option" and similar phrases -- wording that a top Republican pollster Frank Luntz had recommended in order to turn public opinion against Democrats' reform efforts. Two months prior to Sammon's 2009 memo, Luntz appeared on Sean Hannity's August 18 Fox News program. Luntz scolded Hannity for referring to the "public option" and encouraged Hannity to use "government option" instead. [Media Matters, 12/9/10]

Fox News Has Repeatedly Promoted The "Government Takeover" Lie

Cameron Uncritically Advances The "Government Takeover" Lie. On the August 12, 2009, edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, correspondent Carl Cameron reported that protesters at a health care town hall forum held by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) were "angry that Grassley is participating in the negotiations with Democrats out of fear that he might give away the store and let what critics say is a liberal big government takeover of health care advance unabated." [Fox News' America's Newsroom,8/12/09]

O'Reilly: "If The Government Takes Over Health Care ... More People Will Be Harmed." On the August 19, 2009, edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly stated during a discussion of health care reform: "If the government takes over health care ... and begins to tell people when they can live and when they can die and the country goes bankrupt in the process ... more people will be harmed, including poor people." [Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, 8/19/09]

Fox & Friends: Public Option Is A "Government Takeover"; "Should Technically Be" "Government-Run Health Care." On the October 27, 2009, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Gretchen Carlson said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "wants to kick in ... a new name for the public option, which is really government-run health care. That's what the name should technically be." Co-host Steve Doocy added, "Government takeover." [Fox News' Fox & Friends, 10/27/09]

Carlson: "Shouldn't What We Really Call [The Public Option] Is A Government Takeover Of Health Care?" On October 28, 2009, Fox & Friends hosted Frank Luntz to criticize Pelosi's "rebranding" of the public option as the "consumer option." During the discussion, Carlson asked Luntz: "Now we have Nancy Pelosi not wanting to call it the public option. Shouldn't what we really call it is a government takeover of health care? Is that why she now wants to call it the consumer option, to kind of shield that?" [Fox & Friends, 10/28/09]

Van Susteren: "If You Think We Should Have More Government-Run Health Care, Listen To This." On the February 3 edition of Fox News' On the Record, host Greta Van Susteren stated, "If you think we should have more government-run health care, listen to this." Van Susteren then explained that a Canadian official was seeking medical treatment in the United States and asked: "[I]f this guy is leaving Canada for treatment, should we really change our system to be more like Canada's?" [Fox News' On the Record, 2/3/10]

Morris Calls Health Care Reform "The Government Takeover Of The 16 Percent Of Our Economy That's Health Care." On the February 4 edition of Fox & Friends, Fox News contributor Dick Morris called health care reform legislation "the government takeover of the 16 percent of our economy that's health care." [Fox & Friends, 2/4/10]

Beck Calls Health Care Reform The "Government Takeover Of The Health Care System." On the March 15 edition of his Fox News show, Glenn Beck called health care reform the "government takeover of the health care system." [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 3/15/10, accessed via Nexis]

Hannity: "[D]octors have been railing about what a government takeover of health care could mean for families." On the March 16 edition of his show, Sean Hannity hosted a doctor opposed to health care reform and stated that "doctors have been railing about what a government takeover of health care could mean for families across the country." [Fox News' Hannity, 3/16/10, accessed via Nexis]

Palin: "This Is Government Takeover." On the March 17 edition of Hannity, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin stated: "[Y]ou know, we've spoken a lot, Sean, about what real health care reform, with a lot of broad based support, could look like for America. It could be patient centered. It could be free market oriented and it could actually have some results. This isn't reform. This is government takeover. This is about control." [Hannity, 3/17/10, accessed via Nexis]

Palin: Health Care Reform Is A "Government Takeover Of 1/6 Of Our Economy." On the March 22 edition of Hannity, Palin stated during a discussion of health care reform: "Now thankfully, we have Michele Bachmann and we have others already out there on the road who are proposing ways to undo, to repeal this government takeover of 1/6 of our economy." [Hannity, 3/22/10, accessed via Nexis]

O'Reilly Suggests Health Care Reform Is A "Government Takeover." On the March 22 edition ofThe O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly said to guest Gov. Ed Rendell: "There are good things in the bill, and I think fair-minded Americans across the board would say the pre-existing conditions, the tossing people off the rolls when they get sick -- all of that has to be controlled, but it could be controlled without a government takeover." [Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, 3/22/10]

Beck Declares Health Care Reform To Be "Total Government Control Of Our Health Care System." On the April 6 edition of his show, Beck stated that President Obama "has taken the first step towards socialization. Total government control of our health care system." [Glenn Beck, 4/6/10]

FBN Reporter Byrnes: We're Moving Into An "All-Over Take-Over Of Health Care," And People Need To "Prepare For It." On the April 24 edition of Fox News' Cashin' In, Fox Business reporter Tracy Byrnes stated during a discussion of health care reform: "We are moving into pretty much an all-over takeover of health care, and people just need to sit back and prepare for it." [Fox News' Cashin' In,4/24/10]

Crowley Calls Health Care Reform A "Government Takeover." On the October 19 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News contributor Monica Crowley stated: "You have had over the last two years government takeovers of the auto industry, the banks, health care, student loans, and an attempt to take over of the energy sector." [The O'Reilly Factor, 10/19/10, accessed via Nexis]

Luntz: "Buck ... Had One Of The Best Ads Of The Election Cycle When He Said That Washington Didn't Listen When They Took A Government Takeover Of Health Care." On Fox News' November 3 election coverage, Luntz stated that "Ken Buck from Colorado had one of the best ads of the election cycle when he said that Washington didn't listen when they took a government takeover of health care." [Fox News election coverage, 11/3/10, accessed via Nexis]

Napolitano: Bachmann Is "Fighting Democrats On The Constitutionality Of A National Takeover Of Health Care." Guest-hosting the November 4 edition of Glenn Beck, Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano hosted Rep. Michele Bachmann and said that Bachmann is "fighting Democrats on the constitutionality of a national takeover of health care, and she wants your help in the fight." [Glenn Beck,11/4/10]

Fox News Contributor Luntz Coined The Lie Of The Year

PolitiFact: Luntz "Urged GOP Leaders To Call It A 'Government Takeover.'" From PolitiFact's Lie of the Year post:

In the spring of 2009, a Republican strategist settled on a brilliant and powerful attack line for President Barack Obama's ambitious plan to overhaul America's health insurance system. Frank Luntz, a consultant famous for his phraseology, urged GOP leaders to call it a "government takeover."

"Takeovers are like coups," Luntz wrote in a 28-page memo. "They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom."

The line stuck. By the time the health care bill was headed toward passage in early 2010, Obama and congressional Democrats had sanded down their program, dropping the "public option" concept that was derided as too much government intrusion. The law passed in March, with new regulations, but no government-run plan.

But as Republicans smelled serious opportunity in the midterm elections, they didn't let facts get in the way of a great punchline. [PolitiFact, 12/16/10