Byron York has a piece about why it may just be impossible to satisfy fact-checkers.
Would the fact-checkers withdraw their complaints if McCain and Palin satisfied the objections they have raised? Not likely.
In fact, McCain has already tried the tactic. Back in July, the McCain campaign released an ad accusing Obama of having "voted to raise taxes on folks earning as little as $32,000." FactCheck declared the claim "false," nothing that "The resolution Obama voted for would not have increased taxes on any single taxpayer making less than $41,500 per year in total income…The $32,000 figure is approximately the taxable income of a single person making $41,500 per year, after all deductions and exclusions."
In response to that and other criticism, the McCain campaign changed its figure from $32,000 to $42,000. In the Palin-Biden debate, Palin said that Obama "even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year." FactCheck objected. Under the heading "Palin's False Tax Claims," FactCheck wrote that Obama "did not in fact vote to increase taxes on 'families' making as little as $42,000 per year. What Obama actually voted for was a budget resolution that called for returning the 25 percent tax bracket to its pre-Bush tax cut level of 28 percent. That could have affected an individual with no children making as little as $42,000."
It seems clear that Palin shouldn't have used the word "families." So what if, in the future, she and McCain claim that Obama voted to raise taxes on "folks making as little as $42,000"? That would satisfy FactCheck's objections, right? Maybe not. FactCheck might still say that the vote really didn't mean anything and that Obama has no such plans to raise those taxes today. If McCain tailored his ads to meet the fact-checkers' objections, the factcheckers would probably come up with new objections.
In fact, they promise to. Back in July, FactCheck.org wrote that even if McCain and the Republicans accused Obama of voting to raise taxes 54 times — instead of 94 times — FactCheck would still "have plenty to say about it. As we mentioned, most of those were measures to tax the rich or corporations; many aimed to fund government programs; and most didn't actually raise taxes in and of themselves." Well, is 54 — FactCheck's number, not McCain's — correct or not? Is it, in the end, a fact?
The point of all this is that factchecking reports begin with an analysis of details but end with the factchecker's opinion of what an ad or speech "implies" or what "impression" it leaves. And that takes the fact-checkers away from the realm of fact.
In fact, McCain has already tried the tactic. Back in July, the McCain campaign released an ad accusing Obama of having "voted to raise taxes on folks earning as little as $32,000." FactCheck declared the claim "false," nothing that "The resolution Obama voted for would not have increased taxes on any single taxpayer making less than $41,500 per year in total income…The $32,000 figure is approximately the taxable income of a single person making $41,500 per year, after all deductions and exclusions."
In response to that and other criticism, the McCain campaign changed its figure from $32,000 to $42,000. In the Palin-Biden debate, Palin said that Obama "even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year." FactCheck objected. Under the heading "Palin's False Tax Claims," FactCheck wrote that Obama "did not in fact vote to increase taxes on 'families' making as little as $42,000 per year. What Obama actually voted for was a budget resolution that called for returning the 25 percent tax bracket to its pre-Bush tax cut level of 28 percent. That could have affected an individual with no children making as little as $42,000."
It seems clear that Palin shouldn't have used the word "families." So what if, in the future, she and McCain claim that Obama voted to raise taxes on "folks making as little as $42,000"? That would satisfy FactCheck's objections, right? Maybe not. FactCheck might still say that the vote really didn't mean anything and that Obama has no such plans to raise those taxes today. If McCain tailored his ads to meet the fact-checkers' objections, the factcheckers would probably come up with new objections.
In fact, they promise to. Back in July, FactCheck.org wrote that even if McCain and the Republicans accused Obama of voting to raise taxes 54 times — instead of 94 times — FactCheck would still "have plenty to say about it. As we mentioned, most of those were measures to tax the rich or corporations; many aimed to fund government programs; and most didn't actually raise taxes in and of themselves." Well, is 54 — FactCheck's number, not McCain's — correct or not? Is it, in the end, a fact?
The point of all this is that factchecking reports begin with an analysis of details but end with the factchecker's opinion of what an ad or speech "implies" or what "impression" it leaves. And that takes the fact-checkers away from the realm of fact.
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