VP Debate: Fact Versus Fiction

Whether you think Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) topped Senator Joe Biden (D-PA) in their debate, or vice-versa, we at MainStreet want to make sure the facts measure up to the rhetoric on both sides, especially in terms of economic issues.

"I think we need a little bit of reality from Wasilla Main Street there, brought to Washington, DC," is how Palin might put it.

To that end, we checked out FactCheck.org, a non-partisan project of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, which analyzed the debate transcripts and came out with verdicts on how truthful some responses actually were. Other fact-checkers weighing in: The New York Times, The Washington Post blog, and CNN.com.

Here's a roundup of the findings:

TAXES:
Palin Said: "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year. That’s a lot of middle income average American families to increase taxes on them. I think that is the way to kill jobs and to continue to harm our economy."
The Fact-Checker's Take: That's misleading. The vote that Palin referred to took place on March 14, and was not aimed towards families making as little as $42,000 a year. It could have, however, affected individuals without children making this amount, but for a family of four, the income would have to be at least $90,000 to be affected. It regarded a budget resolution that called for returning the 25% tax bracket to its pre-Bush tax cut level of 28%.

And what was McCain’s stance on this proposal? According to Biden, McCain had cast an identical vote as Obama at the time.

Biden Said: "Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. The vote [Palin’s] referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way. It was a budget procedural vote. John McCain voted the same way. It did not raise taxes."
The Fact-Checker's Take: Not entirely true. McCain did not vote on the budget resolution Biden and Palin discussed one way or the other.

Palin Said: "Barack had 94 opportunities to side on the people’s side and reduce taxes, and 94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction – 94 times."
The Fact-Checker's Take: That's misleading. Factcheck.org pieced together records and drew the key findings of these 94 votes. According to the political watchdog, 23 of these votes were against proposed tax cuts, seven were “for measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals,” 11 were to increase taxes for people making more than $1 million a year, in which the money gained would fund programs such as veterans’ health care, 53 were on budget resolutions or amendments that “could not have resulted by themselves in raising taxes,” though many “were clear statements of approval for increased taxes.” For the full political ticker, see CNN.com’s Fact Check: Did Obama vote 94 times for higher taxes?

HEALTH CARE
Biden Said: "As a matter of fact, John recently wrote an article in a major magazine saying that what he wants to do for the health care industry [is] deregulate it and let the free market move like he did for the banking industry."
The Fact-Checker's Take: That's misleading. McCain has frequently supported deregulation in Congress, but the deregulation he is calling for in healthcare is not as extensive as what was done to the banking system, some of which are now widely blamed for the problems on Wall Street.

As for the publication Biden referred to, McCain discussed the change he’d like to bring to the health care in a magazine for the American Academy of Actuaries, entitled, “Contingencies,” where he wrote, “Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based deregulation.” For the full political ticker, check out Fact Check: McCain wants to deregulate health care?

HEALTH CARE TAX CREDIT
Palin Said: [McCain’s] proposing a $5,000 tax credit for families so that they can get out there and they can purchase their own health care coverage. That’s a smart thing to do. That’s budget neutral. That doesn’t cost the government anything … a $5,000 health care credit through our income tax, that’s budget neutral."
The Fact-Checker's Take: That could be misleading. Though an estimate has not yet been released by the McCain campaign on how much the plan would cost, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates that McCain’s plan would increase the deficit by $1.3 trillion over 10 years, and cover 5 million uninsured. (The agency also estimates that Obama’s plan, which would cover 34 million of the uninsured would cost $1.6 trillion over 10 years.)

ENERGY
Biden Said: "We have 3% of the world's oil reserves. We consume 25% of the oil in the world. John McCain has voted 20 times in the last decade-and-a-half against funding alternative energy sources, clean energy sources, wind, solar, biofuels."
The Fact-Checker's Take: Not exactly true. The relevant vote list available on Barack Obama’s official website combines instances where McCain voted not against funding alternative energy, but against the mandatory use of alternative energy. The number of times he voted against funding alternative energy is actually 11, according to www.factcheck.org.