The following is a fact-check from the August 22, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D-MI) | The CBO has said that cutting taxes for the wealthiest 2% of Americans is the least effective way to create jobs – MOSTLY TRUE

GOV. GRANHOLM: The CBO has said that cutting taxes for the wealthiest 2 percent is the most ineffective way of creating job growth.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the largest decrease of the employment rate this year and next would arise from increasing aid to the unemployed. And the smallest effect would be generated by extending higher exemption amounts for the AMT in 2010 or reducing income taxes in 2011. We could not find the CBO explicitly stating that cutting tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans would be the most ineffective way of creating job growth. But in general, they did say that raising taxes in 2011, which is when Bush’s tax cuts expire, would lead to the smallest effect of reducing the unemployment rate. Thus, we rate Jeniffer Granholm’s statement MOSTLY TRUE.

This fact-check took a combined 1.5 hours.

The following is a fact-check from the August 22, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

FMR. REP. RICK LAZIO (R-NY)

1) Within a month of Sept, 11, 2001, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said that America was “an accessory to the crime of 9/11.” – TRUE

2) Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said that Osama bin Laden was created in America. – TRUE

3) Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has made statements with the past several months regarding Hamas in which he refused to “distance himself” from the group and/or protected them. – LIKELY FALSE

4) Recently one of the Cordoba House developers said that they would consider taking money from Iran. – FALSE

FMR. REP. LAZIO:  Well, first of all I would say, David, there are millions of peace-loving, good Muslims in America.  This Imam Rauf is not one of them.  He’s not a bridge builder.  This is a man, the very same month that people were burying their loved ones that were lost in 9/11, he said that America was an accessory to the crime of 9/11.  He said that Osama bin Laden was created in the USA.  He refuses, only months ago, to, to distance himself from Hamas, in fact, protecting him–protecting them, and only recently one of the developers said that they would consider taking money from Iran.

1) On Sept. 30th, 2001 an interview with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf was shown on the CBS television program 60 Minutes, in which he stated that he believed that America was an accessory to the crime of 9/11.

MR. BRADLEY (voiceover): And throughout the Muslim world, there is also strong opposition to America’s foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, because of its support of Israel and economic sanctions against Iraq.

MR. ABDUL RAUF: It is a reaction against the policies of the U.S. government, politically, where we espouse principles of democracy and human rights and where we ally ourselves with oppressive regimes in many of these countries.

MR. BRADLEY: Are — are — are you in any way suggesting that we in the United States deserved what happened?

MR. ABDUL RAUF: I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened, but the United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.

MR. BRADLEY: O.K. You say that we’re an accessory?

MR. ABDUL RAUF: Yes.

Therefore, we rate this statement TRUE.

2) A moment later in the same 60 Minutes interview:

MR. BRADLEY: How?

MR. ABDUL RAUF: Because we have been an accessory to a lot of — of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, it — in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the U.S.A. …

The quote ends there, and the Cordoba Initiative has said it was taken out of context, however at least some context was indeed included in the program, as FactCheck.org has noted:

That was a reference to U.S. support for bin Laden when he was fighting Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan, as CBS’ Bradley made clear in the sequence that immediately followed Rauf’s remark:

CBS’ Ed Bradley, Sept. 30, 2001: “Bin Laden and his supporters were, in fact, recruited and paid nearly $4 billion by the CIA and the government of Saudi Arabia in the 1980s to fight with the Mujahedeen rebels against the former Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan. After the Soviets pulled out, the Saudis, our best friends in the Arab world, our staunchest ally during the Gulf War, poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the newly formed Taliban regime until 1999.”

While it is impossible to know exactly whether or not Fmr. Rep. Lazio believes Mr. Abdul Rauf was speaking literally, we’ll let the above context stand as it is. Regardless, the statement is TRUE.

3) During a June 18th ABC radio interview, in response to the question “Do you believe that the State Department is correct in designating Hamas as a terrorist organization?” – here is the statement Mr. Abdul Rauf made that started this particular controversy, which The New York Times characterizes as being part of “a long conversation with many interruptions” (and also via FactCheck.org):

“Well, I’m not a politician. … The issue of terrorism is a very complex question. … I am a bridge builder. My work is … I do not want to be placed nor will I accept a position where I am the target of one side or another. My attempt is to see a peace in Israel. … Targeting of civilians is wrong. It’s a sin in our religion, whoever does it. … I am a supporter of the State of Israel.”

Fmr. Rep. Lazio said that Mr. Abdul Rauf “refuses, only months ago, to, to distance himself from Hamas, in fact, protecting him–protecting them” and in our judgment that is not an accurate summary of Mr. Abdul Rauf’s comments. This is of course a classic example of journo-political gamesmanship, where someone declining to answer a question is used to imply their opinion on that question. While anyone reading the above remarks could certainly choose to believe that it was a statement of support for Hamas, we see it simply as a more nuanced “I am not going to comment about that” To say that Mr. Abdul Rauf refused to distance himself from Hamas, or that he was protecting them, is LIKELY FALSE. If someone does not answer the question “Do the believe the sky is blue?” that does not mean they believe the sky is not blue, or that it is some other color.

4) Regarding the issue of money from Iran for the Park51 project, this is another even more clear example of “no comment” being used to assume a person’s opinion. Here is what the spokesman for the Park51 developers, Oz Sultan, said to ABC News:

“We’ll look at all available options within the United States to start. We’re hoping to fund this predominately from domestic donors. That can be everything from institutions all the way down to personal [contributors,]” said Sultan.

When asked if they would then turn to foreign donors, Sultan replied, “I can’t comment on that.”

Pressed on whether the developers were willilng rule out accepting donations from the governments of Saudi Arabia or Iran, he repeated, “I can’t comment on that.”

While this is clearly not a “No” to the question, that does not mean Fmr. Rep. Lazio is accurate when saying they are considering taking money from Iran. That is of course unless Fmr. Rep. Lazio is a psychic and knows exactly what they are indeed thinking, which we are going to presume he does not. Therefore, technically his statement is FALSE, as the phrase “we are considering taking money from Iran” or it’s equivalent was not said. Mr. Sultan simply refused to answer the question, and while people can read into that whatever they wish, it is worth noting that on Aug. 26, in an interview with CBS News, Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal did answer the question:

“We will not take money from Iran. We will not take money from Hamas,”

Incidentally it is also worth noting that ABC News, in its article summary of Mr. Sultan’s statement of “I can’t comment on that” characterized it as “refusing to rule out” taking money from Iran. We believe that to be an inaccurate summary of his statement, and most likely that kind of headlining contributed to the controversy.

We would very much recommend reading in their entirety, both this New York Times article and this FactCheck.org piece regarding these statements and many others referring to the “Ground Zero Mosque” (both were used as references for this check). Also as an editors note, we have used the term “Ground Zero Mosque” because it is the phrase which is now most commonly associated with this particular story, but we agree with PolitiFact that the term itself is likely inaccurate. We recommend reading their judgment on the term here, and also their checks of the statements “There is already a mosque four blocks away” (Michael Bloomberg, TRUE) and “This is not a mosque. It’s a cultural center that has a prayer area.” (Al Hunt, FALSE).

This fact-check took a combined 2.5 hours.

Here are the statements to fact-check from the August 22, 2010 Meet the Press:
VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT

If you can help us research them please either email us or (preferably) post your work in the comments below. (Anonymity is fine) Also let us know how long you spent researching each fact, we will be tracking it. While we will always fact-check as much as we can on our own, the success and depth of Meet the Facts is definitively improved by the crowd-sourcing of people like you – please help if you can!

Statements are listed in chronological order

SEN. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY)

1) The top 2 [income] brackets of Americans include 50% of small business income and 25% of the work force.
2) In the last quarter of 2009, 84% of jobs lost were in small businesses.

SEN. McCONNELL:  What the administration is proposing, and the majorities in the House and Senate, is to raise taxes on the top 2 brackets, which will affect 50 percent of small business income and in–and impact 25 percent of the work force. For example, if you look at last–the last quarter of last year, 84 percent of the jobs that were lost were lost in small business.

SEN. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY)

1) A few weeks ago President Obama heard from small businessmen, regarding why they weren’t expanding, that the reason was his agenda.
2) The healthcare reform bill includes a provision that requires small businesses to send a 1099 to the IRS for every vendor they do $600 worth of business with.

SEN. McCONNELL:  Look, the president called in a bunch of small businessmen to the White House a few weeks ago, and he asked them why they weren’t expanding. And their answer was, “Mr. President, with all due respect, your agenda”–healthcare mandates, tax increased headed their way, more and more burdensome regulation.  I mean, look at the new healthcare bill for example. There’s a provision in there that requires that small businesses send a 1099 form to the IRS for every vender they do $600 worth of business with.  That’s just a massive amount of paperwork and problems.  This administration…

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D-MI)

1) Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a member of the Sufi sect of Islam.
2) The Sufi sect is thought of as the most peaceful sect of Islam.
3) The Sufi sect is targeted by Al-Qaeda

GOV. GRANHOLM:  Well, I think that any time somebody stands up for the Constitution, which is exactly what he did, I don’t think there’s any disagreement that they have the right to be able to worship and to build on private property.  I don’t think anybody would disagree with that.  The question is whether it is a good decision on their part, right?  What’s the imam saying.  Now, the imam apparently is overseas and has been overseas on a State Department mission bridge building for three weeks.  And so the question is, what is the nature of this particular imam and the sect?  It’s a Sufi sect, apparently, and that’s supposed to be the most peaceful of all the–that sect is under attack by al-Qaeda.

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D-MI) | Michigan has the largest Arab-American population in the country.

GOV. GRANHOLM:  David, I called, because Michigan has the largest Arab-American population outside of the Middle East.

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D-MI) | A recent poll indicated that 85% of Americans don’t want to see Social Security cut to solve the deficit.

GOV. GRANHOLM:  Well, you know, no.  I think it’s far outside the mainstream. In fact, one of the things–you just held up Paul Ryan’s, you know, proposal regarding Medicare and regarding Social Security.  I think a lot of which you’ve jumped onto as well.  But there was a recent poll out that said that 85 percent of Americans don’t want to see Social Security cut to solve the, the deficit.

FMR. REP. DICK ARMEY (R-TX) | No Republicans/conservatives are suggesting that Social Security be dismantled.

REP. ARMEY:  Now, there’s nobody that’s talking about dismantling these systems.

FMR. REP. DICK ARMEY (R-TX) | Revenue in America doubled as a result of President Reagan cutting taxes.

REP. ARMEY:  Reagan cut taxes, revenue doubled.

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D-MI) | The CBO has said that cutting taxes for the wealthiest 2% of Americans is the least effective way to create jobs.

GOV. GRANHOLM:  It’s–the question is, should the tax cuts expire for the wealthiest 2 percent so that we can make the investments that will grow jobs? Yes.  That’s the most effective way of creating job growth.  The CBO has said that cutting taxes for the wealthiest 2 percent is the most ineffective way of creating job growth.

FMR. REP. RICK LAZIO (R-NY)

1) Within a month of Sept, 11, 2001, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said that Americans were “an accessory to the crime of 9/11.”
2) Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said that Osama bin Laden was created in America.
3) Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has made statements with the past several months that could be deemed supportive of Hamas.
4) Recently one of the Cordoba House developers said that they would consider taking money from Iran.

FMR. REP. LAZIO:  Well, first of all I would say, David, there are millions of peace-loving, good Muslims in America.  This Imam Rauf is not one of them.  He’s not a bridge builder.  This is a man, the very same month that people were burying their loved ones that were lost in 9/11, he said that America was an accessory to the crime of 9/11.  He said that Osama bin Laden was created in the USA.  He refuses, only months ago, to, to distance himself from Hamas, in fact, protecting him–protecting them, and only recently one of the developers said that they would consider taking money from Iran.

Did we miss something? Let us know!

If you can help us research them please either email us or (preferably) post your work in the comments below. Also also let us know how long you spent researching each fact.

THANKS!

Identifying and posting these statements took 1.5 hours.

POST YOUR RESEARCH HERE

So we’ve been over Sunday’s show a few times now, and while there were obviously some facts that were presented, we do not feel like there were really any important-to-check statements. Also the nature of the show, one long interview with a military commander, involved a lot more statements of opinion and analysis than would be in a typical Meet the Press with opposing viewpoints and data used to back them.  There were a few times that David Gregory used data to ask a question, which could of course be checked, but it seemed to fall into the realm of commonly known information as best we could judge.

Therefore, we have decided to not fact-check the show this week. That being said, if you find something in the transcript that you think needs our attention, please feel free to email us and we will happily look into it.

(Disclaimer: We are both also extremely busy this week with life stuff, thus this post appearing today instead of yesterday morning)

Tomorrow on the August 15, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

Interview:

Gen. David Patraeus
Commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan

This Sunday, we’ll have a special edition of “Meet the Press” from Afghanistan, with our exclusive guest Gen. David Petraeus, in his first interview since taking over as Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. With less than a year before the scheduled drawdown of troops, David Gregory goes one-on-one with the General to discuss the tough mission ahead and the U.S. strategy for winning this almost 9 year war.

The following is a fact-check from the August 8, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

ANDREA MITCHELL (NBC) | The debt commission was set up only after mostly Republican senators, who had previously supported it, abandoned the legislation. – TRUE

MS. MITCHELL: The reason the president appointed the debt commission was because some senators who had supported it… REP. FORD: Republican senators… MS. MITCHELL: …including mostly Republican senators, abandoned it. So they couldn’t pass the legislation which would have a debt commission with teeth.

Up for a vote back in January of 2010, the Conrad/Gregg commission proposal would have created the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action. It was co-sponsored by Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Judd Gregg (R-NH), the top Democrat and the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. It would have established an 18-member bipartisan commission to study the current and future fiscal condition of the federal government and make recommendations about how to cut the bulging deficit. The recommendations would have been voted on in the House and Senate floors under a special procedure.

The New York Times reported that President Obama endorsed the Senate bill to create a bipartisan budget commission, whose recommendations for cutting deficits would have to be voted on by Congress. But he also remained ready to establish a panel by executive order if the effort to do so by law failed.

PolitiFact reports that the measure would have passed with 60 votes if only seven additional Republicans who had co-sponsored the Conrad/Gregg proposal had voted for it. Instead, the seven senators — Robert Bennett of Utah, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Mike Crapo of Idaho, John Ensign of Nevada, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and John McCain of Arizona — withdrew their co-sponsorship in the days before the vote and then voted against it on the floor.

After the failed Conrad/Gregg proposal, President Obama followed through with what he had said and released an executive order to create a non-partisan commission to slash the deficit. Thus, we rate Ms. Mitchell’s statement TRUE.

The following fact-check took combined 1 hour.

The following is a fact-check from the August 8, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

REP. MIKE PENCE (R-IN) | The President’s “imposed” debt commission will not report until after the fall elections – MOSTLY TRUE

REP. PENCE: Look, we, we’ve got some terrific people on the Republican side working on the debt commission, and they’re working in good faith on it. But, but why, why the president imposed a debt commission that wouldn’t report until after the election was a bit telling.

According to the Executive Order given by President Obama, no later than December 1, 2010, the commission will vote on the approval of a final report containing a set of recommendations to achieve fiscal responsibility. President Obama did order the commission’s creation, but the commission is bi-partisan, containing 6 Republicans and 6 Democrats, as well as 3 business leaders and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute. So in theory, the bi-partisan members could approve the finished report before the elections because President Obama only made a December deadline. But realistically, with a hot button issue such as the national deficit, the members of the commission will probably take the full allotted time.

Mr. Pence is correct in that President Obama did set the deadline for the debt commission’s report after the elections (December 1), but because the commission’s members are made up of Democrats and Republicans equally and in theory, the report could be finished before the November elections, we won’t give Mr. Pence a complete true. We rate Mr. Pence’s statement MOSTLY TRUE.

This fact-check took a combined 1 hour.

The following is a fact-check from the August 8, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH)

1) Mark Zandi is a Republican. – FALSE

2) Economist Mark Zandi indicated several weeks ago that he thought raising taxes at this point in the economy was a very bad idea. – TRUE

REP. BOEHNER: Listen, you can’t raise taxes in the middle of a weak economy without risking the double-dip in this recession. President Obama’s favorite Republican economist, Mark Zandi, came out several weeks ago and made it clear that raising taxes at this point in, in the economy is a very bad idea.

Crowd-sourcer Peter Wagner looked into this statement, and here’s what he found:

On August 1st, the Washington Post published a number of economists and policy-makers opinions on the best options for the Bush tax cuts. Of those economists who provided a response was Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. Zandi stated that raising taxes when the “economy is so fragile would be a mistake.”

Therefore, Representative Boehner was correct on this point.

However, Rep. Boehner was incorrect as to Mr. Zandi’s party affiliation. Zandi, as early as 2009, has specified that he is “a registered Democrat.”

The confusion as to his political affiliation might stem from his collaboration with John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. His involvement with the McCain campaign can be traced to a long-time friend offering him a position within the campaigns economic advisory team. Then chief economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin brought Zandi into what was described as a “diverse team” of economic advisers.

While it is true that Mark Zandi worked for the McCain campaign, he has stated previously that he is a registered Democrat. He would not, however, reveal how he voted in the 2008 election. Rep. Boehner is therefore incorrect in his assessment of Mr. Zandi’s politics.

After reviewing Mr. Wagner’s work, we agree with his conclusions.

1) Mark Zandi is open about his political affiliation and has declared, “I’m a registered Democrat.” As Peter Wagner points out, the confusion over Mark Zandi’s political affiliation probably stands from his work on the John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008. So John Boehner is wrong on the assertion that Mark Zandi is a Republican, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NEV) has been wrong on the subject as well. Here’s the Washington Post quoting Harry Reid on Mark Zandi’s affiliation: “I think [he] is a Republican. I am pretty sure he is.” And Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) described Zandi on Fox News as a “conservative Republican.” So there is some general confusion on both aisles about Mark Zandi’s political affiliation, but regardless, John Boehner’s statement is incorrect, so we rate it FALSE.

2) Mark Zandi specifically says in a Washington Post article “raising taxes on anyone now, when the economic recovery is so fragile, would be a mistake.” Thus, we rate Mr. Boehner’s statement TRUE.

Special thanks crowd-sourcer Peter Wagner for assisting with this fact-check.

This fact-check took a combined 1 hour.

Here are the statements to fact-check from the August 8, 2010 Meet the Press:
VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT

If you can help us research them please either email us or (preferably) post your work in the comments below. (Anonymity is fine) Also let us know how long you spent researching each fact, we will be tracking it. While we will always fact-check as much as we can on our own, the success and depth of Meet the Facts is definitively improved by the crowd-sourcing of people like you – please help if you can!

Statements are listed in chronological order

CAROL BROWNER (White House Energy Adviser) | The oil spill recovery effort utilized 6,000 vessels and 40,000 people.

MS. BROWNER:  Well, I think it’s important to understand that this was the largest response to an environmental disaster.  We had over 6,000 vessels, more than 40,000 people, and the goal was to keep the oil off the beaches and out of the marshes and the estuaries.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH)

1) There are 40,000 wells operating in the Gulf Coast.
2) Gulf Coast oil drilling has been occurring for 60 years.
3) The oil drilling moratorium leaves 100,000 people out of work (was a statement of opinion, but let’s check it just to see if that’s right anyway)

REP. BOEHNER:  I believe the moratorium should be lifted.  We’ve been drilling in the Gulf Coast now for 60 years.  There are 40,000 wells operating in the Gulf Coast.  There clearly was a mistake made with regard to this one well, but I think that we’re risking 100,000 jobs in the Gulf Coast with the continuation of this moratorium, and I do believe that, that there are enough practices in place, enough safety precautions in place to allow this drilling to continue.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH) | Economist Mark Zandi indicated several weeks ago that he thought raising taxes at this point in the economy was a very bad idea.

REP. BOEHNER:  Listen, you can’t raise taxes in the middle of a weak economy without risking the double-dip in this recession.  President Obama’s favorite Republican economist, Mark Zandi, came out several weeks ago and made it clear that raising taxes at this point in, in the economy is a very bad idea.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH)  | There are 100 House seats “in play” this fall, and 94 of them are held by Democrats.

REP. BOEHNER:  Well, David, listen, it’s only August.  There are a lot of things that can happen between now and Election Day.  Is it possible?  Yes, it certainly is possible.  There are a hundred seats in play around the country, and 94 of them are held by Democrat members.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH) | There is still about $4-500 billion of the stimulus plan that has not been spent.

REP. BOEHNER:  Why don’t we stop the stimulus spending?  There’s still about $400 billion or $500 billion of the stimulus plan that has not been spent.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH) | In certain parts of America, schools and hospitals are being overwhelmed with undocumented immigrants.

REP. BOEHNER:  Listen, I think it’s worth considering.  But it’s a serious problem that affects our country.  And in certain parts of our country, clearly, our schools, our hospitals, are being overrun by illegal immigrants, a lot of whom came here just so their children could become U.S. citizens.

REP. MIKE PENCE (R-IN) | The current unemployment rate in America is the result of the failure of the Obama administration’s economic policies. [is that what he's saying here?]

REP. MIKE PENCE (R-IN):  Well, I think the, the way you resolve it is you focus on jobs.  I got to tell you, when I’m home in Muncie, Indiana, people are asking the question, “Where are the jobs?” I mean, we have more than 14 million Americans unemployed.  National unemployment is 9.5 percent.  Clearly, the economic policies of this administration, however well intentioned, have failed.

REP. MIKE PENCE (R-IN) | The President “imposed” a debt commission which would not report until after the fall elections.

REP. PENCE:  Look, we, we’ve got some terrific people on the Republican side working on the debt commission, and they’re working in good faith on it.  But, but why, why the president imposed a debt commission that wouldn’t report until after the election was a bit telling.

ANDREA MITCHELL (NBC) | The debt commission was set up only after mostly Republican senators, who had previously supported the debt commission, abandoned the legislation that would have established a commission with binding results.

MS. MITCHELL:  The reason the president appointed the debt commission was because some senators who had supported it…

REP. FORD:  Republican senators…

MS. MITCHELL:  …including mostly Republican senators, abandoned it.  So they couldn’t pass the legislation which would have a debt commission with teeth.

Did we miss something? Let us know!

If you can help us research them please either email us or (preferably) post your work in the comments below. Also also let us know how long you spent researching each fact.

THANKS!

Identifying and posting these statements took 2 hours.

POST YOUR RESEARCH HERE

The following is a fact-check from the August 1, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

MAYOR MIKE BLOOMBERG (I-NY) | The financial reform bill will give the SEC, Fed, and other agencies the responsibility to write regulations. – TRUE

MR. GREGORY: Today is Wall Street different, and will financial reform make Wall Street different?

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: The devil’s in the details. A 2,000-page bill that very few people have ever read, but it basically turns over to the SEC and the Fed and other agencies the responsibility to write regulations. This is a dream piece of legislation for lobbyists and for lawyers. And nobody knows the answer to your question.

According to the recently passed Financial Reform Bill, a new agency will be created, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which will be a part of the Federal Reserve and led by a director appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The CFPB was created to independently and autonomously write rules for consumer protections governing all entities – banks and non-banks – offering consumer financial services or products. The CFPB will have a dedicated budget paid by the Federal Reserve Board.

There will also be a new Financial Stability Oversight Council consisting of 9 expert members from the Federal Reserve Board, SEC, FDIC, the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other financial regulators. The council will be chaired by the Treasury Secretary with the sole responsibility to identify and respond to emerging risks throughout the financial system.

Through the new financial regulation, the SEC came out with new powers and will have to hire 800 new employees. Here is Mary Schapiro, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Chairwoman, at a congressional hearing over the subject from the Washington Post:

“The act requires the SEC to promulgate a large number of new rules, create five new offices, and conduct multiple studies, many within one year,” Schapiro told Congress in prepared testimony. “The importance and complexity of the rules coupled both with their timing and high volume and the rule writing agenda currently pending will make the upcoming rule writing process both logistically challenging and extremely labor intensive.”

The Washington Post reports that the SEC must work with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to write rules for derivatives, and the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to write rules requiring that banks that issue securities to the secondary market hold 5 percent of the investment on their own balance sheets — a “risk retention” measure.

The new financial legislation does give the SEC, the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators the ability to write new rules as the regulators deem fit to weed out systemic risk. Thus, we rate Mayor Bloomberg’s statement TRUE.

Special thanks to crowd-sourcer Shelley for assisting with this fact-check.

This fact-check took a combined 2 hours.