Here are the fact-checkable statements from the May 23, 2010 episode of Meet the Press.
Transcript | Video
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SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | Rand Paul is leading Jack Conway by 25 points in the KY Senate race. – CHECKED: TRUE
SEN. CORNYN:Â But the fact of the matter is Rand Paul’s leading his opponent in the, in the general election by 25 points.
RAND PAUL (video) | The US has an annual deficit of $2 trillion. – CHECKED: HALF TRUE The interest to that debt is $383 billion. – CHECKED: TRUE
DR. PAUL: We have an annual deficit of nearly $2 trillion. Interest alone on the debt is $383 billion. I think there is a day of reckoning coming. I don’t want that day of reckoning to involve chaos as we’re seeing in Greece.
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ) | At the time the Obama administration took over, the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, a trillion dollars in tax cuts, and a new entitlement program were all unpaid for.
SEN. MENENDEZ:Â Well, we’ll have to remind, David, the, the public that Republicans left this president and this Democratic majority with two wars raging abroad unpaid for, a couple of trillion dollars in tax cuts unpaid for, a new entitlement program unpaid for;
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) – CHECKED: 4 RESULTS
1) Since President Obama was sworn into office the national debt has increased 23%.
2) Under Obama’s budget the debt-to-GDP ratio will increase to 90% by 2020.
3) Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 115%
SEN. CORNYN: There they go again blaming it on George Bush. I don’t know when this administration, when the Democratic leadership that got the majority in November 2008 are going to take responsibility for the 23 percent increase in the national debt since President Obama was sworn into office. Under the president’s own budget, our debt-to-GDP ratio will be up to 90 percent by 2020, 90 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Greece is at a 115 percent
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | A recent NY Times poll said that 57% of independents sympathize with the tea party movement. – CHECKED: FALSE
SEN. CORNYN:Â The fact is, as a New York Times poll said recently, that 57 percent of independents, the people who actually win elections, or, or tip the balance of elections, sympathize with the tea party movement.
REP. JOE SESTAK (D-PA)
1) There is currently $80-100 billion in tax loopholes for Wall Street.
2) There is currently $80 billion in tax loopholes for oil companies.
3) Oil companies are currently having record profits. – CHECKED: HALF TRUE
4) There is currently $352 billion in tax loopholes for individuals and small businesses.
MR. GREGORY:Â …which is what specific, painful choice would you advocate as United States senator to deal with the debt?
REP. SESTAK: Close those tax loopholes. All right? Carried interest for Wall Street upwards of $80 billion to $100 billion a year, they get taxed at 15 percent. Eighty billion dollars for tax loopholes for oil companies that literally have record profits, $352 billion a year that’s not collected in taxes from small businesses and individuals…(unintelligible)…corporations.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | 56% of Americans want to repeal the healthcare bill. – CHECKED: LIKELY FALSE
SEN. CORNYN:Â Sixty percent of the people–I think it’s 56 percent nationwide–believe the healthcare bill that my friend Mr. Menendez and my friend Mr. Sestak support, they want to repeal it because they realize we can’t afford because it raises premiums, raises taxes, and cuts Medicare in order to create a new entitlement program.
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ) | CT Senate candidate Linda McMahon tried to intervene in an investigation on narcotics use in the professional wrestling industry.
SEN. MENENDEZ: These are, these are the veterans of Connecticut. But, listen, I’ll, I’ll take a crusading attorney general who did serve in the Marines vs. John’s candidate who–Linda McMahon–who actually operated the World Wrestling Entertainment which became a dirty business. She tried to intervene in an investigation on a narcotics issue in, in that industry. She peddled violence to kids, let wrestlers have their bodies ultimately be damaged, all for the purposes of making money.
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ) | There are 12 million unauthorized immigrants in America. – CHECKED: TRUE
SEN. MENENDEZ:Â And I’ve said to–you know, I’ve mentioned various times that the governor of Arizona should speak to her two U.S. senators and to her Republican colleagues in the Senate to make sure that they join us in an effort to make sure we control the borders and, at the same, time deal with the 12 million people in this country.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)
1) The “Arizona bill” expressly bans racial profiling.
2) Pres. Obama’s budget essentially maintains previous level of spending for securing the border.
3) 23,000 people have died in Mexico since 2006.
SEN. CORNYN: David, I wish that the president of the United States, the president of Mexico, the attorney general, and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security would have done what anybody can do with Internet access, which is to download a copy of the Arizona bill and read it for themselves. It expressly bans racial profiling. And, frankly, the people of Arizona have had to step up in the absence of a sensible immigration reform plan, starting with border security. The president’s budget is essentially a flatline in terms of additional boots on the ground and additional resources to, to secure the border, with drug wars raging in Mexico–23,000 people have died in Mexico since 2006. This is having a spillover effect in the United States, and we’ve got to secure the border as a predicate to dealing with the larger issue.
ANDREA MITCHELL (NBC) | The Gulf of Mexico accident was preventable. Negligence was involved.
MS. MITCHELL: Yes, but this is not an inevitable accident. This was an accident caused by systems that were not there, systems that they had promised would be there, valves, we are now reading today, that were, were disregarded. There are, there are real mistakes here that need to be fixed
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