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)Â | 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:Â The reason the president appointed the debt commission was because some senators who had supported it…
REP. FORD:Â 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.
