The following is a fact-check from the July 18, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD)

1) Last week’s Washington Post/ABC News poll indicated that respondents had less confidence in Congressional Republicans than Democrats – TRUE

2) Over the course of the Bush [43] administration 600,000 private sector jobs were lost – TRUE

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, David, if you look at that Washington Post/ABC poll, the most, I think, interesting fact that came out of it, and the one that was right on the front page, was the fact that the American people have a lot less confidence in Republicans in Congress than they do in Democrats in Congress, and that’s not surprising. It’s pretty fresh in their memory exactly what those Republican policies did to the economy. After all, during the whole eight years of the Bush administration, we actually lost over 600,000 private sector jobs.

1) We tracked down the Washington Post/ABC News poll and according to their statistics, 75% don’t trust the Republicans in Congress to make the right decisions for the country’s future. 24 percent do, which is up 5 points from October. 68% don’t trust decision-making by the Democrats in Congress, up 12 points since January. Distrust is high in both parties, but since the distrust is higher for the Republicans (75%) than the Democrats (68%), we rate Rep. Van Hollen’s statement TRUE.

2) According to the BLS seasonally adjusted figures, there were 111,624,000 people employed in the private sector at the end of February 2001, and 110,961,000 people at the end of January 2009. That’s a total decrease of 663,000 jobs. Although, there is a disparity of 63,000 jobs between the actual number and Rep. Van Hollen’s statement, he understated the number, which works against his interests.  Thus, we rate Rep. Van Hollen’s statement TRUE.

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

This fact-check took a combined 1.5 hours.

The following is a fact-check from the July 18, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX) | The Tea Party movement is comprised of about 1/3 Democrats, 1/3 Republicans, and 1/3 independents – FALSE

REP. SESSIONS: I think it’s clear to me that what–when I look at the tea party, it’s about one-third Democrat, one-third Republican, one-third independents.

According to the April CBS News/New York Times poll that looked at the makeup of the Tea Party, 54% of members call themselves Republicans, 41% call themselves Independents, and 5% call themselves Democrats. In an earlier March USA Today/Gallup poll, 49% of Tea Party members called themselves Republicans, 43% Independents, and 8% referred to themselves as Democrats. That same poll was used with two other Gallup polls, the latest in June, all together indicating even less consider themselves Independents or Democrats:

Since we prefer to take a look at statements in a fairly technical sense, Rep. Sessions does preface his statement with “I think it’s clear to me that” which could be used to show he is stating his opinion rather than a fact. However, it seems fairly obvious to us that he was attempting to state that the Tea Party is almost perfectly balanced ideologically, but it’s reasonable to assume he has seen/heard the heavily reported data that has indicated the opposite. Frankly, we are also inclined to give none of the guests this week any benefit of the doubt, as all are party campaign committee chairmen and spoke so often in talking points.

Sooner or later we may need to come up with a stronger worded conclusion than “FALSE” for statements like this, but for now, because there is no basis in any data we could find to correlate Rep. Sessions’ statement that the Tea Party is made of up of equal parts Republican, Democrat and Independent, we rate his statement FALSE.

This fact-check took a combined 2 hours.

UPDATE/ED NOTE: As a rule, Meet the Facts will never weigh in on whether or not a statement is a “lie” – it is simply impossible to ever know for sure if someone is deliberately making a false statement. Obviously lying is most likely commonplace in the world of politics, but it is not something we believe we have the right to conclude on one way or the other. We believe readers can and will make up their own minds.

**A previous version of this post included a typo incorrectly stating that Rep. Sessions represented the state of Alabama, he represents the 32nd district of Texas.**

Here are the statements to fact-check from the July 18, 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. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ)

1) Over the course of the Bush [43]administration there was a 72% increase in the national debt, from $5.7 trillion to $9.8 trillion.
2) At the end of the Bush [43]administration, the U.S. had a $1.5 trillion budget deficit.

SEN. MENENDEZ:  And it’s not just talking about President Bush, it’s the policies that they espouse that are in essence Bush’s policies.  Those led us to a 72 percent increase in the debt from $5.7 trillion to $9.8 trillion when Bush left.  It led us to a massive elimination of the surplus that Bill Clinton gave George Bush, and he had a $1.5 trillion deficit when he left office.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD)

1) Last week’s Washington Post/ABC News poll indicated that respondents had less confidence in Congressional Republicans than Democrats.
2) Over the course of the Bush [43] administration 600,000 private sector jobs were lost.
3) Currently the US is experiencing positive job growth.
4) Last week Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) said he would move to repeal the financial reform bill.

REP. VAN HOLLEN:  Well, David, if you look at that Washington Post/ABC poll, the most, I think, interesting fact that came out of it, and the one that was right on the front page, was the fact that the American people have a lot less confidence in Republicans in Congress than they do in Democrats in Congress, and that’s not surprising.  It’s pretty fresh in their memory exactly what those Republican policies did to the economy.  After all, during the whole eight years of the Bush administration, we actually lost over 600,000 private sector jobs.  We’re now seeing positive job growth. And the good news, I think, for the American people is our Republican colleagues are reminding people every day that they would adopt the same policies they had before.  John Boehner, the Republican leader, just this week said that he’s going to move to repeal the Wall Street reform bill.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | President Obama’s approval rating is about 38% among independent voters.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX):  The president’s approval rating’s about 38 percent among independent voters

DAVID GREGORY (NBC) | Last week on Meet the Press White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said/indicated that “Democrats are in trouble in the House”

MR. GREGORY:  Well, and we’ll get into some of the issues.  I want to go back to Congressman Van Hollen on some of the fallout from the news that was made right here last Sunday, Robert Gibbs stating what a lot of people in politics thought was obvious, which is that Democrats are in trouble in the House, they could indeed lose majority status in the House.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | Congressional Republicans blocked a recent piece of legislation designed to restrict tax incentives for American companies that employ people in countries other than than the U.S.

REP. VAN HOLLEN:  I mean, frankly, you know, John Cornyn and his allies have been trying to block a whole lot of very important jobs measures.  We in fact sent a piece of legislation over very recently that would remove these perverse tax incentives to ship American jobs overseas, that give American corporations a bonus if they ship American jobs overseas.  Pete and his colleagues voted against getting rid of that loophole.

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ)

1) Sen. John Kyl said that $680 billion in tax cuts would not have to be paid for, that it could be added onto the debt.
2) During the first six months of the Obama administration, 2.9 million jobs were lost.
3) In the first six months of 2010, 890,000 jobs have been created.

SEN. MENENDEZ:  …positive or negative, may be viewed that way.  But look, when John Kyl says that you don’t have to pay for $680 billion of tax cuts whatsoever, just add it onto the debt, but you can’t even take care of $30 billion to have people who are unemployed in this country get through the emergency of the moment, you know, it’s a big difference.  And when we look at jobs, the reality is we lost 2.9 million jobs in the first six months of the president’s time that he inherited from Bush.  We created 860,000 jobs in the first six months of this year.  That’s a 3.7 million…

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | The day President Bush [43] left office, the U.S. was losing 700,000 jobs a month.

REP. VAN HOLLEN:  Well, what you’re, what you’re hearing is–as, as Bob said, look, we know that we have a long way to go on the economy.  People are still hurting, that’s absolutely clear.  But we also know what the American people know, which is the day George Bush lost–left office, we were losing 700,000 jobs a month.

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R- TX) | In the 12 years before the Obama administration began[?], the US economy doubled in size.

REP. SESSIONS:  First of all, it’s not truthful.  People had jobs when Republicans were, not only in charge, but George Bush was there.  We doubled the size of the economy over 12 years.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)

1) In 2008 the US budget deficit was 3.2% of the US gross domestic product.
2) Now the US budget deficit is 10% of the US gross domestic product.

SEN. CORNYN:  Well, let’s look at a few facts.  I, I, thank you for the opportunity because I wanted to respond to what Chris said.  You know, in the last year that President Bush was in office, 2008, the deficit was 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product.  Today it’s 10 percent.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)

1) US unemployment was “roughly” 6.9% on November 4, 2008.
2) Now it is 9.5%.

SEN. CORNYN:  You’re ignoring the stimulus that was–failed according to the own, the president’s own standards.  He said it was supposed to keep unemployment to 8 percent.  A $2.6 trillion healthcare bill, which I agree with, with Pete, will bankrupt not only the private sector but the states and the federal government creating a new entitlement program.  My point is that, you know, unemployment was roughly 6.9 percent when President Obama was elected.  Now it’s 9.5 percent.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | Congressional Republicans [leadership?] have said that they will only support extending tax cuts for those who make less than $250,000 a year if the Bush era tax cuts for those making over $250,000 a year are also extended.

REP. VAN HOLLEN:  They’ve said we’re only going support a continuation of middle class tax cuts, those for people under $250,000, if you also extend the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | Regarding the financial reform bill, Sen. Chris Dodd said “We don’t know exactly how this will impact the economy or our financial systems for some time to come.”

SEN. CORNYN:  Well, I think–I mean, this is a 2,300-page bill that not even Chris Dodd, the principal Senate author, knows–he said, “We don’t know exactly how this will impact the economy or our financial systems for some time to come.”

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ)

1) 2 weeks before the financial reform bill was passed a hedge fund manager raised $1 million for Republican candidates.
2) Senate Republicans attempted to “stop” the financial reform bill 4 times.

SEN. MENENDEZ: On Wall Street reform, look, two weeks before, two weeks before the Wall Street reform bill was passed, you know, a hedge fund manager ultimately raised a million dollars for Republican candidates two weeks before the bill was being voted on, and they tried to stop us four times in the Senate before we got the Wall Street reform.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD) | The CBO said that over a 20 year period the health care reform bill would reduce the deficit by $1.4 trillion.

REP. VAN HOLLEN:  The fact is, as the CBO has, has scored, which is the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, that if you look at a 20-year period, you actually reduce the deficit by $1.4 trillion, which means if you do what they want to do and repeal it, they’re actually adding to the deficit.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) | Currently, the unemployment rate in Nevada is 14%. [Sen. Cornyn also seems to be suggesting that it is a result of Sen. Harry Reid being in Congress for 27 years]

SEN. CORNYN: And if, if folks like in Nevada, for example, 14 percent unemployment since Harry Reid–now that Harry Reid is running for re-election, 20–after 27 years in the United States Congress, if you want to continue those policies and those sorts of results, then go ahead and vote for Harry Reid.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX)

1) Sen. Harry Reid called Alan Greenspan a “hack.”
2) In 2007 Sen. Harry Reid said that the Iraq war had been lost and that the “surge” would not be effective.
3) Sen. Harry Reid called a former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “incompetent.”

SEN. CORNYN:  Well, let’s, let’s look what Harry Reid has said.  He’s called the former chairman of the Federal Reserve a hack.  He declared the Iraq war lost and the surge a failure before it even started in 2007.  And he called the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff incompetent.

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX) | The Tea Party movement is comprised of about 1/3 Democrats, 1/3 Republicans, and 1/3 independents

REP. SESSIONS:  I think it’s clear to me that what–when I look at the tea party, it’s about one-third Democrat, one-third Republican, one-third independents.

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The following is a fact-check from the July 11, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

ROBERT GIBBS (White House Press Secretary)

1) The US currently produces 2% of the world’s batteries – TRUE

2) As a result of Recovery Act investment, met with private capital, the US will [are projected to] manufacture 40% of the world’s batteries by 2015 – TRUE

MR. GIBBS: The president will travel this week to Holland, Michigan. Michigan, everybody in this country knows, is, is, is home to auto manufacturing in a big way. But what the president’s going to go visit is the ninth of nine advanced battery manufacturing plants–this will be a ground breaking–that will create jobs, that will supply advanced batteries for the Chevy Volt, an electric car that Chevy’s going to manufacture and will get a hundred miles on a single charge. This is the ninth of nine that’s are–as a result of that recovery act plan. Just in 2010, we produced 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries. In other words, to produce something like the Chevy Volt, we were going to have to bring batteries in from overseas. As a result of this Recovery Act investment that is met with private capital, in just five years, by 2015, we’ll manufacture 40 percent of the world’s batteries. That creates the jobs of tomorrow. So we have a choice. Are we going to go back to the movie that we’ve already seen and we know the results, or are we going to look forward?

1) According to a Department of Energy report released on July 14, 2010, which discusses the Obama administration’s stimulus grants to battery and electric vehicle plants, the United States had only two factories manufacturing advanced vehicle batteries and produced less than two percent of the world’s advanced vehicle batteries. Also, according to the Department of Energy, 98% of the lithium-ion batteries that power personal electronics are made in Asia and 99% of the batteries that power America’s hybrid cars are made in Japan. We rate Robert Gibbs’s statement TRUE.

2) According to the same Department of Energy report, by 2015 40% of the world’s advanced vehicle batteries should be produced in the U.S. Here is the Department of Energy:

In 2009, the United States had only two factories manufacturing advanced vehicle batteries and produced less than two percent of the world’s advanced vehicle batteries. By 2012, thanks in part to the Recovery Act, 30 factories will be online and the U.S. will have the capacity to produce 20 percent of the world’s advanced vehicle batteries. By 2015, this share will be 40 percent.

We rate Robert Gibbs’s statement TRUE.

Special thanks to crowd-sourcer Shelley9595 for assisting with this fact-check.

This fact-check took (at least) a combined 2 hours.

The following is a fact-check from the July 11, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

ED GILLESPIE (Republican Strategist)

1) After the Bush administration tax cuts, there were 52 months of continuous job creation – TRUE

2) 52 months of job creation is the largest such period in American history – TRUE

MR. GILLESPIE: Well, my point was not wanting to go back to the math because the fact is, under the Bush tax cuts, we did have 52 months of–in uninterrupted job creation, longest in the history of the country…

According to both CBS News and FactCheck.org, jobs were created for an uninterrupted period of 52 months from August 2003 to December 2007, which was indeed a record for consecutive job growth in the U.S. But as FactCheck.org points out, looking only at this record could be misleading, for while it is indeed the longest consecutive period of job creation, the number of jobs created during that period was not especially large. 8.3 million jobs were added between August 2003 and December 2007, but over the course of the Clinton administration, for instance, 22.7 million jobs were added during a period when there were also seven months which included declines (thus making that growth non-continuous). Therefore it would be difficult to argue that this was either a period of particularly substantial job creation or that the record continuity of that creation was ultimately more significant. It’s also not clear what role the Bush tax cuts had to play with regards to the job creation rate.

1) Because Mr. Gillespie’s statement that there were 52 months of continuous job creation is technically true, we must rate it TRUE – but believe that the overall context is somewhat misleading.

2) We rate Mr. Gillespie’s statement that the 52 month growth period was the largest in American history TRUE.

This fact-check took a combined 3 hours.

The following is a fact-check from the July 11, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

DAVID GREGORY | The stimulus has produced less jobs than were promised, with unemployment at 9.5% instead of 8% as promised – TRUE

MR. GREGORY: And we know that there’s a sense that even the stimulus is not producing the jobs that it was promised to; 9.5 percent unemployment now. The original reporting was we’d keep unemployment with the stimulus at 8 percent.

Both Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers for the Obama administration, and Jared Bernstein, Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to the Vice President, co-authored the report, The Job Impact Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The report details that without the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the unemployment rate would reach 9% and with the recovery plan, the unemployment rate would stay under 8%. Accordingly, 19 months later and with the Obama administration’s enacted Recovery plan, the unemployment rate currently sits at 9.5%. Thus, because the unemployment rate is 1.5% higher than stated in the report, we rate David Gregory’s statement TRUE.

This fact-check took 1 hour.

The following are the statements to fact-check from the July 11, 2010 episode of 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

ROBERT GIBBS (White House Press Secretary)

1) In the last 6 months of 2008 the economy lost 3 million jobs.
2) In the first six months of 2010, 600,000 private sector jobs were created.
3) The US currently produces 2% of the world’s batteries.
4) As a result of Recovery Act investment (met with private capital), the US will [are projected to?] manufacture 40% of the world’s batteries by 2015.

MR. GIBBS:  Well, David, I don’t think it’s surprising that the American people are frustrated after having lost eight and a half million jobs.  But that’s exactly the argument that he’s making.  Understand, the last six months of 2008, right, we saw an economy that shed three million jobs.  The first six months of 2010, this economy has created 600,000 private sector jobs.  The, the point the president was making and the point that the president will make this fall is, do you want to go backward to an economy that led us into this mess, that saw the greatest financial calamity since the Great Depression, that turned record surpluses into record deficits?  Or do you want to continue on the track that the president has put us on, that has started to create private sector jobs.

The president will travel this week to Holland, Michigan.  Michigan, everybody in this country knows, is, is, is home to auto manufacturing in a big way. But what the president’s going to go visit is the ninth of nine advanced battery manufacturing plants–this will be a ground breaking–that will create jobs, that will supply advanced batteries for the Chevy Volt, an electric car that Chevy’s going to manufacture and will get a hundred miles on a single charge.  This is the ninth of nine that’s are–as a result of that recovery act plan.  Just in 2010, we produced 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries.  In other words, to produce something like the Chevy Volt, we were going to have to bring batteries in from overseas.  As a result of this Recovery Act investment that is met with private capital, in just five years, by 2015, we’ll manufacture 40 percent of the world’s batteries.  That creates the jobs of tomorrow.  So we have a choice.  Are we going to go back to the movie that we’ve already seen and we know the results, or are we going to look forward?

DAVID GREGORY (NBC) | The stimulus has produced less jobs than were promised, with unemployment at 9.5% instead of 8% as promised.

MR. GREGORY:  And we know that there’s a sense that even the stimulus is not producing the jobs that it was promised to; 9.5 percent unemployment now.  The original reporting was we’d keep unemployment with the stimulus at 8 percent.

ROBERT GIBBS (White House Press Secretary)

1) In the last two quarters of the Bush administration the economy was contracting by 6%.
2) Now the economy is growing by 3%.

MR. GIBBS:  Well, let’s take a look at it.  Again, the quarter before–the, the two quarters of economic growth that we had before the president came to office, our economy was contracting by 6 percent.  Now we’re growing by 3 percent.

ROBERT GIBBS (White House Press Secretary)

1) John Boehner would be Speaker of the House if the Republicans regained the majority in the House of Representatives.
2) Last week Rep. John Boehner compared the financial problems of 2008 to an ant.

MR. GIBBS:  Well, look, let’s take financial recovery as something were, again, we can look backward and we can look forward.  John Boehner, who would be the speaker of the House if the Republicans were to take the House back over, last week equated the wreckage that was left as a result of the financial calamity to an ant, OK?

DAVID GREGORY (NBC) | Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee 90% of US mortgages.

MR. GREGORY:  …proved unsuccessful.  And the, the two largest former private companies and now quasi-government agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they guarantee 90 percent of the mortgages in this country.

DAVID GREGORY (NBC) Vs ROBERT GIBBS | [Possibly more of a clarification than a fact-check] What are the differences, if any, between the Bush and Obama administration’s policies regarding North Korea and Iran?

MR. GREGORY:  More broadly on foreign policy, I can remember back two years ago, as you certainly can, July of 2008, the president giving a major foreign policy speech in Berlin.  Still a candidate and yet really well received. This was, in effect, an attempt to show the world a new face of foreign policy that would happen under President Barack Obama.  And yet, as the president tried to do a 180 from Bush foreign policy, you find how difficult it is.  The promise to close down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, yet it’s still open.  The Afghanistan war is not scaled down, it’s been escalated.  This administration has upheld the state secrets exemption in its pursuit of terrorists legally. It appears the worst-kept secret in Washington is that there appears to be abandoned plans to put Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in front of a civilian trial. Same strategy for North Korea and Iran basically.

MR. GIBBS:  Well, hold on, let’s…

MR. GREGORY:  Yeah.

MR. GIBBS:  I hate to interrupt, but let’s understand this.  We have the toughest sanctions on North Korea that we’ve ever had as a result of unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution.

MR. GREGORY:  Same strategy.  Same strategy.

MR. GIBBS:  Same strategy…

MR. GREGORY:  Pursued by the Bush administration.

MR. GIBBS:  More important, better tactics.  We’ve got the strongest sanctions regime on Iran that has ever been in place.  And, David, go back…

MR. GREGORY:  Same strategy as the Bush administration.

MR. GIBBS:  But, but understand–let’s go back to the Bush administration.

MR. GREGORY:  Yeah.

MR. GIBBS:  You brought this up.  I know the next panel’s going to say I blamed this all on the Bush administration…

MR. GREGORY:  No, no, no.  But can I just finish?

MR. GIBBS:  But–let me…

MR. GREGORY:  The predicate here, which is, is it harder to do a reversal from Bush foreign policy than you originally thought?

MR. GIBBS:  No, because I think you’ve greatly oversimplified it.  It–if you ask Ed Gillespie, ask any of the folks that you had right now, if in September of 2008 or October of 2008 or November of 2008 whether China and Russia were going to come on board for strengthening sanctions against Iran.  The answer to that would be a flat no.  You wouldn’t have gotten to the security council because you would have had at least two countries raise their hand to veto those.  This president has put together a coalition that includes Russia and China, that’s actually strengthened our sanctions regime on South Korea***(as spoken).  We have better relationships with virtually every country in the world as a result of the president’s foreign policy outreach.  We’re reducing nuclear weapons in this world that we know can cause the type of calamity, whether, whether they accidentally launch or whether they fell, fell into the hands of a terrorist.  There’s no doubt, David, that we have taken foreign policy in a different direction.  We have improved relationships with countries, but not just as a means to an ends.  That’s actually making our country safer and more secure as a result.  I, I think you created oversimplified sort of what the president is trying to do, because the things that he’s instituted couldn’t have been done in the last administration.

MR. GREGORY:  Right.  But those are all accurate issues?  I mean, I didn’t misstate any of that, did I?

MR. GIBBS:  Well, I think I–I think you and I had a little interchange there on North Korea and Iran because, again, whether you go through the same strategy is not necessarily what is at case here, and that is we have built–and the president has taken a different strategy with Iran, right?  He said to the world, “I’m happy to discuss Iran with Iran if its–if it will come to the table and live up to its obligations.” That’s what brought the Chinese and the Russians to the table at the United Nations.  That’s what showed the world that it wasn’t, it wasn’t anything that had to do with American or our allied aggression toward Iran, it was that Iran was hiding a secret nuclear weapons program.  And if Iran is unwilling to, in front of the world, discuss that, as the president invited them to do, then it becomes clear for everybody in the world that this is an Iranian secret nuclear weapons program.  That’s why everybody’s at the table, and that’s what we have the strongest sanctions regime on Iran that we’ve ever had.

ED GILLESPIE (Republican strategist)

1) The national deficit is currently $1.4 trillion.
2) The national debt is currently $13 trillion.
3) The Obama administration has doubled the national debt since taking office.
4) Under Obama administration policies, the national debt will triple in 10 years.

MR. ED GILLESPIE:  The fact is that we’ve got unemployment at 9.5 percent.  They said it wasn’t going to go above 8 when they passed the stimulus.  We have a $1.4 trillion deficit.  We have $13 trillion in debt.  They’ve doubled it since coming in, and they’re going to triple it in 10 years.

RACHEL MADDOW (NBC) | During the Bush administration while the Republicans controlled Congress, the following government actions were instituted without any plan to pay for them: the Iraq war, the Afghan war, the [Medicare] prescription drug plan, and two tax cuts.

MS. MADDOW:  Well, you end, you end up with the situation which again you’re back to choice vs. referendum because Republicans, like great strategists like Mr. Gillespie, can argue about how it’s all about spending, it’s all about debt.  But it’s not just talking about the past to say, “When Republicans have had the reins, this is what they’ve done:  two wars not paid for, prescription drug benefit not paid for, two tax cuts that mostly benefited the rich not paid for.” They put all that stuff on the deficit, $1.3 trillion sitting there as–in a deficit when Obama took over, after the previous Democratic president had handed him a surplus.  If you talk about–if Republicans want to run as this fiscally responsible party, it’s neat, but it’s novel.  It’s not how they’ve actually governed.

ED GILLESPIE (Republican strategist) | Virginia governor Bob McDonnell eliminated a $4.2 billion budget deficit, which was the largest deficit in the history of the state.

MR. GILLESPIE:  Oh, I think, I think there’s a great opportunity for conservative policies, and I think the public is open to hearing from us on that.  And I just disagree with David.  Look, in New Jersey and Virginia, we have two Republican governors just been elected, one in a purple state, Virginia, one in a deep blue state, or at least royal blue, New Jersey, who are acting on what they said they would do, they’re governing as they campaigned.  In New Jersey, Governor Christie is trying to change the tailspin, turn things around in New Jersey, taking on the government employee unions there.  In Virginia, Bob McDonnell as governor eliminated a $4.2 billion deficit, the largest in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia. We will govern as we said we would.

RACHEL MADDOW (NBC)

1) Extending unemployment benefits have been proven to work in stimulating the economy during a recession
2) Congressional Republicans are currently blocking the extension of unemployment benefits

MS. MADDOW:  If you really want, if you really want a stimulus, do what we–what’s proven to work in stimulus, which is things like extending unemployment benefits, which is something that Republicans are completely blocking.

ED GILLESPIE (Republican strategist)

1) After the Bush administration tax cuts, there were 52 months of continuous job creation. (and)
2) It was the largest such period in American history.
3) US revenues in 2007 were the highest in American history.

MR. GILLESPIE:  Well, my point was not wanting to go back to the math because the fact is, under the Bush tax cuts, we did have 52 months of–in uninterrupted job creation, longest in the history of the country, and revenues were at an all-time high in 2007.  The problem wasn’t lack of revenue, the problem still remains today too much federal spending, and this administration’s not addressing that.

REP. HAROLD FORD JR. (D)

1) Similar statement to Ms. Maddow’s above regarding Bush administration spending.
2) The Medicare prescription plan passed under the Bush administration was the largest entitlement program passed since the introduction of Medicare.

REP. FORD:  Because–largely because people don’t see job numbers and the economy improving for middle class people, for small business owners.  Again, Republicans can’t–aren’t totally off the hook.  Rachel is right.  We–I was there when the Medicare drug prescription bill passed.  That’s the largest entitlement that we’ve passed since–with the introduction of Medicare.  The fact is the tax cuts, these things were not paid for, the war was not paid for.  However, when you become president, you can’t argue all the time that the last guy before you created all the problems and he deserves no credit. TARP was a George Bush idea.  The Detroit bailout was a part of a, a Bush idea.  The reality is people are going to look at today.

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50% of our team today is on vacation in another country and the other 50% is at work, but you can still expect checkable statements from today’s Meet the Press (Robert Gibbs, David Brooks, Ed Gillespie, Harold Ford Jr, and Rachel Maddow) – they just probably won’t arrive until late tonight, very early tomorrow morning…

Stay tuned!

Just in case you didn’t know, NBC ran Wimbledon yesterday instead, but Meet the Press will be back next week.

The following is a fact-check from the June 27, 2010 episode of Meet the Press.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)

1) White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel appeared on Meet the Press on June 20, 2010 – FALSE

2) Last week White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reiterated the Obama administration’s plan to begin withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in mid-2011 – TRUE

3) The president’s spokesperson [Robert Gibbs] said, regarding the date for the beginning of withdrawal, “It’s etched in stone, and he has the chisel” – TRUE

SEN. McCAIN: Rahm Emanuel on your program last, last Sunday reiterated the commitment to leaving middle of 2011. The president’s spokesperson said, “It’s etched in stone, and he has the chisel.”

A few more quick Sen. McCain checks to round out what has turned into “McCain Day” here at Meet the Facts:

1) This one is pretty minor but we’ll point it out anyway. Rahm Emanuel did not appear on Meet the Press on June 20, 2010, he appeared on ABC’s This Week with host (and fact-check proponent) Jake Tapper. Though this is most likely a harmless misstatement, Sen. McCain’s statement is obviously FALSE.

2) However, on This Week Rahm Emanuel did in fact reiterate the Obama administration’s date of mid-year 2011 to begin the withdrawal of troops. Thus, we rate Sen. McCain’s statement TRUE.

3) According to CBS news, the White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs did report the President saying the withdrawal date is etched in stone and that the President even has the chisel. Thus, we will rate Sen. McCain’s statement TRUE.

This fact-check took a combined 1 hour.