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

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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.

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