Who watches the watchdogs?
Politfact made news last year when it said that the claim ObamaCare was a “government takeover” of health care was the “lie of the year.” Pretty damning stuff, no?
But does this news service, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009, shoot straight (oops! Did I just incite violence?) when it evaluates the claims of various politicians? Two recent developments make me wonder.
First, it’s in a dispute in Texas, which like most states, faces a budgetary shortfall. A liberal group says the shortfall is $27 billion. Conservative (and state officials) say it’s more like $11 billion to $16 billion. Polifact, appearing to be the impartial arbiter of truth, labeled that claim“false.”
But is it really? It looks that the organization has omitted some significant details from its analysis. At least that’s the word from the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
On the national level, PoliFact may be doing some sloppy work as well.
Questions about state and national budgets will always be contentious. Self-appointed arbiters of claims in the political sphere ought to disclose as much information as they have, so that readers can fact-check the fact checkers.
http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/watercooler/index.php?blogid=1451