On February 2, 2011, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said , "The case against this bill is more compelling every day. Everything we learn tells us it was a bad idea. That it should be repealed and replaced. The courts say so. The American people say so. Job creators say so."
The Washington Post’s non-partisan Fact Checker took a look at this statement, element by element. You can read the analysis here, but below is a synopsis of what he found, as described in this “Pinocchio” test :
McConnell can certainly make a case for his statement, but some of his arguments are debatable. The line on "the courts" is a clear stretch: The score, at best, is 2-2, and none of these rulings mean very much at this point in the process. The line on "the American people" is pushing it as well, since even the polls cited by McConnell's spokesman do not show a clear majority in favor of repeal. More nuanced polls, meanwhile, indicate support for full repeal is limited to a relatively small core of opponents. McConnell can certainly cite a long list of business organizations supporting appeal. The overall effect of his statement suggests greater support for repeal than the data shows, so it just qualifies for one Pinocchio, which, according to our rating scale, constitutes "some omissions and exaggerations, but no outright falsehoods."
The Washington Post’s non-partisan Fact Checker took a look at this statement, element by element. You can read the analysis here, but below is a synopsis of what he found, as described in this “Pinocchio” test :
McConnell can certainly make a case for his statement, but some of his arguments are debatable. The line on "the courts" is a clear stretch: The score, at best, is 2-2, and none of these rulings mean very much at this point in the process. The line on "the American people" is pushing it as well, since even the polls cited by McConnell's spokesman do not show a clear majority in favor of repeal. More nuanced polls, meanwhile, indicate support for full repeal is limited to a relatively small core of opponents. McConnell can certainly cite a long list of business organizations supporting appeal. The overall effect of his statement suggests greater support for repeal than the data shows, so it just qualifies for one Pinocchio, which, according to our rating scale, constitutes "some omissions and exaggerations, but no outright falsehoods."
