This site is here to help you learn the truth about Alaska governor Sarah Palin. She and the McCain campaign are creating a story about her which is not supported in any way by the facts. They have already told dozens of outright, verifiable lies about her, with more new ones every day. How can you trust someone to govern honestly if they can't even tell you the truth? Please keep checking back to stay informed.
After 13 days and 14 hours, Sarah Palin finally gave her first interview
The Truth About John McCain
John McCain's Honesty
Written by Fact Checker Chris Carlson
John McCain has spent decades building up a reputation as an honorable man, willing to fight the system, willing to do what's right even if it cost him politically. Whether that reputation was deserved or not is a question for historians, but it seems that now, as he is making his run for president, John McCain has decided that doing the right thing and being honest are far less important than winning. In the short time since John McCain named Sarah Palin as his running mate, his campaign has produced a constant flood of mis- and dis-information, exaggerating and flat-out lying about both the record of Governor Palin and the record of Senator Obama.
Harsh advertisements and negative attacks are a staple of presidential campaigns, but Senator John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week from Democrats, independent groups and even some Republicans for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Senator Barack Obama’s record and positions...
NEW YORK -- John McCain got it wrong Friday when he asserted that his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, had not requested any earmarks, the spending directives lawmakers insert in spending bills that McCain has vowed to eliminate.
Palin, in fact, requested $198 million in federal earmarks in February, including such expenses as $487,000 to fight obesity in Alaska and $4 million to develop recreational trails.
Sen. John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week from Democrats, independent groups and some Republicans for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Sen. Barack Obama's record and positions.
Obama also has been accused of distortions, but McCain is under fire for two headline-grabbing attacks. First, the McCain campaign twisted Obama's words to suggest he had compared GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin to a pig after Obama questioned McCain's claim to be a change agent by saying, "You can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig." (McCain has used the same expression to describe Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health plan.)
He then falsely claimed that Obama supported "comprehensive sex ed" for kindergartners. (Obama supported teaching them to be alert for inappropriate advances from adults.)
Claim: Naming Sarah Palin as his running mate shows that McCain is sensitive to women's issues Truth: John McCain has a record of often voting against funding to help abused women or rape victims Truth: While Sarah Palin was Mayor of Wassila, AK, the city charged rape victims for testing that would help catch their assailants Truth: As Governor, Sarah Palin vetoed funding for shelters for single teenage mothers
Though it would be unfair to say that John McCain does not care about women's issues, he has a record of voting against providing government funding for women's programs, as well as voting against federal requirements for equal pay, equal rights, or even guarantees of proper law enforcement for rape victims.
In 1994, Joe Biden authored the "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994." The main purpose of the bill was to provide federal funding to help local governments get more police on the streets--100,000 more nationwide. Among other things, though, this bill also mandated that any local government which received these funds must agree to cover the full cost of "rape kits" for victims. These kits allow for the collection of evidence not only to prove that the woman was sexually assaulted, but also to obtain DNA evidence which could be used to prove the identity of her assailant.
(1) IN GENERAL- A State, Indian tribal government, or unit of local government, shall not be entitled to funds under this part unless the State, Indian tribal government, unit of local government, or another governmental entity incurs the full out-of-pocket cost of forensic medical exams described in subsection (b) for victims of sexual assault.
To become a law, a bill must pass both the House and Senate with identical wording. Usually, each house will pass what they think is the "best" version of a bill, and if those bills pass both houses, a compromise committee will then take the two similar bills and work out a single "compromise" version which then returns to each house for final approval. When this bill was first introduced, John McCain voted for it (thus, he could later campaign claiming he voted for it), but when it came time for final approval, McCain switched positions and voted against it. Luckily for women across the country, McCain was in the minority on that vote and the bill became law when President Clinton signed it.
Claim: John McCain is honest and fully competent to be president Truth: John McCain is either dishonest, has a very bad memory, or both
Anyone question John McCain's memory runs the risk of being accused of age discrimination, so let's say right up front, no evidence has been put forward that John McCain is suffering from age-related memory loss. As the following video clips and articles will show, however, John McCain has on several occasions flat-out denied having said things that he was previously on the record as saying. He has not simply said, "I didn't mean it that way," but clearly and literally denied ever saying them.
This leaves only two options. The first is that he genuinely does not remember saying them. This is completely plausible, given the number of on the record things that a public figure says in their life, but when the subject matter is of such high importance, this kind of memory failure is worrying. The second possibility is that McCain does remember what he has previously said, and is only pretending otherwise to avoid the necessity to answer uncomfortable questions about why he is now saying something different. There is of course the third possibility that both of these things are partially true at the same time--that is, that McCain is lying to himself about whether he remembers what he said. This would tend to indicate that he says things he does not mean, and then later does not clearly recall what he said because it was never his true opinion.
Claim: John McCain says that Sarah Palin is a "maverick reformer" Truth: McCain critcizes earmark spending while standing next to Palin, who has requested nearly $200 million in earmarks for Alaska this year Truth: McCain has also on many past occasions criticized Palin's earmark spending in Alaska Truth: McCain also blamed the money sent to Alaska for the "Bridge to Nowhere" for the 35W bridge collapse in Minnesota
While John McCain now touts Sarah Palin as a "maverick reformer" who "fought earmark spending" as Mayor of Wassila, Alaska and then later as Governor of that state, in the years before he chose her as his Vice Presidential nominee, McCain often criticized money that was going to Alaska for Palin's projects.
On the campaign trail, John McCain and Palin have both been speaking out forcefully about how they will "end" the practice of earmarking (Federal funds set aside for specific projects in the states). Yet, no mention is made of the fact the Governor Palin herself has requested $197 million worth of earmarks in the 2009 federal budget.
Campaigning in Virginia, McCain suggested earmarks are particularly shameful at a time when families are struggling with rising food, gas and home mortgage costs. He vowed again to veto any bill that contains such funding. "I got an old ink pen, my friends, and the first pork barrel-laden earmark, big-spending bill that comes across my desk, I will veto it. You will know their names. I will make them famous and we'll stop this corruption," McCain said during a rally at a park in suburban Washington, D.C. Palin has sought $197 million worth of earmarks for 2009, down about 25 percent from the $256 million she sought in the 2008 budget year. As mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, she hired a lobbyist to seek federal money for special projects. Wasilla obtained 14 earmarks, totaling $27 million, between 2000-2003, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.
CLAIM: John McCain is a "maverick" who has often challenged George W Bush TRUTH: John McCain voted with George W Bush's wishes over 90% of the time last year.
This video is from The Daily Show--in theory a comedy show--but if you watch the entire thing, they do a side-by-side comparison of the convention speeches of Bush in 2000 and McCain in 2008. McCain's promises to "change Washington" are exactly the same things that Bush was sayig then, often using the exact same words!
John McCain Truth
