Free Republic

Kerry Claim: Families are finding it harder to make ends meet because they are struggling to keep up with mounting debt. The Truth: Low interest rates are allowing Americans to purchase a home, invest in education, and buy their first car. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan this week pointed out that the increase in household debt reflects the increase in homeownership. (Remarks by Alan Greenspan, U.S. Senate Committee On Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs, 6/15/04)Greenspan: Debt Rising Because Of New Mortgages And New Homeowners. "So I'm not actually concerned at this point that we are looking at a really serious...

Kerry Claim: The administration has attempted to roll back civil rights in America, and has failed to enforce our nation's civil rights laws The Truth: The President is strongly committed to protecting civil rights, as evidenced by the Administration's enforcement record. The Bush Administration Civil Rights Division has prosecuted 122 human traffickers, double the number of prosecutions as under the previous Administration. The Bush Administration Civil Rights Division has opened 43 Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) investigations since 2001, more than double the 20 investigations initiated during the last three years of the previous Administration. In addition, the...

Kerry Claim: The administration has tried to eliminate literacy programs like Even Start. Truth: Numerous national studies have found the majority of Even Start Programs to be ineffective. In two evaluations which used control groups, evaluations found no difference between families who received Even Start services and those who did not. An independent 2002 GAO study found there was no definitive national-level research about Even Start’s effectiveness. ( “First evaluation of Even Start”, Fu Associations and Abt Associates, 1995; “Second evaluation,” Fu Associations and Abt Associates, 1998; Third evaluation, Fu Associations and Abt Associates, 2003; “Head Start and Event Start,...

Kerry's Claim: President Bush has overseen the largest decline in manufacturing in over eighty years The Truth: The monthly survey of business managers shows that manufacturing activity has now been expanding 10 months in a row. (Institute for Supply Management, 4/1/04) Manufacturing declines began in the 1990s before President Bush took office. The manufacturing sector began to falter in the mid-to-late 1990s as the combination of the Asian financial crisis, growth differentials with key trading partners and the surging US dollar began to bite. (The Boom and The Bubble: The U.S. in the World Economy by Robert Brenner, Verso, 2002)...

A reader writes us as follows: The linked screenshots show significant editing of the DBunker post on Kerry’s medals that was featured on Good Morning America. The phrase, “he has been consistent about the facts and the symbolism of the medal-returning ceremony” was removed in between the two screenshots enclosed. The first was taken at 9:50 am, the second at 10:26 am, as indicated on the timestamp in the filename. Here are the two screenshots, the first taken at 9:50 a.m. And the second taken at 10:26 a.m.

"Kerry's political rhetoric on the environment doesn't match the reality of his 19 years in the Senate. Kerry says he favors renewable energy, but he blocked President Bush's Energy Bill that provided significant funding for renewable energy development. When Kerry had the opportunity to help environmental groups install a planned wind farm near his beach house, he declined to support it."- Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04 Spokesman Kerry Says He Supports Renewable Energy… Kerry Talks About Need To Invest In Renewable Energy, Stating Millions Of New Jobs Will Be Created. "'We spend $1.8 billion in subsidies for oil and gas...

"John Kerry's false attacks on the President's strong environmental record are purely political and ignore the progress that has been made under President Bush. Our air is clearer and our water is cleaner than before the President took office. Kerry's rhetoric on the environment does not match the reality of his decision to block the President's Energy Bill that included funding for renewable energy and a provision to phase out MTBE use. Kerry didn't show up to vote on Healthy Forests legislation and refused to advocate for a planned wind farm near his Nantucket home."- Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04...

CUBA Kerry Claim: Kerry Claimed That He Never “Suggested Lifting” The Cuban Embargo. KERRY: “Now, I met with members of that community. All through the years I've been in the Senate, for 20 years, Tim. I have never suggested lifting the embargo. I don't suggest you just lift the embargo. That's not what I'm talking about. But for anybody to suggest that what we've been doing has worked, that it has somehow--I mean, look what happened with the Vallera program recently. A whole bunch of people got arrested and put in jail.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 4/18/04) The Truth:Sen. Kerry...