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Subscribe to RSSZANESVILLE, OH -- The meta-fact check war rages on.
As the campaigns continued to trade salvos over the accuracy of claims made in both parties' convention speeches, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he's happy to be under the microscope of fact checkers.
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Vice President Joe Biden talks with Lisa McIntosh of Lewisburg, Ohio, as he stops for an ice cream cone Saturday at a Dairy Queen in Nelsonville, Ohio.
"I say to the press, 'Fact check me,'" the vice president declared before launching into a lengthy critique of the Republican plan for Medicare overhaul.
"What they're proposing will actually cost the Medicare trust fund that pays for the benefits when you go to the hospital, the doctor, to run out of money, a sufficient amount of money by 2016," he said. "That's when it would hit the wall."
Biden's claim echoes one made Wednesday night by former President Bill Clinton, who said that the Romney-Ryan goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act would eliminate that bill's measures to keep Medicare solvent until 2024, pushing the date when Medicare will "go broke" up by 8 years.
The non-partisan factcheck.org found that to be an exaggeration; while repeal of ACA would mean the earlier exhaustion of the part of Medicare that covers hospitals, the fund would still collect payroll taxes to cover the vast majority of hospital bills.
The Washington Post put it more bluntly: "This is wrong," it wrote on Sept. 6 of Biden's 2016 Medicare solvency claim.
On Saturday, Biden also accused Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryanof proposing to turn the federal health insurance program for seniors into "Vouchercare," saying that the Romney-Ryan plan would raise costs for seniors.
Independent fact checkers have pointed out that while Ryan's most recent budget would provide private insurance vouchers which would grow at the rate of inflation rather than at the rate of health costs, it would also keep traditional Medicare as an option for seniors who wanted it. While most agree that it's likely that seniors would have to pay more if they chose Medicare, it's hard to project how health care costs would change under a hypothetical Romney-Ryan plan.
"Today, Vice President Biden said that he should be fact-checked, and we agree," said Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. "The vice president knowingly and deliberately leveled false and discredited attacks."
The fact check challenge comes after a Romney pollster was quoted saying that "we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers." Paul Ryan's convention speech was heavily criticized for citing several discredited claims.
Biden poked fun at that sentiment Saturday, calling it "amazing" that the Romney campaign "doesn't like to be fact checked."
Addressing the crowd of about 450 at an Ohio elementary school, Biden also needled Republicans for their impassioned support for Medicare.
"If … you got dropped down from Mars and turned on the convention, you'd think that they really cared about it. You'd think it's something they thought of," Biden said of Republicans.
“They mention it so often you'd be surprised to learn that they've always been trying to chip away [from it] for the last 40 years," he added.
Another fact check? You can't survive on Mars.
Leave a Comment:
how does one fact-check pure unadulterated lunacy?....
I can't believe the democrats didn't replace Biden when they had a chance. I guess you just can't fix stupid.
The only reason we have to fact check is because the media is ALWAYS lying to us.
Asking the Mainstream media (gives me tingles up and down my leg) to fact check Biden or his holyness Obama is like asking a blind person to judge a beauty contest. It aint going to happen........
If FOX news is "the most widely watched news cast", then how come other news services are called the "mainstream media"? Seems to be a contradiction there.
Matthew don't try using logic and common sense with these "Folks"
I'll be so glad when this election is over and all the redneck @!$%#s go back into their trailer parks and leave the big boy business to the grown-ups.
Obama is up big, and it's getting bigger.
I get happier everyday.
One step closer to seeing all the sheeple conservatives collectively proclaim they are 'leaving the country for canada' because the socialist muslim obama is reelected.
.. and then we won't hear from them again for another 2 years.
i can't wait!
I haven't been this excited since Y2K when all the conservative freaks were saying it was the end of the world as stated in whatever version of the bible they believed that week.
They backpedaled on that quick.. and they will vanish quick when obama is reelected.
Election update.
Koch brothers pull out of MI, WI, and PA.. three swing states they cannot win..
Ohio turns bluer everyday.
do you smell that? It's desperation by the Right.
tick tock douchebags!
on display a typical lib intellect....
fact check it bitch!
i dare you!
KOCH KOCH KOCH Lets try SORO'S SORO"S SORO"S. Your an idiot.
Fact check what liberal lies. A lie is a lie just ask your DNC chair. who was caught in an outright lie.
what the hell does the Soros have to do with the Koch Brothers pulling out their advertising dollars in 3 swing states?
get some WD40 boy, you're stuck on stupid!
Haven't you got some little boys to legitimately rape today?
Or is it your day off?
Pedophile!
Koch koch koch koch the rallying cry of the weak and stupid.
The ads were pulled because the polls show the three states are leaning towards R/R
Helmetbreaker----------Did Fox News tell you that ? Because it is not near the truth.......So therefore you are a troll
I'm thinking the truth hurts. What was posted and stated is the truth, I live in Michigan, and rarely see a Romney ad....the airwaves here have been the usual commercial ads, not political. Have enjoyed watching T.V. now and absolutely no political ads on ABC while watching college football. Life is definitely good.
Helmetbreaker....it that was true, then why are Romney/Ryan not in Michigan campaigning. It has been shown in polls that Michigan is definitely leaning democratic, and that Romney won't carry "one" of his home states. That says it all.
Excuse me? I'll have you know that I am NOT a redneck and I certainly DO NOT live in a trailer park. Our house is only 17 years old and it will be paid off within the next few months. My husband and I work hard so we can pay you liberal freeloaders to sit home on your lazy asses and collect welfare and food stamps, drive pimped out cars, live in houses that are falling apart all while you have big screen tvs and cell phones! Not to mention the 10 or 12 children who are from different fathers. So if Republicans are rednecks, then I suppose liberals are slum lords!
A liberal or progressive is wasting his energy in trying to convince a conservative of anything. History tells us that it took centuries to convince them that the earth was round rather than flat.
When are you going to be convinced that Obama is a @!$%#ing loser much like you.
Your wasting your last liberals brain cell so do yourself a favor dont try.
Joe we have faith in you buddy, kick that lyin Ryans' A$$. Make him look like the Village Idiot he is.
O&Joe 2012
O&Joe 2012 huh?
Well, tell me what is the promise of either Hope or Change your buddies held???
Thank you, Mr. Biden! I wish there were fact-checkers available for every bit of information that comes out of the mouths of candidates and all the political ads that we are bombarded with everywhere. That used to be the job of the news media, when truth meant something. Unfortunately for us all, it became more important to make a buck than report a truth!
Of course, now the fact checkers are "checking" matters of opinion.
Fact Checks on hypothetical analysis, often comes down to a matter of opinion. However, factcheck.org has fact checked Biden and Obama, low and behold several lies have emerged:

http://factcheck.org/2012/09/factchecking-obama-and-biden/
obozo is a born liar, a trained distorter, and an anti-american divider..wake up people
What plan Obama still hasnt put out a plan, it has been 4 years and there still is no plan.
USAF50,,,,,,,,,,he has a plan its the same one he had in 08 which if allowed to continue will drive America to bankruptcy and there is no one who will bail us out.
Hey Joe Bite me, fact check me too!
In '08 Your Highness and Your Lowlyness promised Hope and Change
Now, we have no Hope, you Change the Promise and guess WHAT?????
BE PREPARED FOR A LONG VACATION IN CHAINS.
Another fun fact.
This is the LAST ELECTION IN HISTORY that could have been won on the backs of the racist white vote.
By 2016 there will not be enough racist white votes to elect a Republican if they run on that card.
This is it folks.. the last election where the republican platform can be on isolationism and hate.
From here on out, they will have to start working with others, even if they are a different color, or have a different religion.
I'm so very happy because of it!
what a moron...typical lib
Despite your view of my intellect, it doesn't make it any less true.
This is the end of the Republican Tea Party.
This was your last shot.
and you have failed.
Hate will always fail in the end.
You think ha ha ha ha the tea party is getting stronger and as usual liberals underestimate us all the time at your own risk dumb a ss.
Depends on whether minorities finally figure out that Democrats have been screwing them for generations!
You see that's just it, they don't realize they are being used; they just see the pretty handouts and think oh okay I'll vote for them. It's the "owe me" generation, they want to have things, but not work for them. If they only knew they were being used. Tisk tisk libs....you should be ashamed!
GO JOE!!!--Joe might say something that doesn't quite come out right but DO remember he's been in washington for over 40yrs. At least he owns the words that come out of his mouth-Ryan trys to justify the lies-and yes he took 21,000,000 in stimulis and tryed to justify-he put forceable rape in his bill and had to take it out just to get it heard-and preteding he misquoted his running time PLEASE -how can you vote with someone you can't trust to at least TRY to tell the truth??????????
Joe in Washinton for 40 years? That's 38 too many! Joe is the poster boy for term limits! Sorry crawford, ABC News reported that a survey of all the reliable fact-checking companies showed Ryan is the most accurate on numbers of any of the four. Biden was last!
With Biden you need not fast check he screws up and everyone knows it immediately..i.e.'he will have you all in chains again'
excerpt from a recent Bumblin' Joe Biden speech:
....now we Dimocrats can be described by a 3 letter word....and you can fact-check me on this....'dumbasarock'.....
Republicans are always bringing up Bill Clinton whose behavior did not damage our country but they can support George W. with his lies that resulted in a war that busted the budget and killed hundreds of thousands of people.Their logic is beyond me.
Regarding the format of the “debates” themselves…
More aggravating to me than a response being blatantly incorrect, which can be
addressed by an opponent in their retort, is deflection, a pivoting away from the posed question in order to parrot talking points from some loosely related issue which the respondent sees as more favorable to their cause.
Very few moderators successfully press a respondent to answer the question as posed. David Gregory on Meet the Press is one of the biggest violators, whereas his
predecessor, Tim Russert, was well-known for his ability to work a deflector into a corner.
Perhaps the debates should have a ‘jury’ on stage, a panel comprised of three
highly-regarded collegiate debate coaches charged with immediately scoring answers
as to the degree to which their response addressed the original question.
Couldn't you just see it? Three scores go up: For any given response, out of a possible score of 10 per judge, a 3, a 4, and another 3 for a total score of 3.33 is assigned.
Rack up enough low scores and you leave the debate with a total average of 3.45, whereas your opponent walks away with an 8.15.
Think the voters would be pleased with your 3.45?
Oh well, we can only dream...
You can say that after voting for Obama who is really challanged here dumb ass.
freddy4life
The only reason we have to fact check is because the media is ALWAYS lying to us.
#54 - Sat Sep 8, 2012 3:48 PM MDT
Freddy freeloader: Here's a fact, Liar Romney and Lyin Ryan haven't stopped lieing since Lyin Ryan was selected, he has just gotten better at it since Liar Romney has started training him to lie a little better. Liar Romney started lieing long before that. What you so called conservatives don't understand and can't see, is that a lie is a lie. God will figure it out when the time comes. Also Karma is a B!TCH. Karma will come on november 6th 2012.
O&Joe 2012
The only vote total the Democrats are going to win are pinnoccio's!
The only group of people who came close to destroying this nation was conservatives.They fought for (4) years during the Civil War trying to prove that were right and to defend that vile institution of slavery.
prog.1 That a real "streach" comment tying "states rights' folk in the mid 1800's to conservatives today.You want dirty,how about the bond of different factions FDR put together in the 1930's.One of the group included absolute segregationist from the south,all democrats.How about the appointment of the staunch segregationist by FDRHugo Black,,to the Supreme Court in the mid 1930's whose rulings set back integration for 35 years.How about FDR bigoted behavior of having an entire ethic group and nationality put into concentration camps,depriving them of liberty and thier belongings! How about Sen.Robert Byrd,a dimocrap,who while in the Senate and one the senate floor openly used the "n" word.He was a dimocrap and was in congress when this last congress took its' seat.How did they handle his obscene behavior on the Senate floor and on national tv? They procliamed him the" conscience of the senate"! Most of todays dimocrap senators voted for the motion.NONE of the republicans voted for it.These examlples are a bit more extemporanious than your example! Tell your teacher to try and update his info!
I think you had better recheck your history facts! Abraham Lincoln was a Republican president. The Republican Party was made up primarlily by people that lived in the Union states and were anti-slavery. It was the Southern Democrats who supported and fought for the Confederacy! Look it up on Google!
Republicans in the 1860's weren't conservatives. President Lincoln was a liberal. They advocated changing the status quo by freeing the slaves and promoting federal supremacy over state's rights.
The Republicans have changed radically (as have the Democrats) since then.
No matter the past...In the present every republican is not a racist, but every racist is a republican....
"Jumpin" Joe ,The college and law school Plagiarist, wants me to check his facts? The last time someone did,he almost got thrown out of school.Jumpin' is one of the all time greatest prevaricators!Watch Joe,you nose is growing!
Didn't this bafoon (the current VP) get caught plagiarizing back in the day ???
Yeah, we can trust you dick....
He also participated in an Anti Segregaton demonstraton, ranked 506th out of 688 in his college class,,,then when he went on to get his Masters/Phd he drank himself silly....and during that time he was a draft dodger....
From policy.mic:
Fact checkers are going insane just keeping up with the sheer quantity of lies coming out of the mouths of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Steve Benen collected 533 lies in the past 30 weeks from Romney alone, and this is not a comprehensive list. Hundreds of those lies have been repeated over and over again; all 15 volumes of Mitt Romney's lies are chronicled...
Paul Ryan made so many lies in his speech that even Republican news sources began to feel great concern about certain statements.
From current.com:
"It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,” said [Thomas]
Buford, the school’s wrestling champion, who said he joined Romney in
restraining Lauber. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber, who was
“terrified,” he said. “What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.” ... "It
was a hack job,” recalled Phillip Maxwell, a childhood friend of Romney who was
in the dorm room when the incident occurred. “It was vicious."
Even Fox News:
On the other hand, to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold.
The good news is that the Romney-Ryan campaign has likely created dozens of new jobs among the legions of additional fact checkers that media outlets are rushing to hire to sift through the mountain of cow dung that flowed from Ryan’s mouth. Said fact checkers have already condemned certain arguments that Ryan still irresponsibly repeated.
So does plagiarizing sound that bad considering how many years ago... The stuff I posted above, except for Romney's vicious haircutting, happened recently... Think about it and Research!
Steven Benen is a far left poltical blogger whose opinions appear in papers like the NY Times and on television on Mathew's, Schultz's, Maddow's and O'Brien's liberal hate shows.
His totals are about as reliable and non-biased as Media Matters, Huffington Post and all the other garbage sites on the left!
Kinda like the post above with FactCheck.org. LOL!
Obama and the Democrat Party should push the press to take Biden up! The number of people it would take to keep track of the distortions would probably lower the unemployment rate to 7.0%! Can you imagine Biden, if he were to become president? They called Reagan "the gipper", Biden would be "the gaffer" They have been "fact-checking Biden since the start of the campaign, but stopped, because there was not a bid enough computer to store the distortions!
Now you have Putin, Chavez and Larry Flint backing Obama. Wow what a team. If you dumocrats can not see the writing on the wall, then you deserve what you get. And to think, you could not even agree on letting "God" into your convention. I am not that religious but I do believe in "God" and do not have a problem with it as do you dumocrats. Good luck with that. May something save your soul if Obama is re-elected.
Interesting to know Joe only got 450 people to show up to hear him speak, should be kind of embarrassing, I mean after all he is VICE PRESIDENT.
Why are republicans so angry and full of hate?
It could be because we have to live in a world with idiots like you! But, really I find your posts so hilarious! Is it the liberal koolaid or have you graduated to some new fantasy drug?