2008 FactCheck: on Government Reform

Barack Obama: FactCheck: Yes, agreed to public financing, then declined it

The Facts:Public financing refers to the $85 million in public money that candidates are eligible to receive, if they agree not to raise additional funds for the general election.

McCain refers to a questionnaire from the Midwest Democracy Network, which asked presidential candidates whether they would forgo private funding in the general election campaign. In an e-mailed response on Nov., 17, 2007, Obama wrote: “Yes: I have been a long-time advocate for public financing.” But on June 19, he announced he would not be accepting public financing, allowing him to raise unlimited funds.

The Verdict: Mostly true. Obama did indicate he would accept public financing if his opponent did the same. But he did not sign anything, as McCain states.

Barack Obama: FactCheck: Yes, earmarks total $18B in this year’s budget

John McCain: FactCheck: Killed corrupt $6.8B contract, but reinstated it

There is more to the story. McCain certainly did lead a fight to kill the contract, and the effort ended in prison sentences for defense contractors. The contract is still up in the air, however, and questions have been raised about the role McCain played in helping a Boeing rival secure the new contract.

After the original Boeing contract to supply refueling airliners was nixed in 2003, the bidding process was reopened. And in early 2007, Boeing rival EADS/Airbus won the bid the second time around. But Boeing filed a protest. The New York Times reported that “McCain’s top advisers were lobbyists for EADS. And Mr. McCain had written to the Defense Department, urging it to ignore a trade dispute between the United States and Europe over whether Airbus received improper subsidies.”

John McCain: FactCheck: Earmarks have gone down in last 5 years

In fact, earmarks have actually gone down. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, there was $22.5 billion worth of earmark spending in 2003. By 2008, that figure had come down to $17.2 billion. That’s a decrease of 24%.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, another watchdog group, said in 2008 that “Congress has cut earmarks by 23% from the record 2005 levels,” according to its analysis.

And while we’re on the subject of earmarks, McCain repeated a misleading line, claiming, “We spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana.” The study in question was done by the US Geological Survey. McCain voted for the bill that made appropriations for the study. He did propose some changes to the bill, but none that nixed the bear funding.

Barack Obama: FactCheck: Worked with McCain on ethics, but bill fell apart

It’s true that Obama approached McCain on the floor of the Senate in early 2006, amid the unfolding Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, and suggested that they work together on an ethics bill. But Obama backed out of the effort, saying to McCain in a letter dated Feb. 2, 2006, that he and other Senate Democrats had decided against McCain’s idea of a “task force” on ethics, preferring to let standing Senate committees work on the matter.

McCain sent back an angry, blistering response, accusing Obama of insincerity and “self-interested partisan posturing.”

[However] it’s true that both Obama and McCain wanted tougher ethics legislation than either the Democratic or Republican leadership at first was willing to support.

George W. Bush: FactCheck: Earmark veto threat takes no effect until 2009

By earmarks that are “not voted on by Congress,” Bush means provisions that are specified in committee reports but are never part of the text of a bill. The vast majority of earmarks are of this type, so Bush is threatening to ignore or veto a fairly significant percentage of potential earmarks. But he’s not going to do it until fiscal year 2009. By not including the 2008 spending bills, the Executive Order gives Congress months to finagle their way around these changes.

John McCain: FactCheck: $35B in pork meant $484 per child, not $1000

It’s not clear where McCain is getting the $35 billion figure. But that’s more pork than the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste has diagnosed in the budget for any one year of the Bush presidency: The highest amount the group has calculated is $29 billion in 2006. Perhaps McCain meant $35 billion in two years: the smallest two-year sum was $38.6 billion in 2001 and 2002.

Even if we assume $35 billion in pork, however, McCain mus be defining “child” rather narrowly. According to the 2000 Census, there are about 72 million people under the age of 18, which would come to about $484 each. To apportion $35 billion in $1000 chunks, you’d have to leave out some elementary-schoolers.

Barack Obama: FactCheck: Yes, Obama cast 130 “present” votes in IL Senate

It’s true that Obama voted “present” nearly 130 times, rather than casting a yes or no vote, an option in the state Legislature. But the article that said he “essentially took a pass” was an op-ed piece quoting a Clinton endorser, not the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board.

Beyond that, there’s some substance to Clinton’s general criticism. Obama says some of his votes were part of intricate parliamentary maneuvering, not just avoiding political heat. The NY Times found a mixed record: “Sometimes the ‘present’ votes were in line with instructions from Democratic leaders or because he objected to provisions in bills that he might otherwise support. But in at least a few cases, the issue was politically sensitive.”

John McCain: FactCheck: Claim of “24 years with no earmarks” mostly true

McCain has certainly made a crusade out of attacking “earmarks,” and watchdog groups don’t know of any instance in which McCain has asked for an earmark. But here’s what rivals point to:

• In a 1992 letter to the EPA, McCain asked for $5 million for a wastewater project in Nogales AZ, either out of existing funds or “earmark the amount from an appropriate account.” But McCain’s letter was a request, not a legislative earmark carrying the force of law.
• In 2006, McCain proposed $10 million to create a center honoring former Chief Justice William Rehnquist. But was that pork-barrel spending? Answer: It depends. It wasn’t slipped into some bill in the dead-of-the-night, but was a separate piece of legislation.