OnTheIssues Fact Checking: on Corporations


Bernie Sanders: Regrets vote to deregulate swaps and derivatives

Hillary Clinton said, "I'm the only one on this stage who did not vote to deregulate swaps and derivatives, as Senator Sanders did, which led to a lot of the problems that we had with Lehman Brothers." Did Bernie Sanders vote to deregulate swaps & derivatives? Bustle.com says:

"Clinton's claim is unavoidably true. In 2000, Sanders voted for the Commodity Futures Modernization Act. The act prevented the government from regulating credit default swaps and the trading of financial derivatives. Swaps like these, which are a type of financial derivative, were largely vilified during the financial meltdown of 2008. Sanders was far from the only Democrat who voted for the bill. It passed the House by a wide margin: Only four representatives did not vote for it. Not to mention, Clinton's husband, then-president Bill Clinton, supported the bill and signed it into law."

Bernie now says he regrets that vote, but Hillary was accurate.

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck: 2016 Dem. primary debate in Brooklyn Apr 15, 2016

Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: Yes, hedge-fund billionaires run ads against her

Hillary Clinton said, "there are currently two hedge fund billionaires running ads against me here in N.H. Now, why are they running ads against me? And the answer is: Because they know I will go right after them." Is that true, about the ads?

We checked, and it is. A super PAC called Future45 ran the ad below. Future45 has three known donors: Kenneth Griffin, president of Citadel; William C. Powers, an investor; and Paul Singer, founder of hedge fund Elliot Management. According to Al Jazeera News, Singer has endorsed Marco Rubio for president. Here is our transcript of the ad: