FACT CHECK TIME

[Busted]

Afganistan...  MCCAIN = PAWNED

Those Afghanistan hearings
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 9:44 PM by Carrie Dann

In July, the McCain campaign unveiled a TV ad making this same claim: "Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan."

That is CORRECT. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, Obama has never held a hearing on Afghanistan. But the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- currently chaired by Joe Biden -- has addressed Afghanistan at the FULL COMMITTEE level. Indeed, in the past couple of years, the full committee has held three hearings on Afghanistan. And Obama has attended ONE of them.

-- January 31, 2008: "Afghanistan: A Plan to Turn the Tide." Obama DID NOT attend

-- March 8, 2007: "Afghanistan: Time for a New Strategy?" Obama DID attend

-- September 21, 2006: "From Coalition to ISAF Command in Afghanistan." Obama DID NOT attend

Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee -- of which McCain serves as ranking member -- has held at least seven hearings on Afghanistan in the last two years. And McCain DID NOT attend a single one of them, according to NBC News.

-- March 1, 2007: FULL COMMITTEE - To receive testimony on Afghanistan.

-- June 7, 2007: FULL COMMITTEE - To consider the nomination of Lieutenant General Douglas E. Lute, USA, to be Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan

-- February 6, 2008: FULL COMMITTEE - To receive testimony on the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2009, the Future Years Defense Program, and the Fiscal Year 2009 request for operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

-- February 14, 2008: FULL COMMITTEE - To receive testimony on the strategy in Afghanistan and recent reports by the Afghanistan Study Group and The Atlantic Council of the United States

-- April 2, 2008: READINESS AND MANAGEMENT SUPPORT - To receive testimony on Department of Defense contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan

-- April 10, 2008: FULL COMMITTEE - To receive testimony on the situation in Iraq, progress made by the Government of Iraq in meeting benchmarks and achieving reconciliation, the future U.S. military presence in Iraq, and the situation in Afghanistan.

-- September 23, 2008: FULL COMMITTEE - To receive testimony on the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Busted]

OBAMA MOST LIBERAL SENATOR  =  MCCAIN = PAWNED[/b]

Fact Check: Is Obama the most liberal U.S. senator, as McCain claims?
Posted: 09:35 PM ET

Statement:
Sen. John McCain, speaking at the University of Mississippi debate on September 26, said Sen. Barack Obama "has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate."

Get the facts!

Facts:
The National Journal magazine, in its annual vote rating, said Obama moved left last year to the "most liberal senator" rating "after ranking as the 16th and 10th most-liberal during his first two years in the Senate."

Americans for Democratic Action, the liberal activist group, and the American Conservative Union, the conservative activist group, also rate Congress members on their votes. Their findings describe Obama as one of, but not the most liberal U.S. senator.

The ADA gave Obama a 75 percent liberal score in 2007, 95 percent in 2006 and 100 percent in 2005. Other Democratic senators received 100 percent during those years. David Card, ADA communications director, said Obama's score was lower last year because he missed certain votes.

Obama has a lifetime ADA average of 90 percent. Other senators — such as Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and others — have higher lifetime ADA ratings. Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, was ranked as the most liberal senator by the National Journal in 2003.

"He is one of the most liberal senators," Card said, referring to Obama.

The ACU, which customarily places conservative Republicans on the top of its list and liberal Democrats at the bottom, has given Obama a lifetime ranking of just 7.67, according to the figures on the group's Web site.

It says Obama scored 8 percent in 2005, 8 percent in 2006 and 7 percent in 2007. Other Democratic senators in the ACU rankings have had lower yearly and lifetime scores, the site shows.

"He's one of the most liberal," said Larry Hart, the ACU director of government relations.

[Busted]

Fact Check: Does McCain almost always agree with Bush? n McCAIN PAWNED AGAIN
Posted: 11:58 PM ET
Does McCain almost always agree with Pres. Bush?.
Does McCain almost always agree with Pres. Bush?.

The Statement:

At a presidential debate Friday, September 26, in Oxford, Mississippi, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama attempted to tie Republican opponent Sen. John McCain to President Bush. "John, it's been your president, who you said you agreed with 90 percent of the time, who presided over this increase in spending," he said.

Get the facts!

The Facts:

According to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly, McCain has voted for bills favored by President Bush 90 percent of the time. The nonpartisan publication, which has analyzed voting by members of Congress since 1953, said the report took into account all legislation that Bush had taken a clear position on. It spans from the beginning of Bush's term to Congress's recess in August.

In the 100-member Senate, 14 current members — all Republicans — voted with Bush more than 90 percent of the time, according to the report. Six others have a 90 percent rating like McCain's. The report shows Obama voting with Bush 40 percent of the time and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, voting with Bush 52 percent of the time during the course of his presidency.

Obama surrogates also frequently say McCain voted with Bush 95 percent of the time. This is a reference to the Republican senator's record in 2007. That was the highest percentage in the seven years studied. In 1995, McCain voted with Bush 77 percent of the time — his lowest percentage in those years. "The president and I agree on most issues," McCain said in a May 22, 2003 interview on Fox's "Your World with Neil Cavuto." "There was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues."

Verdict: True