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Books by and about 2020 presidential candidates |
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Crippled America,
by Donald J. Trump (2015) |
Fire and Fury,
by Michael Wolff (2018) |
Trump Revealed,
by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher (2016) |
The Making of Donald Trump,
by David Cay Johnston (2016) |
Promise Me, Dad ,
by Joe Biden (2017) |
The Book of Joe ,
by Jeff Wilser (2019; biography of Joe Biden) |
The Truths We Hold,
by Kamala Harris (2019) |
Smart on Crime,
by Kamala Harris (2010) |
Guide to Political Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2017) |
Where We Go From Here,
by Bernie Sanders (2018) |
Our Revolution,
by Bernie Sanders (2016) |
This Fight Is Our Fight,
by Elizabeth Warren (2017) |
United,
by Cory Booker (2016) |
Conscience of a Conservative,
by Jeff Flake (2017) |
Two Paths,
by Gov. John Kasich (2017) |
Every Other Monday,
by Rep. John Kasich (2010) |
Courage is Contagious,
by John Kasich (1998) |
Shortest Way Home,
by Pete Buttigieg (2019) |
Becoming,
by Michelle Obama (2018) |
Higher Loyalty,
by James Comey (2018) |
The Making of Donald Trump,
by David Cay Johnston (2017) |
Higher Loyalty ,
by James Comey (2018) |
Trump vs. Hillary On The Issues ,
by Jesse Gordon (2016) |
Outsider in the White House,
by Bernie Sanders (2015) |
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Book Reviews |
(from Amazon.com) |
(click a book cover for a review or other books by or about the presidency from Amazon.com)
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Presidential Primary Fact Checking by OnTheIssues.org
EXPLANATORY NOTE by OnTheIssues.org:
Numerous organizations perform "FactChecks" on candidates for public office.
Numerous OnTheIssues viewers have complained that the "FactCheckers" are as biased as the candidates.
We address the bias of the fact-checkers by including fact-checking from several sources.
In 2011, we use FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com.
And we also have started our own internal fact-checking.
OnTheIssues.org's fact-checking focuses on subtle lies.
Politicians are very good at telling half-truths which deflect attention from the real issue -- we attempt here to point out those types of lies.
And we cover not-so-subtle lies that the other fact-checkers miss.
We remind voters to keep in mind the old adage:
Q: "How can you tell when a politician is lying?"
A: "His lips are moving."
We add to that adage that the mainstream news media are just as bad -- they line up to listen to the lies, and then report them to the public as truth.
Q: "How can you tell when news reports are lying?"
A: "When they just repeat what politicians say."
An honest press would instead investigate every statement made by politicians, rather than breathlessly repeating the lies as if they were true.
The mainstream media has abandoned that essential role. We attempt to remedy that on this website.
-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, August 2011
| OnTheIssues.org excerpts: (click on issues for details)
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Abortion
Chris Christie: FactCheck: Donor to Planned Parenthood in '94, but denies it.
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Budget & Economy
John Neely Kennedy: FactCheck: Yes, supported ARPA funds for natural disasters.
Bernie Sanders: FactCheck, yes, 3 top people wealthier than half of America.
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Civil Rights
Clay Higgins: FactCheck: Biblical marriage includes polygamy and chattel.
John F. Kennedy: FactCheck: 1960 election 70%-30% for JFK among black voters.
Lyndon Johnson: FactCheck: Civil Rights Act led to 90% black vote for Dems.
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Corporations
Bernie Sanders: Regrets vote to deregulate swaps and derivatives.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: Yes, hedge-fund billionaires run ads against her.
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Crime
Donald Trump: FactCheck: No, not endorsed by Portland's Sheriff.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, Trump aide said rioting & chaos helps Trump.
Joe Biden: FactCheck: Endorsed by 175 law enforcement officials.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: falsely claims Biden wants to defund the police.
John Kasich: FactCheck: Catholic faith does NOT support death penalty.
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Education
Joe Biden: FactCheck: Attended U.Delaware, not Delaware State HBCU.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: More than figurehead at Trump U.
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Energy & Oil
Joe Biden: FactCheck:US rejoined world in GHG reduction, not vice-versa.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: falsely blames windmills for Texas power outage.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: US not yet quite energy-independent.
James Inhofe: FactCheck: Bush made change to "climate change," not Obama.
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Environment
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, hybrid family vehicles are available in US.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Alabama WAS in hurricane risk, before Trump said.
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Families & Children
Rick Santorum: FactCheck: Yes, ISIS declared fatwa to kill disabled kids.
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Foreign Policy
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, Senate approved US Embassy in Jerusalem.
John Kasich: FactCheck: Yes, U.S. economy bigger than next two combined.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: No, Iran is not a trading partner of North Korea.
Chris Christie: World has fewer democracies than before Obama.
Sarah Palin: FactCheck: Never said, "I can see Russia from my house".
Rick Perry: FactCheck: Pakistan is our ally, according to Bush generals.
Eric Cantor: FactCheck: Jihadists resent US occupation, not our beliefs.
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Free Trade
Joe Biden: FactCheck: Yes, US has tried "Buy American" for 100 years.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, has opposed trade deals since Reagan.
Ted Cruz: I always opposed TPP, but I supported TPA.
Rick Santorum: FactCheck: Several other candidates support EXIM Bank too.
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Government Reform
Joe Biden: 30 years ago, I proposed campaign finance reform.
Ed Markey: Authored laws on Telecomm, insider trading, and Alzheimers.
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Gun Control
Bernie Sanders: FactCheck: No, never supported by National Rifle Association.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: 33,000 gun deaths includes suicides & accidents.
Martin O`Malley: FactCheck: Yes, ISIL made videos on buying assault weapons.
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Health Care
Xi Jinping: FactCheck: Overcame impact of COVID-19; played down costs.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: No, America has tested less than Europe combined.
Donald Trump: Falsely claims US did more tests rest of world combined.
Paul Ryan: FactCheck: No, Medicare cost doesn't exceed national defense.
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Homeland Security
Marco Rubio: FactCheck: Yes, Air Force is now smallest in its history.
Barack Obama: We spend more on military than next 8 nations combined.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: No, ISIL doesn't cite Trump in recruitment videos.
Rand Paul: FactCheck: Yes, military spending as much as next 10 nations.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: 7 official reports on Benghazi over 3-year period.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: Dozens of U.S. diplomats killed during Bush terms.
Jeb Bush: FactCheck: No, Benghazi wasn't 1st deadly assault since 1979.
Kevin McCarthy: Questions remain unanswered about Benghazi.
Herman Cain: FactCheck: No, Israel leader never mentioned our way of life.
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Immigration
Kirstjen Nielsen: FactCheck: Falsely claims no policy of family separation.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: "Fire and Fury" ignored Trump's 2000 book.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: Yes, voted for a partial wall on Mexican border.
Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: Yes, would increase Syrian refugees by 550%.
Jill Stein: FactCheck: 2.5M deportations counts removals, not returns.
Nikki Haley: FactCheck: US does have history of religion-based exclusion.
Ted Cruz: FactCheck: Yes, Bill Clinton deported 12M illegal aliens.
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Jobs
Barack Obama: We've cut unemployment in half during my term.
Ron Paul: FactCheck: Feds paid for 8M WWII vets to attend college.
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Principles & Values
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Claims GOP is growing as 30,000+ left.
Joe Biden: FactCheck: No, only 50% of recent presidents were Ivy league.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: "We have the best testing in the world"? Not!
Donald Trump: FactCheck: 2016 was Trump's 3rd run for presidency, not 1st.
Michael Bennet: Jewish mother survived Holocaust in Warsaw Ghetto.
Donald Trump: A businessman, not a lifelong politician.
Donald Trump: I have a daughter and son-in-law who are Jewish.
Ted Cruz: FactCheck: Yes, Cruz speaks Spanish & understands Univision.
Ted Cruz: FactCheck: McCain was born in US territory, not Panama.
Ted Cruz: OpEd: attacking "New York values" is anti-Semitism.
Gabriel Gomez: FactCheck: Markey authored successful bills over 22 years.
Paul Ryan: FactCheck: "Progressivists" is intentionally insulting term.
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Social Security
Lyndon Johnson: FactCheck: Moved Trust Fund to "on-budget," not spendable.
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Tax Reform
Donald Trump: Fact Check: Claims falsely that Biden would raise all taxes.
Joe Biden: Return top rate to 39.6% from 37%; cap itemized deductions.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Cutting carried interest gains $18B in revenue.
Bobby Jindal: FactCheck: JFK lowered top income tax rate from 91% to 65%.
John F. Kennedy: FactCheck: JFK lowered top income tax rate from 91% to 65%.
Paul Ryan: FactCheck: JFK cut rates by 20%, but from twice today's rate.
Rush Limbaugh: FactCheck: JFK lowered top income tax rate from 91% to 65%.
Herman Cain: FactCheck: No, middle-earners pay more than 20% of taxes.
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War & Peace
Mike Pence: FactCheck: Pence says pressure Assad; Trump focuses on ISIS.
Donald Trump: FactCheck: Would shoot Iranian warships too near US warships.
Bernie Sanders: Qatar is wealthy; needs to get skin in game against ISIS.
Ted Cruz: FactCheck: No, ISIS and Iran haven't declared war on America.
Ben Carson: FactCheck: Yes, Congress declared war after 9/11, sort of.
Pat Buchanan: FactCheck: Nukes do not protect a country from attack.
Richard Nixon: FactCheck: No, Vietnam War ended in 1975, not 1973.
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The above quotations are from Presidential Primary Fact Checking by OnTheIssues.org.
Fact-checking citations:
- Economic Times, "Aiming for 'Zero COVID,' China focuses on food, clothing and, soon, the Olympics," by Alexandra Stevenson & Cao Li, Nov 13, 2021
- US News & World Report, "Louisiana's US Sen. John Kennedy Draws Democratic Opponent," Oct. 5, 2021
- The Hill e-zine, "Sheriff from Portland quickly refutes Trump claim of endorsement," by Justine Coleman, 09/30/20
- Delaware News Journal, "No, Joe Biden did not say he attended Delaware State University," by Natalia Alamdari, 9/29/20
- Fox News, "More than 175 current, former law enforcement officials endorse Joe Biden," by Brooke Singman, September 4, 2020
- Business Insider, "Kellyanne Conway says 'chaos and violence' after the police shooting of Jacob Blake is good for Trump's reelection," by Eliza Relman, Aug 27, 2020
- FactCheck on Fox News Sunday interview of Donald Trump, July 19, 2020
- FactCheck on Twitter posting, @realDonaldTrump on Washington Post, "A Boost In Tests, But Lack Of Takers", 5/18/2020
- (On Bernie Sanders): OnTheIssues Fact-Check on December Democratic primary debate, Dec 19, 2019
- (On Donald Trump): OnTheIssues Fact-Check on 2018 State of the Union address, Jan 30, 2018
- (On John Kasich): OnTheIssues Fact-Check: John Kasich on Meet the Press, Sep 24, 2017
- (On John Kasich): OnTheIssues Fact-Check on Two Paths, by John Kasich, p.236, Apr 25, 2017
- (On Donald Trump): OnTheIssues Fact-Checking on 2016 presidential hopefuls, Oct 9, 2016
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