Sorting out the truth [Bryan]

Sometimes, people ask me how they can determine who is telling the truth in political debates. The mainstream media isn't very good about this. They usually tell us that "Republicans claim X" while "Democrats deny X," and don't try to explain who is telling the truth. The best way, in my mind, to determine the truth in such matters is to look at prominent fact checking websites like Factcheck.org and Politifact.org. These sites bend over backwards to try to be fair, and they can be found debunking claims by both liberals and conservatives. The other day I heard someone claim that health care reform would euthanize the elderly, and I thought I would check Politifact about this and other such claims about health care. Politifact classifies each claim according to a scale, the lowest scales of truth being "false" and, last of all, "pants-on-fire false."

Claim: "The Democrat-backed health care reform plan will require (Americans) to subsidize abortion with their hard-earned tax dollars."

Politifact says: False

Claim: "Page 992 of the health care bill will establish school-based 'health' clinics.Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted!"

Politifact says: Pants-on-fire false. (Nothing like that has been proposed)

Claim: "Health care reform legislation is likely to mandate free ‘sex change’ surgeries.”

Politifact says: False. (No such mandate has been proposed)

Claim: "All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services"

Politifact says: Pants-on-fire false. (The proposals say exactly the opposite)

Claim: "In the health care bill, the 'Health Choices Commissioner' will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None."

Politifact says: Pants-on-fire false. (The proposed health insurance commissioner has nothing do do with choosing your benefits, only making sure insurance companies stick to the rules)

Claim: "The health care reform bill would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner."

Politifact says: Pants-on-fire false. ("The sessions are an option for elderly patients who want to learn more about living wills, health care proxies and other forms of end-of-life planning.")

Claim: "Under a public health care option, 120 million Americans will lose what they now get from private companies and be forced onto the government-run rolls as businesses decide it is more cost-effective for them to drop coverage."

Politifact says: False.

Claim: "Under the Obama plan all the health care in this country is eventually going to be run by the government."

Politifact says: False.

Check it out yourself.