Fact checking candidate platforms

By Kaya Ginsky

BENNETT SOLOMON (D)

Environmental: “Currently greenhouse gases are the number one source of energy pollution.”

The U.S. Energy Administration supported this statement in their 2019 report of global warming emissions in the U.S. They reported that about 42% of energy emissions came from oil and other liquids, 32% from coal, and 27% from natural gas. These sources are all fossil fuels, and together made up about 96% of energy pollution for the most recently reported year.

FACT!

ALLI HAMMOUD (D)

Education: “Since 1980, tuition costs have more than doubled on average across the country and student debt has soared to about 1.5 trillion dollars.”

According to The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, average total tuition in 1980 was $9,438, and by 2015 had reached $23,872 (more than double the price in 1980). The Federal Student Reserve Bank also reported that in the third quarter of 2019, student debt reached 1.68 trillion dollars (while substantially over 1.5 trillion dollars, the number has been steadily rising over 1.5 trillion since 2015).

FACT!

GRACE CABRAL (D)

Gun control: “The average processing time for an electronic NICS-check is less than two minutes.”

The FBI has jurisdiction over the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System), and they published that in 2015, the average wait and processing time for the NICS E-Check averaged 107.5 seconds, under two minutes. The FBI proudly calls it an “almost immediate response,” just as Cabral calls it “quick and efficient.”

FACT!

GIDEON HELF (R)

Education: “50% of recent college graduates were either unemployed, or working jobs that were not in their field and for which their educations had provided them no training,” with no citation proving its factuality.

Multiple statistics come into play to prove the factuality of this statement. The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the unemployment rate for people ages 25 and over with “some college or associate's degree” was just 2.9% this November, proving that Helf’s statistic is misleading in nature. The higher unemployment rates shown in other polls may be a result of including people who are switching jobs. However, a 2012 study by the Federal Reserve Bank showed that only 27% of college graduates end up working in their planned field, showing that many do not work in the field they studied in college.

MISLEADING…

LOGAN GLAZIER (R)

Environment: power grids running completely off of renewable energy is “not realistic in the immediate future.”

Statistics cannot provide a full review of renewable energy’s future potential. In 2015, renewable energy made up 13% of the United States’ energy generation, far behind the countries with realistic aims for reliance on renewable energy. According to the International Agency’s World Energy Outlook, fossil fuels made up 82% of global energy in 2013, which has not changed since 1988, and “the strong rise of renewables only reduces this to around 75% in 2035.”The Sierra Club finds that over 90 cities, ten counties, and two states across the country have adopted goals for 100% clean energy in the future, many promising it before 2050. In the end, the possibility of 100% clean energy reliance depends much on federal, state, and local government environmental policy and whether important figures support environmental causes.

UNKNOWN

MIZUKI BRENT (R) Economy and Jobs: “Our strong nation is crippled by the world’s highest corporate tax.”

Although the factuality of whether the tax is crippling is up to interpretation, statistics find that within the Organization for Economic Development, a group of developed countries, the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate. Within countries outside of the OECD, the U.S. has only the 3rd highest rate. Also, this tax rate is not always effective, and when credits and deductions are included, the Congressional Budget Office Finds, U.S. companies do not end up paying the highest.

MISLEADING… IFFY