Latest Stories By Meghan Ashford-Grooms

Showing 1-12 of 57 items

No rating reached on claim about Adan Ballesteros and “cocaine blood money”

An Austin political action committee says Adan Ballesteros, seeking re-election as a constable, accepted "cocaine blood money." We decided this claim cannot be rated.

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Texas runoffs mean two more months of fact-checks

The top two vote-getters in the Republican U.S. Senate primary — David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz — are headed to a July 31 runoff. And theirs is not the only unsettled contest. That means about 60 additional days for the Truth-O-Meter to weigh candidate claims.

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Planned Parenthood versus the State of Texas

As the dispute over whether the state can exclude Planned Parenthood health centers from the Women’s Health Program plays out in court, we look back at two fact-checks of statements about Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the program.

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Perry’s Coyote Special difficult to order?

At an NRA meeting, Rick Perry joked about the demand for the Ruger-made gun inspired by his 2010 coyote killing. Curious, we learned that demand for Ruger’s products in general is so high that all orders are temporarily suspended — though there’s no confirmed Perry factor.

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U.S. Senate debate: ‘Facts are stubborn things’

Several Republicans vying for a shot at succeeding Kay Bailey Hutchison clashed over their respective records in tonight's debate. Even before they tangled, one hopeful re-floated a claim about another that we've checked before.

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Is ‘pink slime’ safe?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently defended a form of ground beef that critics malign as "pink slime." In addition to calling  the product "nutritious" and "affordable," the Texas governor described it as safe.

Is that right?

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Has cost of 2010 federal health care law doubled?

U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz tweeted a claim racing through Republican circles: that new projections show the 2010 federal health care law’s cost has doubled. False, says the Truth-O-Meter.

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About that chain email you got … we check those, too

We checked — and found False — a circulating email claim that a 2008 Dallas proof-of-insurance ordinance had resulted in area tow lots being filled mostly with the cars of illegal residents.

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Ron Paul’s claim on gas prices touches off fire

Gas prices are going up, but an overstatement about their creep by presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas set the Truth-O-Meter aflame.

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Familiar claim in Ron Paul ad slamming Rick Santorum

Presidential hopeful from Texas says rival former senator from Pennsylvania doubled the size of the U.S. Education Department. No single lawmaker could do that, we figure. Besides, the department's budget did not double when Republicans dominated.

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How many are helped by deal on payroll tax cut?

Per a congressional deal on extending the payroll tax cut, many say 160 million workers stand to benefit. In an earlier fact-check, we learned that those workers hail from about 122 million households.

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Showing 1-12 of 57 items