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The Truth-O-Meter spent much of the past week stuck on Half True.

Hope as we might that politicians and pundits would be beacons of truth, they struggled to get things right on everything from mammograms to the federal budget.

In one case, both Democrats and Republicans fumbled on the same issue: foreign money in U.S. elections. And in one case -- taxes -- a Republican got it mostly right.

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Here's how things went down: 

This week's AJC PolitiFact Georgia was brought to you by the word "exaggeration."

Politicians exaggerated their successes, stated remote possibilities as fact, overreached with their logic, and in one case, overstated the lengths of other nations' school years by a couple of weeks. 

Politicians of all levels of renown diverged from the truth. This week, the Truth-O-Meter tested Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President Jimmy Carter, President Barack Obama, U.S. House Rep. Phil Gingrey and state House Rep. Jill Chambers.  

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Here's how the politicians fared last week:

The Flip-O-Meter spun like a top last week. And once the Truth-O-Meter burned.

We owe this to the State Road and Tollway Authority, which voted to extend the toll on Ga. 400 to 2020. And Democrat candidate for governor Roy Barnes, who mentioned he'd like to run a "civil and polite" campaign to win back his old job.

And there's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose office took a quote out of context. Hence the smoke.

Others fared better. Citizens of the Republic, a group run by veterans of President Ronald Reagan's administration, stuck to the facts. And a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate got things half right.

We invite you to join our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. You keep reading, and we'll keep the old Truth-O-Meter churning.

Here's how we ruled last week:

AJC PolitiFact Georgia went back in history last week on its search for the truth. Way back.

Like a century ago -- the dawn of our nation's dependence on fossil fuel. That's when wooden pipelines were used to transport natural gas. We found out whether they're still in use today.

And two decades ago, when Georgians debated whether to institute the lottery that now funds the popular HOPE Scholarship for college-bound high schoolers. Did former Gov. Roy Barnes, who's trying to reclaim his seat, oppose the scholarship?

The Truth-O-Meter's other jaunts into the past had to do with more recent history. Think five years ago, when the state argued over whether to toughen its voter ID laws. Or the turn of the millennium, when Barnes, a Democrat, was governor. Republicans claimed he was weak on education and jobs back then.

It's also when a DeKalb County school board member said she started handing over to the county what totaled $30,000 in unused travel money. Did she?

This is how we ruled.

The stakes were high for AJC PolitiFact Georgia last week.

Two U.S. senators and a Clayton County official made claims on one of this state's hottest topics: jobs.

The White House sparred with U.S. House Republican leader John Boehner over tax cuts that could have a major impact on the struggling economy. Republican governors tried to thwart the efforts of Democrat Roy Barnes to reclaim the governor's seat.

And a candidate for agriculture commissioner bet about $1 billion in economic benefit would rain down if we let Georgians gamble on ponies.

Here's a roundup of this week's rulings:
 

The ghosts of politics past and future haunted the Truth-O-Meter last week.

AJC PolitiFact Georgia went back in time to explore unemployment during the era of President Ronald Reagan and looked at decades of GOP gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal's tax returns.

We also looked into the future. Deal's opponent former Gov. Roy Barnes promised one where an energy-efficiency retrofitting project brings 10,000 jobs to Georgia. An environmentalist predicted one of oil dependence. And President Barack Obama raised the specter of a country where Social Security is privatized.

Here's how we ruled:

Politicos had money and a mosque on their minds last week.

We covered statements on the federal government's money woes, casinos, a tax break for low-income families, and the mosque near ground zero. A diverse crew including conservative TV host Glenn Beck and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Michael Thurmond graced our pages.  

Some did better than others on the Truth-O-Meter and its cousin, the Flip-O-Meter, which measures flip-flops, but all escaped our worst rating: Pants On Fire. Maybe next week.

Here's a roundup of our rulings.

The truth and politicos were strangers last week.

The Truth-O-Meter ruled Half True and worse on statements about "dirty" campaign contributions, stimulus spending, the community center and mosque near ground zero, and sexual deviance.

And our Flip-O-Meter, which detects whether politicians have shifted their opinions, found that a gubernatorial candidate inched away from his ideal of running a "civil and polite" campaign.

Here's how the politicos fared:

PolitiFact Georgia had a week of relative truthiness.

We tackled a potpourri of subjects in the past seven days. They included whether federal employees bring home more bacon than your average private-sector employee and a juicy article in Esquire magazine on Newt Gingrich that said his fundraising outshone even that of Republican superstar Sarah Palin. 

Two were statements made on national networks: One on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on NBC's "Today" and a second from NBC's "Meet the Press" on stimulus spending.

The week's tally: one False, two Half Trues, two Mostly Trues and one True.

Here's how the Truth-O-Meter ruled:

Are you voting in Tuesday's runoff election? Don't forget your Truth-O-Meter.

Runoffs can be ugly, and this political season is no exception. In the 19 days since the primary, PolitiFact Georgia has debunked enough attacks to fill an entire election season. 

In the Republican gubernatorial runoff alone, we've covered attacks on abortion, negative campaigning, and one candidate's voting record from 17 years ago.

Even Trig, former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's toddler son, became a point of contention in that race.

We've written items on four elections for statewide office in the past two months: the Republican race for governor, the Democratic race for secretary of state, the Republican race for attorney general, and the Republican race for commissioner of insurance.

Here's how they fared against the Truth-O-Meter.

Are you voting in Tuesday's primary election?

The Truth-O-Meter has caught Georgia's gubernatorial candidates uttering Truths, Half Truths and worse this political season.

Here's a round-up of what they said and how we ruled.