Like most people, I am tired of lies and misleading statements by politicians.
In 2007, the Tampa Bay Times created PolitiFact to cover elections. It evaluates politicians’ statement as “false” (half false, mostly false, false and “pants on fire”).
According to Rolling Stone magazine, PolitiFact has found that the politician who currently lies the most is Ben Carson, with his statements evaluated at an astounding 84 percent false. Some other big liars, according to PolitiFact, are Donald Trump — 76 percent false, Ted Cruz — 66 percent false, and Carly Fiorina — 50 percent false. Bernie Sanders’ and Hillary Clinton’s statements are both evaluated as 28 percent false.
On the subject of lies, how many times have you heard, “Republicans are good for the economy?” There’s a lie for you.
According to CNN Money, “Democrats vs. Republicans: Who’s Better for Stocks?”, the only two presidents with stock market negative annual returns while in office were Richard Nixon and George W. Bush.
The average annual gain for the S&P 500 was 14.9 percent under Bill Clinton. The market has done better under Obama so far (12.6 percent) than it did under Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush.
We live in a time when anyone with a computer can easily check politicians’ statements. It is too bad that more people don’t try checking the facts instead of believing whatever ridiculous statements and lies that politicians such as Trump make up.
Ellen Field, New Gloucester
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