We remember when PolitiFact openly admitted that when Republicans charged that Obamacare cut Medicare it tended to rate such claims either "Half True" or "Mostly False."
PolitiFact has looked askance at bare statements that Obamacare cuts Medicare, rating them either Half True or Mostly False depending on how they are worded.Nowadays, PolitiFact has reconsidered. It now says it generally rated claims that Obamacare cut Medicare as "Half True."
We did a series of fact-checks about the back-and-forth and generally rated the Republican attacks Half True.PolitiFact doubtless took the latter position in response to criticism of its claims about Republican "cuts" to Medicaid. PolitiFact has flatly said Trump's budget cuts Medicaid (no caveats) despite the fact that outlays for Medicaid rise every year under the Trump budget. PolitiFact has also joined the mainstream media in attacking the Trump administration for denying it cuts Medicaid, rating those statements "Mostly False" or worse.
Given the context, PolitiFact's fact check of Kellyanne Conway looks like a retrospective attempt to excuse PolitiFact's inconsistency.
Unfortunately for PolitiFact writer Jon Greenberg, the facts do not support his defense narrative. The "Half True" ratings he cites tended to come from joint claims, that 1) Obamacare's Medicare cuts went to 2) pay for the Affordable Care Act. It's completely true that the ACA used Medicare savings to cut the price tag for the legislation. Every version of the CBO's assessment of the Democrats' health care reform bill will confirm it.
When PolitiFact rated isolated GOP claims that Democrats' health care reform cut Medicare, the verdict tended to come in as "Mostly False." It wasn't even close. Keep reading below the fold to see the proof.
So, PolitiFact writer Jon Greenberg either isn't so great at checking his facts, or else he is deliberately misleading his audience. The same goes for the editor, Angie Drobnic Holan.
