Here's a great example of how the media fails to adequately fact-check deceptive statements. Today, John McCain made a misleading claim about Social Security that the AP reported as follows:
McCain took a jab at AARP, the lobby for older citizens, which has been buying television and newspaper advertisements in cities Bush is visiting to oppose his idea to let younger workers divert some of their payroll taxes into private investment accounts.
"Some of our friends, who are opposing this idea, say, `Oh, you don't have to worry until 2042.' We wait until 2042 when we stop paying people Social Security?" the Arizona Republican asked rhetorically at the Social Security event here.
The Social Security trustees have said 2042 is the year when the trust fund will be empty and the program will have only annual payroll taxes to pay benefits.
The AP's clarification of McCain's statement (if you can even call it that) is difficult for the average reader to understand. The wire service should have pointed out explicitly that his implication is false -- if no action is taken, the trust fund is projected to be able to pay out about 73 percent of promised benefits in 2042 (declining gradually to 68 percent in 2078). Given how often this canard has been put out there over the last few months (see here and here), it should be easy to do.
Update: Media Matters notes that the Washington Post reprinted McCain's quote without any clarification at all. For shame!
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