Bernie is right about the WP fact-check thing.

[DanTex]

I wasn't a Bernie supporter in 2016, and am undecided this time. But I do object to stupid media attacks on Democratic candidates. It seems to me the WP and others are trying to play at false balance, when Trump is constantly lying about everything, the want to say "see, we are fact-checking other people too."

What happened: Bernie claimed there are 500,000 people per year that go bankrupt from medical expenses. That number came from a peer-reviewed article in a respected academic journal. Not only that, but the authors of the article, when contacted, said that Bernie was accurately citing their research. In fact, they said his number was low. Which makes Bernie's claim about as accurate as anything a politician might say.

It doesn't matter that the WP was able to find another study whose authors disagree with the first study, based on what exactly qualifies as a "medical bankruptcy" -- i.e. if you lose your job and then get hit by a car, is it a job-loss bankruptcy or a medical bankruptcy, or both?

That just means there is disagreement among scholars about the number. It doesn't mean Bernie was lying, or that his claim was "mostly false." Bernie wasn't twisting any facts to make a misleading point. His underlying point, that medical bankruptcies are a huge problem, is something that nobody disagrees with. It's just that there's some academic debate about the actual number. And the number Bernie cited came from a peer-reviewed study by respected academics, who when asked, agreed with the way he cited the study.


Seriously, step back for a second. There are over 500,000 bankruptcies per year that are at least in part caused by medical debt. And, as the researchers point out, that's bankrupt families. The number of individuals affected by those bankruptcies is a lot higher. And then the WP gives Bernie "three pinocchios" because some of those bankruptcies are not exclusively from medical debt. That's dumb, and this kind of thing is not helpful to any kind of progressive or fact-based goals, regardless of what candidate anyone supports.

[redstateblues]

1. Great post

[aikoaiko]

2. thank you.

[KPN]

3. Yup. And thank you. I am not supporting

Bernie this time around, but I appreciate your defense of him because I am grateful for the role he has played over the past 40 years in waking many of us up to the harsh inequities that have beset so many honest, hard working Americans. Sanders has dedicated his life to this and for that he should be applauded, not derided, especially by Democrats.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread DanTex.

[philly_bob]

5. This is the issue that brought researcher Elizabeth Warren into prominence.

When she looked at actual bankruptcies, she found the academic experts (funded by the credit card companies) understated medical bankruptcy.

Bankruptcies were caused, the credit industry said, by lavish spending on second homes, cottages, and boats. These corrupted academics fought her tooth and nail.

[pnwmom]

6. Thank you. We can be certain the R's will use this tactic against anyone we nominate,

or who even looks strong in the primaries.

[corbettkroehler]

7. To Quote A Recent Comment By Ann Currie, "I Miss The Truth"

I appreciate your reminding everyone how important it is to trust the press, the unofficial fourth arm of our government!

[Nitram]

8. I have noticed WP's fact checking efforts bend over backwards to accuse Democrats of lying, while

sometimes giving cover to Republican lies. Usually they get it right, but occasionally they are clearly working too hard to "look fair." I subscribe to the Post, and think it os one of the best source of news and good analysis around, but they do sometimes err on the side of a false balance.

[kcr]

9. I agree

Anyone can search my record on DU posts about Bernie to see that there's no pro-Bernie bias there. And yet even I can see he's right on that one. The Washington Post's fact-checker is generally not good to begin with, but they really whiffed that one.

[dsc]

10. Sanders is close to my last choice

but this post is spot on. Fact checking is a hard job but that doesn't excuse the hackery behind this fact check.

[McKim]

11. This Shows that Senator Sanders is a Threat to the Status Quo and The Washington Consensus

This is an example of proof that Senator Sanders is a threat to the status quo and The Washington Consensus. Keep noticing these attacks! Fact checking is important. I love facts!