Accuracy Report Card—VP Debate

Joseph Lieberman and Richard Cheney took turns tossing out their versions of their opponents' positions during their vice presidential debate on Thursday night. Here's a check on the accuracy of the candidates' claims from the CBS News Political Unit:

Fact Check #1: TAXES
Lieberman said of the Bush-Cheney tax plan: "The numbers show that $1.6 trillion goes to that big tax cut, which, as Al Gore said the other night, sends 43 percent to the top 1 percent."

Analysis: What Bush-Cheney have proposed is an across-the-board tax cut, which would benefit all taxpayers, not just "the top 1 percent."

Since 80 percent of the federal income taxes are paid by the richest fifth of the country, it's no secret that an across-the-board tax cut would mainly benefit the rich the most.

Analysis: They do propose that tax credit; however, it would only be available for stay-at-home parents during the first year of the baby's life.

The Bush-Cheney plan would allow the non-working spouse to deduct up to $3,000 per year.

Analysis: Not exactly. According to the bipartisan, Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, just over 12 million Americans would not receive the full benefit of Bush's tax cuts because they would become subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), originally designed to prevent investors and the wealthy from sheltering too much of their income.

In addition, under current law, around 14.5 million people will have to pay the AMT by 2010 and thus will only be eligible for a reduced tax break or none at all.

Analysis: A Clinton administration projection for 2000 says that revenue from personal and corporate taxes will account for 20.4 percent of the gross domestic product, the highest since 1945.

But when it comes to personal income taxes, most Americans are paying lower taxes.

The Treasury Department says about a third of taxpayers don't pay any federal income taxes at all. And it says a family of four with a median income of $54,900 pays less than 10 percent of its income in federal taxes, the lowest rate in 35 years.

Lieberman countered, "I want to assure the American people that te American military is the best-trained, best-equipped, most powerful force in the world."

Analysis: Both campaigns have proposed major military spending plans: Bush wants to spend $45 billion over the next nine years, along with an immediate $1 billion pay raise; Gore, $100 billion over the next ten years.

Regarding the military's readiness, the assertion that the armed forces are falling apart is misleading.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Henry Shelton quoted a former Army chief of staff, retired Gen. John Wickham Jr., as saying recently, "The truth is that America has the strongest, best-equipped, best-trained and best-led military capability in the world."

"I think Gen. Wickham has it right," Shelton said. Each of the military chiefs did tell senators, however, they are worried that if spending doesn't increase, the military’s war-fighting capability will decline.

Analysis: Not true. According to the NAEP, the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and their peers is on the decline.