Local News

Inslee's claims about renewable energy half true

t's impossible to quantify how much the state's Initiative 937 -- which set the renewable-energy quota for large utilities -- was responsible for attracting new investments in wind, solar and biomass technologies.

The Truth Needle: Mayor's claim about cars found to be half true

Mayor Mike McGinn said 19 percent of Seattle households don't have cars, and more and more younger people are choosing not to drive. But is he right?

Mostly false: Cantwell opponent repeats myths, overstates case on health law

GOP Senate candidate Michael Baumgartner says U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell voted to take away our choice of doctors, to force us to buy the insurance she mandates, and to give our choice of treatments to an unelected board of bureaucrats.

False: McKenna plan misstates rise in health-care costs

Truth needle: Gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna said state spending on health care for employees rose 10.5 percent in the most recent year. That's not true.

Mostly true: Drunken drivers' death toll is high

State Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, says more people are killed by drunken drivers in Washington state than by all other criminals combined. That's mostly true.

Mostly false: Gay-marriage wave of lawsuits claim mostly false

Gay-marriage opponents have said there will be a rash of civil suits against individuals and businesses that don't want to provide wedding-related services to same-sex couples because of their religious beliefs. Our Truth Needle concludes that claim is mostly false.

Mostly false: I-1183 ad exaggerates

The campaign against Initiative 1183, which would privatize the state's liquor business, is running a television spot that says the initiative has "giant loopholes deregulating our liquor laws, allowing almost 1,000 gas stations and minimarts to sell hard liquor in every community across Washington, where police stings prove they sell to one out of four minors." A Seattle Times analysis judges the ad to be mostly false.

Mostly true: I-1183 TV ad on lower liquor costs mostly true

A television spot for Initiative 1183, a measure backed by Costco Wholesale that would privatize the state liquor system, says it would "bring more competitive prices to consumers." To borrow an idea from Bill Clinton, that depends on what you mean by "competitive."

Mostly false: Creighton ad mostly wrong on Hague's position on transit

Metropolitan King County Council candidate John Creighton's claim in a campaign ad is mostly false in saying incumbent Jane Hague "supports drastically cutting transit service."

Mostly false: Ad on '$200-a-day hospital tax'

Truth Needle: The Washington State Hospital Association is running a radio ad that claims the state Legislature is plotting a $200-a-day tax on hospital patients. The ad's claims are misleading at best.

Half true: Mayor's tunnel congestion claim

The claim: Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said last week on a radio appearance that the state's own data show the planned Highway 99 tolled tunnel would cause the worst downtown congestion of all options to replace the 58-year-old Alaskan Way Viaduct. What we found: half true.

Mostly false: Union ad on Western State Hospital

In a new TV ad, the Washington Federation of State Employees claims that "because of state cuts violence has increased" at Western State Hospital. We found that claim to be mostly false.

Half true: Governor Gregoire's job-loss projections

The claim: Gov. Chris Gregoire recently told reporters that between 2009 and the end of the next budget in 2013 "we will lay off about 10,000 people overall in state employment and teachers."

Mostly false: China's 'new' jet orders anything but

The big Boeing order from China trumpeted during Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the White House is actually a re-announcement of previous orders.

False: Seattle Public Schools underestimated students' college-readiness

The claim that only 17 percent of Seattle Public Schools graduates meet the entrance requirements for four-year colleges is not correct.

Half true: Woodward's remarks on Oregon off mark

The claim: University of Washington Athletic Director Scott Woodward told a radio reporter last weekend that the University of Oregon's academics have become "an embarrassment."

Mostly false: Reichert tax vote portrayed unfairly

A television ad from Democrat Suzan DelBene's congressional campaign claims that Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert voted to raise taxes after promising never to do so.

Mostly false: claim that extending tax requires public vote

The statement in a commercial for a yes vote on Initiative 1098 that the measure "cannot be changed without a vote of the people" is mostly false because state law allows the Legislature to make changes to initiatives, with certain restrictions. The commercial fails to acknowledge the Legislature's authority.

Half true: Ad implying 'Olympia' keeps raising sales tax

Half true: A recent TV ad from the Defeat 1098 campaign says that after two years "Olympia" can extend the income tax created by Initiative 1098 to everyone and then notes, "look what's happened with the sales tax, it keeps going up and up."

Mostly false: Reichert tax vote portrayed unfairly

Mostly false: A television ad from Democrat Suzan DelBene's congressional campaign claims that Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert voted to raise taxes after promising never to do so.

False: Ad incorrect, stimulus bills created jobs

False: A television ad by the National Republican Senatorial Committee accuses U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of voting for "a failed stimulus that didn't create jobs." At the same time, an ad by Republican challenger Dino Rossi's campaign attacks Murray for supporting "several stimulus bills which have done nothing other than run up the national debt."

Half-true: Larsen's ad interpretation of 'Koster Plan' on Social Security

Half true: U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen's radio and TV ads say his Republican opponent, Snohomish County Councilman John Koster, wants to privatize Social Security.

True: Claim by campaign against liquor initiatives

It's impossible to know how many more stores in Washington would sell liquor if they could under proposed Initiatives 1100 and 1105.

Half true: I-1098 ad doesn't tell whole story

Half true: A TV ad from the Defeat 1098 campaign says the income-tax initiative would create the "4th highest state income tax," the tax "can be extended to you in 2 years" and would be the "largest tax increase in history."

Mostly false: 'Grocery items' ad misleading

Mostly false: A TV ad supporting Initiative 1107 says new taxes are being levied on "grocery items," including foods made of meat, fruits and vegetables. It also says the taxes target products made by Washington companies, but not out-of-state competitors.

False: Murray ad wrongly depicts Rossi's answer on Boeing, Airbus

An ad for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray accuses Republican challenger Dino Rossi of saying Boeing workers should not have a level playing field to compete for an Air Force tanker contract.

Half true: Claim for I-1098 off on number of firms to gain B&O tax exemption

Campaign materials for the income-tax initiative targeting high-wage earners said that "under I-1098, more than 80 percent of businesses, over 375,000, will not pay any B&O tax." That statement is half true.

Mostly true: Murray takes credit for stopping overseas tanker contract

In a television ad, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray takes credit for stopping the federal government from awarding a $35 billion aircraft contract to a foreign company. Her assertion is mostly true.

False: Murray's statement about teachers' jobs

Sen. Patty Murray said earlier this month that 3,000 teaching jobs in Washington state were at risk in the fall without new federal aid that she helped pushed through Congress.

False: Dino Rossi's claim on Patty Murray's spending

U.S. Senate candidate Dino Rossi has claimed that Sen. Patty Murray has voted for every spending bill in Congress since 2004. But based on his campaign's own definition of a spending bill, that charge is false.

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UPDATE - 8:30 AM