Your guide to the economic stimulus bill

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The stimulus bill contains "$20 million for the removal of small to medium-sized fish passage barriers" and "$25 million to rehabilitate off-roading trails for ATVs."

Mike Pence, Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009.

Ruling: True | Details

"There are no earmarks" in the stimulus bill.

Robert Gibbs, Monday, February 2nd, 2009.

Ruling: False | Details

The Senate version of the economic stimulus package includes "millions of dollars to World War II Filipino veterans in the Philippines."

Jon Kyl, Sunday, February 1st, 2009.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

To give the proposed economic stimulus plan some perspective, "if you started the day Jesus Christ was born and spent $1 million every day since then, you still wouldn’t have spent $1 trillion."

Mitch McConnell, Sunday, February 1st, 2009.

Ruling: True | Details

"The (economic stimulus) legislation could open billions of taxpayer dollars to left-wing groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)."

John Boehner, Monday, January 26th, 2009.

Ruling: Barely True | Details

"There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jump-start the economy."

Barack Obama, Friday, January 9th, 2009.

Ruling: False | Details

"The House Democrats' so-called 'stimulus' has been stuffed with an astonishing $335 million to fund prevention programs of sexually transmitted diseases."

National Republican Congressional Committee, Wednesday, January 28th, 2009.

Ruling: Mostly True | Details

Democrats compare the infrastructure programs in the stimulus to the Eisenhower interstate program, "but he proposed a $500 billion highway system, and they're going to put $30 billion" into roads and bridges.

John Mica, Wednesday, January 28th, 2009.

Ruling: Mostly True | Details

"For every dollar (in the stimulus package) that is spent to help small businesses, $4 is being spent to help upkeep the grass on the lawns of Washington."

Eric Cantor, Friday, January 23rd, 2009.

Ruling: False | Details

The stimulus bill includes "$300,000 for a sculpture garden in Miami."

Eric Cantor, Friday, January 23rd, 2009.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

"Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four."

Barack Obama, Saturday, January 24th, 2009.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

Democrats have said that "even one hearing (on the stimulus bill) would be one too many, and that we have a single day to approve these five complex propositions that will affect the lives of millions."

Joe Barton, Thursday, January 22nd, 2009.

Ruling: True | Details

Says a Congressional Budget Office report on spending by House Democrats in the economic stimulus concluded it "is just not stimulus. It won't help the economy grow."

Eric Cantor, Wednesday, January 21st, 2009.

Ruling: False | Details

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Democratic Sens. Harry Reid and Dick Durbin were hopeful about the stimulus bill.

As the Senate nears a final vote on the economic stimulus bill, we thought it would be helpful to pull together all of our Truth-O-Meter items on what's in the bill and what's not.

You'll find our rulings summarized in the box on the right. If you've been reading the site over the past two weeks, you know that we found lots of hyperbole in the debate. 

We examined Sen. Mitch McConnell's claim about spending $1 million a day since Christ was born and found that not only was McConnell was right, but his underlying point — that the stimulus bill was bigger than $1 million day since Christ — was also correct.

We found plenty of exaggerations and a few falsehoods. We checked several claims by House Republican Whip Eric Cantor and found he was wrong on each one .

John Boehner tried to make a case that a favorite Republican villain, ACORN, stood to get "billions" from the bill, but we found that was a tremendous stretch. But his fellow Republican John Mica was on the mark with his claim about money for roads and bridges , while Sen. Jon Kyl was about half-right on the Filipino claim .

On the Democratic side, Nancy Pelosi was wrong when she said that tax cuts for the wealthy "have been the biggest contributor to the budget deficit." And we found White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was wrong that there were no earmarks in the bill . We see at least a handful. And while many people think there's a need for a stimulus bill, President Obama was wrong when he said no one disagrees .

We'll keep an eye on the final debate about the stimulus bill, but we'll also be redeploying the Truth-O-Meter to other issues in Washington such as food safety and President Obama's nominees. We think the meter will be busy.