St. Petersburg Times Washington Bureau Chief and editor of PolitiFact
Bill Adair is the Editor of PolitiFact and the Washington Bureau Chief for the St. Petersburg Times. He's worked in Washington since 1997 and has covered Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, national politics and aviation safety. Adair is the author of "The Mystery of Flight 427: Inside a Crash Investigation," a behind-the-scenes account of how the National Transportation Safety Board solved one of the biggest mysteries in aviation. He is the winner of the Everett Dirksen Award for Distinguished Coverage of Congress and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award. He lives in Arlington, Va. with his wife and three children.
The latest Truth-O-Meter items from Bill Adair
"The law is very clear! 'The monies recouped from the TARP shall be paid into the general fund of the treasury for the reduction of the public debt.'"
On whether he supports 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'
"Federal employees are making twice as much as their private counterparts."
Health care reform "would bring down the deficit by as much as $1 trillion over the next two decades."
"What were the old annual deficits under Republicans have now become the monthly deficits under Democrats."
"Mr. President, multiple times from your administration there have come statements that Republicans have no ideas and no solutions" on health care.
The president's health care proposals will cause "most Americans to have their premiums increased, not decreased, and hundreds of millions of people lose their current insurance coverage."
"President Obama's proposed 'spending freeze' will only reduce the $42 trillion in government spending proposed between 2011 and 2020 by little more than one-half of 1 percent."
"Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections."
Recent stories from Bill Adair
Checking Palin's claims from Tea PartyWe fact-check some of Sarah Palin's claims from her speech to the Tea Party convention and her weekend interviews.
The Obameter moves in both directionsWith Obama now pursuing a tax credit for companies that add jobs, we change Promise No. 505 from Broken to In the Works.
Scott Brown faces the Truth-O-MeterThe senator-elect claims that federal employees make twice as much as private-sector workers. We check the facts.
'Don't ask, don't tell' promise now In the WorksAfter a year of inaction, the administration begins to change policy on gays in the military. We change our rating.
Will health care reform knock $1 trillion off deficit?President Obama claimed health care reform could reduce the federal deficit by as much as $1 trillion over 20 years. We find the number is based on some shaky long-term estimates.
Fact-checking Obama and Republicans at GOP retreatAt a Republican retreat, the president says he'd like to see "any independent fact-checker out there" examine claims by the GOP and himself. We accept the challenge.
Checking the GOP response to the State of the UnionRepublicans offered some rebuttals to President Obama's State of the Union address. We check their facts.
Fact-checking Obama's State of the Union speechPresident Barack Obama delivers his first State of the Union address, and the Republicans deliver a rebuttal. We check the facts.
Obama overstates impact of Supreme Court decisionThe president says the decision allows foreign corporations to spend unlimited amounts in U.S. political efforts. But the court didn't say that.
Tweets from the right: GOP leads in social mediaWe find John Boehner is right: In the House, Republicans have the lead on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
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