Race to Presidency: Fact-checking the Democratic town hall


On Feb. 3, CNN hosted the New Hampshire Democratic town hall. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders participated in the event. Candidates made the following statements throughout the debate, and The Current staff determined the verdicts after heavy research of reputable sources. Full transcripts of the debate can be found online at CNN, The New York Times and other sources.

  • “I was for 16 years in the House Democratic Caucus, for nine years in the Senate Democratic Caucus. Right now, I am the ranking member of the Budget Committee, appointed by the Democratic leadership and membership. A couple of years ago, I was very proudly the chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee. So, of course, I am a Democrat and running for the Democratic nomination.”—Bernie Sanders, on if he thinks he’s a Democrat
    • According to biography.com, Sanders served in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 2006 and served in the U.S. Senate from 2006 to 2015, when he decided to run for president. While he served in the Senate, Sanders was on the Committee on Budget, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the Committee on Veterans Affairs and the Joint Economic Committee. In 2013, he became chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, according to politico.com.
    • VERDICT: True.
  • “I want to defend the Affordable Care Act. It is one of the great accomplishments, not only of this president, but of the Democratic Party going back to Harry Truman. The Republicans are determined to repeal it. And they tried 62 times just to turn it back to the insurance companies. Senator Sanders and I share the same goal. We want to get universal health care coverage. Before it was called Obamacare, it was called Hillarycare, as you remember.”—Hillary Clinton, on a political revolution
    • The New York Times reported that the number of times Republicans appealed ACA was 62 as of Jan. 6.
    • While Clinton did propose a universal healthcare plan in 1993, while Bill Clinton was in office, it was very different from Obamacare. According to politico.com, under Hillarycare, the plan would create regional alliances that insured everyone, even those who were insured by employers. This plan also had employer and individual mandates, requiring that even small businesses cover employees. Obamacare, on the other hand, is based on insuring the uninsured, so that individuals and small businesses can choose to join.
    • VERDICT: Mostly true. While Clinton was right about the number of appeals and her 1993 attempt at universal health care, she failed to mention that her plan was vastly different from Obama’s. In fact, Obama’s ACA is modeled on Mitt Romney’s healthcare reform, known as RomneyCare, which was passed in Massachusetts in 2006.
  • “The United States is the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people. And we end up spending far, far more per capita on health care as do the people of any other country. Canada, U.K., France, whatever.”—Bernie Sanders, on how raising taxes helps U.S. citizens
    • As reported by various sources, the U.S., along with Mexico, India and China, does not guarantee health care. Michael Briggs, a Sanders spokesman, stated that in similar statements to this, Sanders referred to the countries that are a part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, though Sanders did not specifically say it. OECD includes 34 countries throughout the world, notably the U.S., Mexico, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, Italy and Australia. According to a report published by OECD in 2014, Mexico and the U.S. were the only two countries who did not guarantee coverage, though Seguro Popular, a public health insurance company in Mexico, instilled a universal health policy in 2004.
    • As for spending per capita, OECD reported that, as of July 2015, the U.S. spent over $8,713 per capita, with the next-highest spending being $6,325 in Switzerland.
    • VERDICT: Half true. While Mexico does have a universal policy, the country’s government does not guarantee it; however, the U.S. does spend the most on healthcare per capita.
  • “I voted for the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act when I was in the Senate. It passed 98 to nothing based on a very extensive set of hearings and research.”—Hillary Clinton, on equality
    • The Voting Rights Act was originally passed in 1965. The legislation said that voting rights can’t be denied based on race and that citizens can’t be denied voting rights based on failed compliance testing, and it also gave the ability to enforce the 15th Amendment. The act eventually extended to include American Indians, Asian Americans, Alaskan Native and people of Spanish heritage and, in 2006, was renewed until 2031.
    • The Washington Post reported that the reauthorization did, in fact, pass 98 to zero in the Senate.
    • VERDICT: True.
  • “Let’s be clear. We have one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country on earth. In the last election, where Republicans won a huge victory, 63 percent of the American people didn’t vote, 80 percent of young people didn’t vote.”—Bernie Sanders, on revolution
    • According to data published by the Pew Research Center, in the 2012 election, the U.S. only had a 53.6 percent voter turnout. Out of 34 countries, only three — Japan, Chile and Switzerland — had lower voter turnouts in their elections.
    • According to politifact.com, in the November 2014 general election, 64.1 percent of voting-eligible people in the U.S. did not vote and 78.5 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 didn’t vote.
    • VERDICT: True.
  • “But you said something else, which I think is really important. We can’t be here in New Hampshire and not talk about the addiction problem in New Hampshire. Not talk about the fact that there have been more deaths by overdoses than car crashes in this state. There are 23 million people who need help in our country, both alcohol and drugs.”—Hillary Clinton, on marijuana
    • According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, from 2013 to 2014, New Hampshire had a 73.5 percent increase in drug overdose-related deaths, namely from prescription pain relievers and heroin. State news stations have reported that there were approximately 295 opioid-related deaths in New Hampshire in 2015.
    • For traffic-related deaths, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that, in 2014, there were 95 traffic fatalities and 126 drivers involved in fatal crashes in New Hampshire.
    • org reported that, in 2010, 23.5 million people in the U.S. were addicted to alcohol and drugs. However, drugabuse.gov reported that the number of alcohol abusers declined from 18.1 million people in 2002 to 17.3 million people in 2013, and illicit drug use has increased to 24.6 people since 2002.
    • VERDICT: True.
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