Fact-checking Democratic candidates on the issues at the ABC News debate in Houston

FAN Editor

Here’s ABC News’ fact check of the Democratic Debate in Houston between Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro.

Please refresh the page for live updates.

Biden: “My plan for health care costs a lot of money. It costs $740 billion. It doesn’t cost $30 trillion — $3.4 trillion a year, it turns out, is twice what the entire federal budget is … “

Sanders: “That’s right, Joe. Status quo over 10 years will be $50 trillion.”

The facts: At issue is how much a government-run health care plan would cost, and that would depend greatly on how that plan is set up. Overall though, Biden and Sanders actually agree that $30 trillion is a good estimate of what Sanders wants.

It’s likely they are looking at a 2016 report by the nonprofit Urban Institute found that if Sanders’ plan were enacted, between the years 2017 and 2026, “federal expenditures would increase by $32.0 trillion over that period.”

As for the $50 trillion estimate cited by Sanders, National Health Expenditure Projections by the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that “under current law, national health spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.5 percent per year for 2018-27 and to reach nearly $6.0 trillion by 2027.”

–Sophie Tatum

Biden: “We didn’t lock people up in cages. We didn’t separate families. We didn’t do all of those things.”

The facts: The Obama administration detained undocumented immigrants, including families, at border facilities that often included chain-link fencing that critics have called “cages.” Border authorities have argued that these holding facilities are temporary, until people can be processed and either released or sent to another more permanent shelter. In 2015, the American Immigration Lawyers Association filed a formal complaint against a family detention center run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing a lack of access to medical care for detainees.

On family separations, the Obama administration — like the Bush administration – did separate parents from children but only in rare circumstances when the child’s safety might be at risk or a crime committed.

In contrast, the Trump administration enacted a “zero-tolerance” approach in April 2018 that called for stepped-up prosecutions of any adult crossing the border illegally, even without evidence of a serious crime. The result was some 2,700 children were separated from their families in a matter of weeks.

Both President Barack Obama and Trump asked a federal judge for permission to detain families together, but were rejected both times.

–Quinn Owen

O’Rourke: “A racism and violence that had long been a part of America was welcomed out into the open and directed to my hometown of El Paso, Texas, where 22 people were killed, dozens more grievously injured by a man carrying a weapon he should never have been able to buy in the first place, inspired to kill by our president.”

Castro: “A few weeks ago, a shooter drove 10 miles inspired by this — 10 hours inspired by this president to kill people who look like me.”

The facts: According to a police affidavit, the 21-year-old man accused opening fires at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, which left 22 dead and dozens more injured, said he was targeting “Mexicans.”

The El Paso police chief said authorities were also examining what he called a “manifesto” that they believed was written by the shooter and published online less than an hour before the shooting occurred. The document decried what the author believed was an ongoing “invasion” of Texas by Hispanic people and what the author foresaw as the impending destruction of America.

The document posted online anticipated the attack would be connected to President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, and the author said that his ideology predated Trump and hadn’t changed for years.

Trump has repeatedly warned of an “invasion” of immigrants multiple times, including in a tweet on Jan. 31: “More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country. We have stopped the previous Caravans, and we will stop these also. With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive. Being Built!”

His campaign also has ran many online ads that used the word “invasion.”

–Quinn Scanlan

Castro: “Of course, I also worked for President Obama, Vice President Biden, and I know that the problem with your plan is that it leaves 10 million people uncovered. Now, on the last debate stage in Detroit, you said that wasn’t true and Sen. Harris brought that up. There was a fact check of that. They said that was true.”

The facts: This 10 million number has come up in past debates as a dig against Biden’s plan. Biden’s health care plan, according to his campaign website, would insure “more than an estimated 97% of Americans.” There would be roughly 3% of people who would not be covered under this plan. That 3% comes out to be about 9.8 million people.

–Sophie Tatum

Sen. Kamala Harris: “Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.”

The facts: Harris is referring to the Justice Department’s move this past March in a major lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general. In that lawsuit, the administration argued that the entire Affordable Care Act should be deemed unconstitutional. A federal judge in Texas ruled in favor of the GOP attorneys general that the law was not constitutional because the 2017 Republican tax bill eliminated a requirement in the Obama-era health care bill that everyone carry insurance, known as the “individual mandate.”

If that court’s ruling is upheld by a higher court, as supported by the DOJ, the Affordable Care Act would be dismantled. Republicans have said, without providing specifics of how such a measure would succeed in a divided Congress, that they would quickly act to restore protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

–Alexander Mallin

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

Harvard reviewing nearly $9M in donations from Epstein

Harvard University says it’s reviewing donations from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and will donate all unspent funding to victims of sexual crimes. University President Lawrence Bacow announced the review Thursday but says he ordered it two weeks ago. He said Epstein’s connections to Harvard and other colleges raise “important concerns.” […]