Getting the facts straight

Obama

"One hundred percent, John, of your ads - 100 percent of them - have been negative."

The facts

The statement is true when it comes to McCain's current commercial spots. But by saying the ads "have been" 100 percent negative, Obama is being misleading. McCain is currently running all negative ads, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But he has run a number of positive ads.

McCain

Said of Obama running mate Sen. Joe Biden: "He had this cockamamie idea of dividing Iraq into three countries."

The facts

Biden proposed dividing Iraq into three semiautonomous regions, not countries. He was a prime sponsor of a Senate resolution that called for federal regions under the control of Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis in an agreement similar to that which ended the 1990s war in Bosnia.

Obama

"I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans, 95 percent."

The facts

The independent Tax Policy Center says Obama's plan cuts taxes for 81.3 percent of all households in 2009.

McCain

"Sen. Obama, as a member of the Illinois state Senate, voted in the Judiciary Committee against a law that would provide immediate medical attention to a child born in a failed abortion. He voted against that."

Obama's response

"If it sounds incredible that I would vote to withhold lifesaving treatment from an infant, that's because it's not true."

The facts

As a state senator, Obama opposed three efforts, in 2001, 2002 and 2003, to give legal protections to any aborted fetus that showed signs of life. The 2003 measure was virtually identical to a bill President Bush signed in 2002 - before Obama was in the U.S. Senate, but one that Obama said he would have supported. Illinois already had a law to protect aborted fetuses considered able to survive. The Illinois State Medical Society argued that the bill would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship and expand civil liability for doctors. Critics said it would have undermined the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, in ways the federal law would not.

Obama

Said he would be "completely supportive" of late-term abortion restrictions "as long as there's an exception for the mother's health and life."

The facts

Obama leaves himself a lot of latitude. "Health" has been interpreted so that it can include conditions, including psychological ones, that are difficult to diagnose or prove.

Anti-abortion advocates say that makes the ban meaningless, with too much subjective judgment in the equation.

McCain

"Senator Obama talks about voting for budgets. He voted twice for a budget resolution that increases the taxes on individuals making $42,000 a year."

The facts

The vote was on a nonbinding resolution that assumed Bush's tax cuts would expire in 2011. If that happened, it could mean higher taxes for people making as little as about $42,000.

Obama

"We can cut the average family's premium by $2,500 a year."

The facts

If that sounds like a promise to lower insurance premiums, it isn't. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to disease programs, among other steps, consumers will save money. The equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four is optimistic. Many economists are skeptical, but if the savings are achieved, it's not certain that they would mean lower premiums.

McCain

"We can eliminate our dependence on foreign oil by building 45 nuclear power plants right away."

The facts

That would require a massive shift to electric or hybrid-electric cars, with nuclear power providing the electricity. No nuclear reactor is expected to be built before 2015 at the earliest.