One of the major successes of Bernie Sanders is the meme that he’s totally honest and trustworthy. No, he doesn’t have great speaking fees or private servers but it’s an error to think that this emperor has closets filled with clothes.
Politifact has been keeping score and determined that 47% of the rhetoric he uses on his stump speeches are either blatant or partial lies.
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/bernie-s/
So let’s review their list:
HALF-TRUTHS:
1. “Says Hillary Clinton called Barack Obama "naive" for saying he was would "sit down and talk to the Iranians" during the 2008 Democratic primary.”
2. “It costs a hell of a lot more money to put somebody in jail than send them to the University of Virginia."
3. “In some places, coverage is nearly universal but not a right.”
4. The United States is "the only major country on earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all people as a right, not a privilege."
5. “African-American youth unemployment is 51 percent. Hispanic youth unemployment is 36 percent.”
6. “We are the only major country on Earth that doesn't guarantee health care to all people as a right.”
7. “In this last election in November, ... 63 percent of the American people chose not to vote, ... 80 percent of young people, (and) 75 percent of low-income workers chose not to vote.”
8. “From 2013-2015, the richest 14 Americans increased their net wealth by more than $157 billion, yet the Republican budget would not require these Americans to contribute one penny to deficit reduction.”
9. “One out of four corporations doesn't pay a nickel in (federal income) taxes.”
10. “Since 2000, nearly 12 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and into poverty.”
MOSTLY FALSE:
1. "Very little of (the defense) budget — less than 10 percent — actually goes into fighting ISIS and international terrorism."
2. "I helped write" the Affordable Care Act. (He wrote only one provision)
3. "We didn't go out and take" information from the Hillary Clinton campaign.
4. “Climate change is "directly related" to the growth of terrorism.”
5. “Out of the total U.S. military budget, "significantly less than 10 percent of that money is used to fight international terrorism."
6. "We are imprisoning or giving jail sentences to young people who are smoking marijuana."
7. “The largest low-wage employer "is not McDonalds or Walmart but the U.S. government."
8. "We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on Earth."
9. "Poverty levels (are) at an all-time high."
COMPLETELY FALSE STATEMENTS:
1. "Almost all of the polls that have come out suggest that I am a much stronger candidate against the Republicans than is Hillary Clinton."
2. The Koch Brothers are "spending more money than either the Democratic or Republican parties" in the 2016 elections.
3. "We spend almost twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other country."
4. "(Texas Republicans) believe in abolishing Social Security, abolishing V.A. health care."
5. "We now work the longest hours of any people around the world."
6. "Last year, ExxonMobil made $19 billion in profit. Guess what. They paid zero in taxes. They got a $156 million refund from the IRS."
7. "We spend twice as much per capita on health care as any other nation on Earth."
Breaking news: Bernie Sanders is a politician.