Tonight, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito mislead viewers of the GOP Convention when she claimed the burden of government regulations costs “$15,000 a household.” Actually, The Washington Post’s Fact Checker said this figure “has serious methodological problems” and is a “misleading statement.”
CLAIM: Shelley Moore Capito: “Right now the burden of government regulations in this country amounts to roughly $15,000 a household.”
THE TRUTH: Washington Post Fact Checker: “The $15,000 figure has serious methodological problems” and is “a misleading statement.” “The $15,000 figure has serious methodological problems — even the report admits it is ‘not scientific’ and ‘back of the envelope’ — and we fear these caveats are being forgotten as it is repeated in Capitol Hill news conferences and then in news reports. In blindly citing the $15,000 figure as a ‘burden,’ without realizing its limitations or even admitting that there are indeed benefits that might offset at least some of the costs, lawmakers are making a misleading statement worthy of at least Two Pinocchios. These talking points are incomplete without a Donohue-like caveat.” [Washington Post, 1/14/15]