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The clash between the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party – and its pioneers, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – has never really succeeded, the Democratic presidential candidates preparing their toughest assaults for President Donald Trump.
But the differences in politics during the Third Democratic Presidential Debate became clearer, especially on the issue of health care.
PolitiFact analyzed several statements made by candidates during the discussion at Texas Southern University in Houston.
Beto O & # 39; Rourke and Julian Castro on September 12, 2019, at a Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston. (AP)
Castro's attack on Biden's health care plan is irrevocable
"The difference between what I support and what you support, Vice President Biden, is that you require them to join (a Medicare public option), and I will not force them to join." They would automatically be registered. a big difference … do you forget what you said two minutes ago? "
– Julián Castro, former secretary of cabinet
It was one of the most explosive moments of the night. And it's mostly wrong.
Castro accused Biden of quickly changing his position about the contours of his health care plan. He criticized some commentators for suggesting that Biden, at age 76, had memory problems.
Castro's critics fall into two categories: Biden's plan requires people who want the public option to "agree" and the former vice-president to contradict himself on the debate scene.
At the first charge, Castro exaggerated the differences between his health care plans and those of Biden.
Castro's plan is a disengagement plan, while Biden is a subscription plan, but the differences between them are much less than what Castro suggests. Biden's plan would guarantee Americans in need access to Medicare coverage, just as Castro would do. The differences would likely result from the nature or timing of the paperwork, rather than being significant barriers to access.
RELATED: Despite repeated calls for unity, Democrats launch debate on health regimes
Then, Castro used this questionable distinction to assert that Biden had said opposing things in less than two minutes. But it's at best an exaggeration.
Castro claimed that Biden initially stated that people had to subscribe to Medicare, then changed his mind and said he would not have to. Biden had said several times before Castro challenged him that the registration would be automatic – essentially a formality.
This fact check goes to the bottom of the details.
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden on September 12, 2019, at a Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston. (AP)
Sanders on the cost of American health care
"Let's be clear, Joe, in the United States of America, we spend twice as much per capita on health care as Canadians or any other major country on the planet."
– Senator Bernie Sanders
This is partly true: Sanders is right for Canada, but not for all the other big countries.
According to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States dominated health care spending in 2018, at $ 10,586 per capita.
Per capita health spending in Canada was $ 4,974 in 2018, which is half of US spending.
The next two countries with the highest health expenditure were Switzerland and Norway, with $ 7,317 and $ 6,187, respectively. The United States spends more per capita than these countries, but not double.
Sanders inflates the number of uninsured people due to a change in employment
George, you spoke, was it 150 million people with private insurance? 50 million of these people lose their private insurance each year when they leave their job or become unemployed or their employer changes their insurance policy . "
– Senator Bernie Sanders
We evaluated this mainly wrong. According to Sanders, continuity of coverage is a major problem in a country where about 150 million people take out insurance for their work. But his claim swells the magnitude of the problem.
As proof, the Sanders campaign sent us an analysis of the People's Policy Project, a social-democratic think-tank. This analysis is based on a question asked in a national survey of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2014, as well as on a small base multiplication. It shows that "just under 50 million people" were not insured for at least part of the year.
RELATED: Latest news on health insurance coverage, income and poverty in the United States
The CDC's data is compelling – but Sanders did not accurately portray what he said during the debate, or the policy analysis that his campaign claimed as his source.
He drew a general conclusion about the number of people who had suffered an insurance deficit for some reason about five years ago and used it in a misleading way to describe a much smaller segment of the current population that had lost his insurance due to job changes.
Joe Biden at the Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston on September 12. (AP)
Biden exaggerates US support for the banning of assault weapons
"More than 90% of Americans think we need to take the assault weapons off the street – period."
– Joe Biden, former Vice President
It's mostly fake. Biden was responding to a moderator's question about his inability to pass a more detailed background check bill after the mass shooting of Sandy Hook School in 2012.
Recent polls we found showed that a majority of Americans were in favor of banning assault weapons, but to a much lesser extent than that cited by Biden.
Overall, five polls conducted after the shooting in El Paso (Texas) and Dayton (Ohio) revealed that between 56% and 70% of respondents were in favor of a ban on assault rifles. Polls showed higher support among Democrats. We asked for his testimony to Biden's campaign and we had no immediate response. We were wondering if Biden was referring to the percentage of Americans favoring the extension of background checks, which was about 90% in many polls.
Biden said the Obama administration had not locked people in cages. That's wrong
"What Latinos should look at, compare this president to the one we have is outrageous, number 1. We have not locked people in cages.We have not separated families. We have not done all these things, number one. "
– Joe Biden
It's wrong. The story of the time described that the Obama administration used a forum to retain migrant children with the word "cages".
This term has been used continuously by Democrats in the attacks on Trump and the detention of immigrants arriving at the border. The Trump administration says that the facilities that it uses are not cages.
The description was used to refer to chain link enclosures holding immigrants at the border processing facilities under the Obama and Trump administrations.
A report from the Los Angeles Times in 2014 described enclosures guarding immigrant children as "makeshift cages". In the same year, the Republic of Arizona also described a chain-link enclosure that holds children as "cages". A former US Secretary of Homeland Security Obama admitted that some had labeled the pens used during Obama's term as "cages".
There is a debate about whether a chain link speaker is a "cage" and whether to apply that term to these structures is subjective. And, of course, the policies of the Obama and Trump administrations are not the same. But the term "cages" was certainly used in 2014 to describe the pens used by the Obama administration.
Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker on September 12, 2019, at a Democratic presidential primary debate held in Houston. (AP)
Booker on the number of African Americans "under criminal supervision"
"We have more African-Americans under criminal supervision today than all the slaves of 1850."
– Senator Cory Booker
Booker neglected a keyword in this statement: men. This is an issue that PolitiFact examined for the first time in 2014.
At that time, our study found that the US Bureau of Criminal Statistics had placed the number of African-American men under federal and federal judicial supervision in 2013 at about 1.68 million, or 807,076 more than the number of African-American men enslaved in 1850, according to census data. .
However, the comparison would probably not happen if you include children and women, because women and children are less likely to be placed in some form of criminal supervision.
Kamala Harris at the Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston on September 12. (AP)
What you need to know about Kamala Harris's criminal record
"There have been a lot of distortions about my track record" on criminal justice.
– Senator Kamala Harris
Linsey Davis, ABC moderator, questioned Harris about inconsistencies in his criminal justice record, noting that Harris had adopted more conservative roles as California's Attorney General. "When you had the power, why did not you try to change things then?" Asked Davis. Harris said his file was deformed.
When we examined Mr. Harris's actions as California's Attorney General and San Francisco's chief attorney, we found a mixed record. Some initiatives have evolved into criminal justice reform, while others have been more consistent with the traditional prerogatives of law enforcement.
RELATED, RELATED, RELATED: Kamala Harris claims to have "faced Big Oil" as California AG. Until where did she go?
On the one hand, Harris has had notable successes in the area of reforms, including efforts to reduce recidivism and eliminate bias in law enforcement. In 2004, she also used her progressive powers in making the controversial decision, as a prosecutor, not to seek the death penalty for a man suspected of killing a police officer.
At other times, however, Harris's positions have disappointed criminal justice advocates.
For example, in 2016, as Attorney General, she objected to a bill asking her office to investigate firing by the police. It refused to influence the voting measures taken by states to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes and to reduce the penalties for non-violent crimes. And despite his personal opposition to the death penalty, Harris defended him in court as Attorney General.
Warren confuses two votes on gun control
"54 Senators have said, check the background, eliminate the assault weapons, and with 54 senators, this failed because of the systematic obstruction."
– Senator Elizabeth Warren
It's half true. Warren is partly right and partly wrong.
Warren was referring to votes on the gun control legislation of April 17, 2013. A few months after Sandy Hook's shooting, lawmakers held votes on several gun control measures. All failed.
An amendment to expand the background check failed, but 54 senators voted in favor of this amendment (it takes 60 votes to break a threat of obstruction matched).
A vote to ban the assault weapons also failed, but only 40 senators – not 54 – supported it.
Booker's claim about "unjustly incarcerated" needs context
"We can now demonstrate specifically and demonstrably that there are 17,000 people unjustly incarcerated in America."
– Senator Cory Booker
This statement is delicate. Booker generally stated that he was referring to something very specific, and his calculations are based on his opinion of what it means to be "unjustly incarcerated".
Booker spoke of non-violent drug offenders who would benefit from leniency as part of his criminal justice reform plan. He estimates that his plan would affect about 17,000 people in prison for drug-related crimes.
We thought it plausible that 17,000 people could be released from prison if Booker's clemency plan took effect. But that does not mean that these people are serving sentences for crimes they did not commit – the standard we initially questioned when he said "unfairly incarcerated".
It is impossible to know how many people were wrongly convicted – although it is likely that more than 17,000 people fall into this category. A recent study estimated that up to 6% of prisoners are wrongly convicted. Read this story for more details.
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