Trump and Team Basic Problem 24/7: Difficulty With Their Version of Truth vs. the Facts

Trump, et al Will Probably Call this Post “Fake News”

(Ho-hum - Nothing new about that)

Trump & his Team Claims vs. Reality – AP Fact Checker here:

TRUMP AND THE 20210 CENSUS: “We spend — this is another thing that's so crazy: $20 billion on a census — $20 billion. ... They go through houses — they go up, they ring doorbells, they talk to people asking: How many toilets do they have? How many desks do they have? How many beds? What's their roof made of? The only thing we can't ask is are you a citizen of the United States? No, isn't it the craziest thing?” — remarks Thursday (July 11, 2019) at W/H social media conference.

KELLYANNE CONWAY SAME TOPIC: “Think of all the questions that nobody complains are included in our U.S. census every 10 years that include a far, far, far smaller number of Americans, or I would argue, are much more intrusive, invasive and expansive. We're asking about how many toilets are in your house and you don't want to know who's using them? It's absolutely ridiculous.” — interview Tuesday (July 9, 2019) at Fox & Friends.

THE FACTS: To be clear, the 2020 census form being sent to all U.S. households does not ask about the number of toilets, desks or beds, or about roofs. The decennial census form is limited to questions about age, sex, Hispanic origin, race, relationship and homeownership status.

Trump has backed off including a citizenship question after the Supreme Court last month blocked his effort, disputing the administration's rationale that the information was needed to enforce civil rights laws.

Trump and Conway may have been referring to a long-form section of the census survey that was sent to a portion of U.S. households from 1970 to 2000, not as part of the official census count.

That long-form supplement was replaced by the Census Bureau's American CommunitySurvey (ACS) a separate poll sent annually to about 3.5 million households, or about 1 in 37.

Both the long-form supplement and the newer poll did previously ask about the existence of flush toilets in the home to help identify geographical needs for housing assistance; but since 2016, the survey only asks about other forms of plumbing such as a sink or bathtub. The current sampling survey also asks about the number of bedrooms in a home, not beds.

Even so, Trump and Conway are wrong to assert that the citizenship question isn't currently being asked by the government. It's been asked on the ACS, the same form that asks about a home's plumbing, every year since 2005.

CONWAY: “Why can't we just ask the question the way it was asked for 50 years before the Obama administration yanked it out of there?” — During that same Fox & Friends interview.

THE FACTS: The Obama administration did not pull the citizenship question from the census after 50 years. The Census Bureau hasn't included a citizenship question in its once-a-decade survey sent to all U.S. households since 1950. 

From 1970 to 2000, the question was included only in the long-form section of the census survey, which is sent to a portion of U.S. households. After 2000, the question has been asked each year since 2005 on the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, a separate poll also sent to a sample of U.S. households. 

The Census Bureau made the switch to that survey in 2005 as a replacement to the long-form supplement, prior to the Obama administration. As a result of that switch, no long form was sent as part of the next-held census in 2010, when Obama was in office. 

Instead, the citizenship question was asked as part of the 2010 ACS survey.

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TRUMP: “Today, the United States is ranked — listen to this — No. 1 in the world for access to clean drinking water — ranked No. 1 in the world.” — remarks on July 8, 2019.

THE FACTS: True in this one respect: The U.S. is tied with nine other countries as having the cleanest drinking water, according to one leading measure. Yale University's global Environmental Performance Index finds 10 countries tied for the cleanest drinking water.

Also, on environmental quality overall, the index puts the U.S. 27th, behind a variety of European countries, Canada, Japan, Australia, and more. Switzerland was ranked No. 1.

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VETERANS: ROBERT WILKIE, Secretary of the VA: When asked if he's achieved progress in fixing VA since being confirmed to the job one year ago he said: “Since that time, I can say yes. The JAMA says our wait times are now as good as or better than in the private sector. And the Annals of Internal Medicine say our care is as good, as or better than it is in the private sector, across the country. What that means is that morale is up, that VA is in a better place than it has been in the last few years.” — interview Wednesday (July 10, 2019) on Fox News.

THE FACTS: The progress he cites in waiting times and quality of care happened before he became VA secretary. It's true that a study by the medical association that came out in January found veterans got into a VA facility for an appointment faster on average than if they went to a private facility. But the study tracked progress from 2014 to 2017. Wilkie became acting VA secretary in late March 2018 and was confirmed as permanent VA secretary that July. 

Similarly, a study published last December in the Annals of Internal Medicine did find that VA facilities outperform private hospitals in most health care markets throughout the country.

But the finding is also based on data from as early as 2014 through June 30, 2017. Wilkie, in fact, credits the VA's “concerted effort to improve access to care since 2014 in a VA press release in January announcing the medical association study's results. The wait time study covered four specialties, primary care, dermatology, cardiology, and orthopedics.

It found that in 2014, the average wait to get into VA medical center was 22.5 days, compared with 18.7 days in the private sector, which was not statistically different.

By 2017, the wait at VA improved to 17.7 days, while increasing to 29.8 days for private doctors. Waits at VA medical centers were shorter in all specialties except orthopedics.

My 2 cents: Short summary – this administration across the board generally is full of sh*t – another indisputable fact – but watch them try on that assertion, too. Pathetic is the right word for them overall.

Always nice to get the facts, isn’t it (just don’t ask the Trump loyalists).

Thanks for stopping by.