Accurate Stats and Facts: Grayson Validated by News Organization

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism organization Politifact.com verified each and every statistic about the state of the U.S. economy mentioned recently by former Congressman and current congressional candidate Alan Grayson (D-Orlando).

Politifact.com examined a spontaneous statement Grayson made during an appearance on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on October 7th. In response to some of the guests on the show complaining they didn’t know what the Occupy Wall Street protest was all about, and mocking the protestors, Grayson shot back with this:

“Listen, if I am a spokesman for all the people who think that we should not have 24 million people in this country who can’t find a full-time job, that we should not have 50 million people in this country who can’t see a doctor when they’re sick, that we shouldn’t have 47 million people in this country who need government help in order to feed themselves, and we shouldn’t have 15 million families who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home, okay, I’ll be that spokesman.”

Politifact.com decided to investigate the accuracy of Grayson’s statement. In a ruling issued on Monday, Politifact.com editors said:

“Grayson’s defense of the Occupy Wall Street movement earned him praise from the left-wing blogosphere and pundits for its pith. No pundit or official in the movement’s first month had quite articulated the protesters’ qualms — high unemployment, expensive health care, poverty and underwater mortgage payments — as Grayson did in 20 seconds on Maher’s show. We examined each of his economic claims and found them accurate, point for point. We rate his claim True.”

A short video of Grayson’s statement has been passed round and round. Last week, it was the fifth most-watched news video on YouTube. All the different versions that have been posted on YouTube are approaching 500,000 views, with more on Facebook.

Grayson is seeking to represent the new district encompassing Orlando.