WASHINGTON — President Trump’s first spending plan for the government and a report by the Congressional Budget Office on Republican health care kicked up quite a fuss in Washington over the past week. Bold claims flew on those developments and more. Many don’t hold up to scrutiny:
■ Trump: ‘‘Already, because of this new business climate, we are creating jobs that are starting to pour back into our country like we haven’t seen in many, many decades. In the first two job reports since I took the oath of office, we’ve already added nearly half a million new jobs. And believe me, it’s just beginning.’’ — Tennessee rally, Wednesday.
The facts: The president has yet to implement policies that would influence hiring on a national scale, despite his aggressive rhetoric on job creation. Nor has his presidency hurt job growth, judging by declines in unemployment in Barack Obama’s last month in office and Trump’s first. Trump takes undue credit for hiring that has yet to occur and for the return of jobs from overseas that have yet to come back. He’s boasted about hiring plans by General Motors, Ford, and other companies that were in the works before he took office.
■ Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director: ‘‘Let’s talk about after-school programs generally. They’re supposed to be educational programs, right? And that’s what they’re supposed to do, they’re supposed to help kids who can’t — who don’t get fed at home, get fed so that they do better at school. Guess what? There’s no demonstrable evidence they’re actually doing that. There’s no demonstrable evidence they’re actually helping results, helping kids do better at school.’’ — Thursday.
The facts: There is such evidence and it comes from the government as well as multiple scientific studies.
Says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , for example: ‘‘Student participation in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Breakfast Program (SBP) is associated with increased academic grades and standardized test scores, reduced absenteeism, and improved cognitive performance (e.g., memory).’’
Another example: A Harvard study found that after-school programs in general lead to better grades, social development, health and wellness.
Mulvaney appeared to be referring to 21st Century Community Learning Centers, a $1.2 billion program that the Trump administration tabbed in its budget proposal for elimination. The program provides after-school meals along with sports, clubs, and enrichment activities. Its primary goal is to provide child care for the parents of 1.6 million kids, allowing them to maintain their jobs and incomes.
■ Trump: Claiming blanket conversion of Republican House members Friday for the GOP health care bill, ‘‘We just had a meeting with probably 12 congressmen, and it was an amazing meeting because they were all noes . . . all noes or pretty much no . . . but after 15 minutes, they went from no to all yeses.’’ Going into the meeting, there were ‘‘no yesses.’’
The facts: Trump is overstating his powers of persuasion. There were actually 13 lawmakers present, according to a White House attendance sheet, and at least five of them were already on board before they went into the meeting, including two members of the House GOP leadership who are in charge of rounding up votes for the GOP replacement for Obamacare.
■ Sean Spicer, White House press secretary: ‘‘Having a card and having coverage that when you walk into a doctor’s office has a deductible of $15,000, $20,000 a year isn’t coverage. That’s a car. That doesn’t get you the care you need.’’ — Tuesday.
The facts: He’s wrong about deductibles under Obama’s law.
Out-of-pocket expenses for consumers are limited. Deductibles, copayments and coinsurance together can’t exceed $7,150 this year for an individual plan sold through HealthCare.gov or similar state markets. For a family plan, it’s $14,300. After that, the insurance plan pays the full cost of covered benefits.
In addition, more than half of customers in these plans get subsidies to help with their out-of-pocket costs.
