Fact-Checking the Cleveland GOP Debate

Jeb Bush claimed to have created 1.3 million jobs; Chris Christie said he balanced New Jersey’s budget without raising taxes; and Donald Trump put his net worth at more than $10 billion.

The Associated Press checked those claims.

By December 2009, 900,000 of the 1.3 million jobs created in Florida under Bush had been eliminated.

During Bush’s tenure as Florida’s governor, the state benefited from a huge housing bubble that then burst just as he left the governor’s mansion. Florida was one of several “sun and sand” states where home prices soared during last decade’s housing mania even more than they did nationwide. Home prices jumped 160 percent in Florida from 1999 through 2006, more than double the national increase of 74 percent, according to real estate data provider Zillow.

That growth fueled a 50 percent jump in construction jobs, and the boost to home values made many Floridians feel wealthier, leading them to spend more. Home prices started to fall in 2006, Bush’s last year in the governor’s mansion.

Christie raised some taxes:

As New Jersey’s governor, Christie in his first term cut the earned income tax credit, which largely benefits low-income workers, from 25 percent of the federal credit to 20 percent. He surprised Democrats this summer by proposing to bring it up to 30 percent. Democrats quickly approved the change.

Christie also repeatedly delayed implementing the Homestead credit program, which grants property tax relief, angering elderly and low-income homeowners, even as he capped property tax increases overall. He also extended the sales tax on online purchases to out-of-state retailers and pushed for higher taxes on e-cigarettes, but failed.

And Trump’s precise net worth “has long been a moving target”:

Federal documents filed with the Federal Election Commission calculated his wealth at $8.7 billion. But the form requires disclosures of value ranges rather than precise sums. The government also doesn’t specify how to value real estate, leaving Trump free to assess many of his proprieties in the highest bracket — over $50 million.

Trump argues that many of his properties are worth even more, a claim that cannot be verified without access to his private documents. He’s put his personal brand and marketing deals at $3.3 billion. Other assessments put his wealth at far less. Forbes Magazine, for example, valued his brand at just $125 million. Last month, Bloomberg News estimated his total worth at $2.9 billion.

Read more here.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

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