Facts went astray on several issues when Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain debated

Facts went astray on several issues when Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain debated Wednesday night. Some examples:

OBAMA: “Every dollar that I’ve proposed, I’ve proposed an additional cut, so that it matches.”

THE FACTS: The bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that his programs would add $281 billion to the deficit at the end of his first term. The analysis includes Obama’s proposals for saving money.

McCAIN: “We have to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much.”

THE FACTS: This refers to U.S. spending on oil imports. But the figure is highly inflated and misleading. According to government agencies that track energy imports, the United States spent $246 billion in 2007 for all imported crude oil, a majority of it coming from friendly nations including Canada and Mexico.

OBAMA: “One hundred percent, John, of your ads — 100 percent of them — have been negative.”

THE FACTS: The statement is true when it comes to McCain’s current commercial spots. But by saying McCain’s ads “have been” 100 percent negative, Obama ventures into misleading territory. McCain is currently running all negative ads, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But he has run a number of positive ads during the campaign.

McCAIN: “Now, we have allocated $750 billion. Let’s take 300 of that billion and go in and buy those home loan mortgages and negotiate with those people in their homes, 11 million homes or more, so that they can afford to pay the mortgage.” THE FACTS: Ordering the government to buy up bad mortgages to cut homeowners’ monthly payments might sound good, but experts are skeptical. They say the plan McCain is promoting is unlikely to solve the housing crisis.

that’s pushing the economy toward recession. One big problem: The vast majority of the toxic home loans that are clogging financial markets and freezing up credit have been repackaged into complex investments that the government would be hard-pressed to unravel and buy. And the government could end up paying far more than they would ever be worth. That could primarily help banks and lenders with taxpayer money.

OBAMA: “I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans, 95 percent.”

THE FACTS: Obama constantly says this. But the independent Tax Policy Center says his plan cuts taxes for 81.3 percent of all households in 2009.