FACT CHECK: Rep. Hartzler misses the trend on insurance premiums

Again, I struggled with Hartzler’s team. They’ve always gotten back to me promptly, and been plenty polite. But the information they supply me hardly ever points to the figures they cited or the points they are trying to get at.

Which, while I’m working is frustrating. I have to stumble around in the dark tripping over furniture trying to figure out where these numbers materialized from in order to verify their validity. And in this case, unlike the last, they at least got the right number — though it didn’t correspond with the years they thought it did. All they had to spin was the reasoning.

After, when I can reflect, what’s frustrating is that these are elected officials, on both sides of the aisles. And their errors, in dealing with me and these facts, aren’t grievous. But their carelessness and seeming-incompetence can be alarming.

Though that doesn’t surprise me, when I consider it. If they can’t be prodded by fact checkers (and sometimes their own constituents) to tell the truth, why would it matter if their sourcing was right? if their numbers are thorough? if there’s context? The people that read Vicky Hartzler’s tweets, who are subscribed to her twitter, probably aren’t going to read my fact check. And the people who do, probably came looking for her errors.

As the bubbles solidify, the echoes just seem to get louder and louder.

At least, I haven’t lost any sleep over this, yet.