Find the original obama education bill

September 10, 2008 6:36 PM

Ok, so my googlefu is gone. I just watched Newshour and McCain and Obama had their surrogates hashing out their education polices. McCain's person said Obama sponsored a bill that would teach sex to 5 year olds, Obama's person said the bill was about teaching how to prevent sexual predators. Where can I find said bill to find the truth?

Oh, and by the way, why didn' t the newshour reporter hold their feet to the fire to clear it up by having the actual bill? One of them was lying...

posted by mtstover to law & government (16 comments total)

As usual, Factcheck.org is your pal. It has a discussion of the bill and a link to the bill itself.
posted by nightwood at 6:44 PM on September 10, 2008 [4 favorites]

I think the bill is SB0099. McCain's ad and a TPM article. (article via homunculus)
posted by Korou at 7:24 PM on September 10, 2008

It's from the Illinois State Senate.
posted by Korou at 7:25 PM on September 10, 2008

Oh, and by the way, why didn' t the newshour reporter hold their feet to the fire to clear it up by having the actual bill? One of them was lying...

What's he gonna do, read it aloud?
posted by notyou at 7:37 PM on September 10, 2008

What's he gonna do, read it aloud?
He could ask the McCain surrogate "I've got a printout of the bill right here. Can you show me where in this bill it discusses teaching sex-ed?"
posted by adamrice at 7:48 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

Well, it is a bill all about sex ed, adamrice. It's just that it amends the existing sex ed requirements to include STDs, and extends the grade range to K-12 instead of 6-12. But it does not mandate new sex education programs.
posted by dhartung at 9:49 PM on September 10, 2008

Oh, and by the way, why didn' t the newshour reporter hold their feet to the fire to clear it up by having the actual bill? One of them was lying...

Because these shows are all about the argument, not the facts. The important thing is having to opposing sides argue over an issue.
posted by lunasol at 9:56 PM on September 10, 2008

Good lord, man, do you really think there's any chance at all that Obama sponsored a bill which advocates teaching sex to kindergarteners? Are you seriously in doubt about whether McCain is lying his ass off about the issue?

I guess it's too much to ask people to use common sense anymore. *sigh*.
posted by Aquaman at 12:12 AM on September 11, 2008

But McCain's side wasn't lying. The Factcheck.org link gives the subtleties behind the issue. It wouldn't be in anyone's favor to concede the other side has a point.

Besides, I can imagine how classes on molestation prevention could go overboard.
posted by FuManchu at 3:54 AM on September 11, 2008

Fu:

So Factcheck's headline is:
A McCain campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" was a bill to teach sex ed to kindergarten kids. Don't believe it.

Did they really mean "It's not a lie, but don't believe it?"
posted by hexatron at 5:06 AM on September 11, 2008

But McCain's side wasn't lying. The Factcheck.org link gives the subtleties behind the issue.

The factcheck article I read called McCain's first point "A Factual Failure", and his other points in the related tv spot "doubly false".
posted by inigo2 at 5:06 AM on September 11, 2008

Depends on your meaning of "false" I guess. The "one accomplishment" bit, yes, was a lie. I was referring to the sex ed topic raised in the OP. In the bill the comprehensive sex/health education program would be expanded down to kindergarten. (Though I'm going on FactCheck's word here -- I didn't see it in the actual bill). Granted it doesn't mean what the ad makes it sound like it means in layterms, but I wouldn't call it outright false.
posted by FuManchu at 5:35 AM on September 11, 2008

Ok - cool - thanks guys. Read the bill. It does say it goes down to Kindergarten in the bill, but exactly what is taught is left up to the educators; it must be "age appropriate." So vague enough that there is an opening for distortion. Also interesting that the bill talks about teaching abstinence and preventing unexpected pregnancies... heh.

Lunasol - not doubting the distortion, merely interested in WHAT they are distorting with such confidence.
posted by mtstover at 6:14 AM on September 11, 2008

Because these shows are all about the argument, not the facts. The important thing is having to opposing sides argue over an issue.

Not so much with the Newshour, have you ever watched it? They do a good job keeping things civil and productive.
posted by Camofrog at 8:43 AM on September 11, 2008

Also interesting that the bill talks about teaching abstinence and preventing unexpected pregnancies... heh.

Yeah--this is actually what I've heard as one of the most egregious aspects of the distortion. The Obama bill was in large part intended to beef up the curriculum's emphasis on abstinence and the potential for negative consequences resulting from sexual behavior--that is, to push a kind of scare-'em-straight approach to sex ed.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:03 AM on September 11, 2008

Politifact, another site that does fact checking (St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly project) rated it Pants on Fire.
posted by jeversol at 1:05 PM on September 12, 2008