Exploring the 'magic asterisk' behind Biden's tax pledge A White House budget plan is aspirational and political — a wish list of policies that often fare poorly on Capitol Hill when the real spending bills are written. The Fact Checker spent many years as an economics and budget reporter and knows that although the numbers may add up in a White House budget, the assumptions are often dubious. One favorite accounting gimmick of Ronald Reagan was dubbed the "magic asterisk." These were spending cuts that would be identified later — but never were. In his 2025 budget plan released this month, President Biden has a magic asterisk of his own. He promises he will uphold one of his most famous campaign promises from 2020 — not raising taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 — but never explains how he will pay for it. We took a deep dive into the numbers to explain what is going on. Please click the link to read the full report. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Trump's mixed-up, invented and false account of his first impeachment In his rally speech in Dayton, Ohio, last Saturday, former president Donald Trump accused Democrats of telling lies about him. "Disinformation and misinformation, they're masters at it," he declared. "They lie, they cheat. These people, they lie, they cheat." He then recounted the circumstances of his first impeachment with what can only be described as misinformation. Some of Trump's language echoes claims he made when he was president. But more than four years have passed, and memories have faded. We examined several claims, including: - Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) made up a conversation Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Trump tricked Democrats by releasing "a tape" of the call after Democrats like Schiff had speculated what was on it.
- Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was upset with her staff when she realized after the release of the tape that Trump had done nothing wrong.
In reality, Schiff was reading from a rough transcript released by the White House — no tape was forthcoming. Trump had played no trick on Democrats. And Trump made up the story about Pelosi — who after release of the transcript said it showed Trump "engaged in behavior that undermines the integrity of our elections, the dignity of the office he holds and our national security." Click the link to learn more about how Trump continues to recall his first impeachment, as well as his Pinocchio rating. We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP and @AdriUsero) or Facebook. We're also on TikTok. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. About the cats: It's a Friday and sometimes our fact checks deal with heavy subjects. So we hope to bring a smile to your face. Scroll down to read other budget-related fact checks | 
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