Thursday, October 11, 2012

As the presidential election looms, so does the flow of false and misleading accusations.

Both candidates are victims and with e-mail and social media, it's easy to start a rumor. A recent chain e-mail claims President Obama has issued 923 executive orders, far more than any other modern president.

True or false?

Good question.

The e-mail claims President Obama has issued 923 executive orders in just three-and-a-half years. It even provides a list of other presidents and their executive order total. In comparison, it looks as if the president has issued almost 800 executive orders more than several of his predecessors combined.

It says, "Does this scare you as much as it does me?"

The e-mail also provides a list of some of the executive orders it claims the president has made.

Is this true? Nine hundred twenty-three executive orders?

According to the federal government's own records, President Obama has issued 138 executive orders so far, which, compared to his predecessors dating back to President John F. Kennedy, is about average.

Most of the presidents on the list in the e-mail each issued between 100 and 400 executive orders.

Also, several of the executive orders the e-mail claims were made by President Obama were in fact made by other presidents.

If you have a Good Question, send it to me at news@kake.com or find me on Twitter . I'll answer your Good Question every Thursday on KAKE News at 10.