'Truth Squad' Checks On Proposal 1 Political Ads

LANSING (WWJ) -- Michigan voters will decide next week whether the raise the state sales tax in order to fund transportation projects and protect education funding. That means the airwaves have been filled with ads both for and against Proposal 1.

Nancy Derringer, a member of Bridge Magazine's "Truth Squad," which is comprised of journalists and fact checkers who separate fact from fiction in the commercials, said that the squad has taken both sides to task.

"We called foul on the 'No on Prop 1' ads because they make a contention in both of them that Lansing politicians say the tax is for roads, but nearly 40 percent goes to special interests," Derringer said.

The team issued a "warning" against a "Yes on Prop One," which claims there is no Plan B should the proposal fail.

"I think my editor described that as a bit of dystopian hyperbole there because it implies that we can never really do anything else," Derringer said. "Well obviously we could do something else. The thing is, the legislature has chosen not to do anything else."

[MORE: Pros And Cons Of Proposal 1 Debated During WWJ Newsradio News Special]

The Truth Squad cried foul this week on a "No on Prop One" ad which claims the measure would raise money for special interests and claimed that Michigan's sales tax would become the second highest in the country.

"Yes, it would have the second-highest state sales tax, but if you take that into totality with all of the other states that allow local sales tax it would be down around 20th," Derringer said.