Pelosi zapped in Reno

An urban myth is making the rounds of Reno, this one aimed at Democrats in this election year. Tom Nordness of Reno sent it out locally in an email message. It claims, “Nancy Pelosi wants a Windfall Tax on Retirement Income. In other words tax what you have made by investing toward your retirement. This woman is a nut case! You aren’t going to believe this. Madam speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to put a Windfall Tax on all stock market profit (including Retirement fund, 401K and Mutual Funds! Alas, it is true—all to help the 12 Million Illegal Immigrants and other unemployed Minorities!”

Alas, it is untrue. A quick internet search shows the story listed among the hottest current fakelore on the Snopes urban myth page. Pelosi’s office confirms she has never made such a proposal, much less introduced legislation. One of Nordness’ recipients, Sparks Tribune columnist Andrew Barbano, found the Snopes listing and sent a correction out to everyone who had received Nordness’ original mailing.

The Pelosi myth is all over the internet. One conservative site, www.firesociety.com, has posted the claim, and a reader posted a message, “This info has been going around in an email for a while now. Why isn’t it covered more on the news?”

The Snopes page, incidentally, lists 18 stories circulating about Barack Obama—and finds only one of them is true.