"If people think that everyone's going to be treated as equal opportunity liars, fibbers, prevaricators, whatever you want to call them, then the person who does it more doesn't pay a price for doing it more," Corn said.

But Glenn Kessler, "The Fact-checker" for the Washington Post - famed for giving out Pinocchio Noses for falsities - says it's NOT about finding balance.

"I don't pay attention to how many Democrats I've rated or how many Republicans I've rated," Kessler told Braver.

Kessler says, there are plenty of Pinocchios for both sides - especially when it comes to campaign ads.

One from the Obama camp describes Governor Romney's time at Bain Capital. "It describes him as a corporate raider," said Kessler. "Bain Capital, whatever you can say about it, they were not corporate raiders."

And then there's an ad from a group opposed to the president's reelection that earned four Pinocchios.

"The Obama administration admitted the truth that $2.3 billion of tax credits went overseas while millions of Americans can't find a job."

Is that true?

"No, no, virtually nothing in this ad is correct," said Kessler.

But no matter what the fact-checkers say, candidates often continue to make false claims.

Governor Romney in Tuesday's debate:

"A recent study has shown that people in the middle class will see $4,000 a year in higher taxes as a result of the spending and borrowing of this administration."

But Glen Kessler previously gave that statement 3 Pinocchios.

And an Obama camp ad claiming that Romney's former company invested in a Chinese manufacturer that took American jobs ("Newly-published documents show Mitt Romney's firms were pioneers at helping companies outsource their manufacturing") got a mostly-false Truth-o-Meter rating from Politifacts . . . but the ad stayed on the air.

"When it's in their political interest to stretch the facts, they're going to do it anyways. Because they know it moves voters," said Kessler.

It's a safe bet that as long as there are politicians, there will be job security for fact-checkers.

As David Corn sees it, the temptation to bend the truth is just too strong:

"Lies are great shortcuts, they give you emphasis," Corn said. "And they're cheap and easy.

"And unfortunately, sometimes they work."

Watch the CBS News report below: