Americans for Tax Reform: “Wrong Prescription for California”

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Americans for Tax Reform attacks congressional candidate Scott Peters (D-CA) for supporting the Affordable Care Act, relying on a series of distortions about the law’s impact. In reality, the ACA does not raise taxes on most Americans, and it actually reduces the burden on many middle-class families. Moreover, the law reduces future Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ benefits – in fact, Peters’ opponent, Rep. Brian Bilbray (R), voted to preserve the “cuts” as part of the House GOP budget – and the Senate-confirmed board responsible for finding additional savings is forbidden from cutting benefits or rationing care.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Vision” CA-21

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In identical ads hitting congressional candidate John Hernandez (D-CA) and three other Democratic House candidates in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, Crossroads GPS levels a series of falsehoods about the Affordable Care Act, which all four candidates support. Despite the ad’s claims, the health care law reduces future Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ current benefits, it helps control rising costs, and it’s expected to expand insurance coverage – all without taking health care decisions away from individuals or raising taxes on most Americans.

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Crossroads GPS: “Vision” MI-01

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In identical ads hitting congressional candidate Gary McDowell (D-MI) and three other Democratic House candidates in California, Illinois, and Indiana, Crossroads GPS levels a series of falsehoods about the Affordable Care Act, which all four candidates support. Despite the ad’s claims, the health care law reduces future Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ current benefits, it helps control rising costs, and it’s expected to expand insurance coverage – all without taking health care decisions away from individuals or raising taxes on most Americans. What’s more, McDowell’s opponent voted to keep the $716 billion in savings GPS attacks the Democrats over.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Vision” IL-17

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In identical ads hitting congressional candidate Cheri Bustos (D-IL) and three other Democratic House candidates in California, Indiana, and Michigan, Crossroads GPS levels a series of falsehoods about the Affordable Care Act, which all four candidates support. Despite the ad’s claims, the health care law reduces future Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ current benefits, it helps control rising costs, and it’s expected to expand insurance coverage – all without taking health care decisions away from individuals or raising taxes on most Americans. What’s more, Bustos’ opponent voted to keep the $716 billion in savings GPS attacks the Democrats over.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Vision” IN-02

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In identical ads hitting congressional candidate Brendan Mullen (D-IN) and three other Democratic House candidates in California, Illinois, and Michigan, Crossroads GPS levels a series of falsehoods about the Affordable Care Act, which all four candidates support. Despite the ad’s claims, the health care law reduces future Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ current benefits, it helps control rising costs, and it’s expected to expand insurance coverage – all without taking health care decisions away from individuals or raising taxes on most Americans.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Silly Spending” NY-01

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Crossroads GPS hits Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) over his support for the Recovery Act, suggesting Bishop voted for a series of wasteful projects while New York lost jobs. But the Recovery Act helped keep the recession from becoming even more severe, and the outlandish things Crossroads claims Bishop supported are seriously misrepresented. Meanwhile, New York and the country as a whole have been gaining jobs since the recession officially ended in June 2009.

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Crossroads GPS: “Silly Spending” NY-25

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Crossroads GPS hits Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) over her support for the Recovery Act, suggesting Slaughter voted for a series of wasteful projects while New York lost jobs. But the Recovery Act helped keep the recession from becoming even more severe, and the outlandish things Crossroads claims Slaughter supported are seriously misrepresented. Meanwhile, New York and the country as a whole have been gaining jobs since the recession officially ended in June 2009.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Silly Spending” IA-03

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Crossroads GPS hits Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA) over his support for the Recovery Act, suggesting Boswell voted for a series of wasteful projects while Iowa lost jobs. But the Recovery Act helped keep the recession from becoming even more severe, and the outlandish things Crossroads claims Boswell supported are seriously misrepresented. Meanwhile, Iowa and the country as a whole have been gaining jobs since the recession officially ended in June 2009.

Read more after the jump.

NumbersUSA: “October 2012 TV Ad”

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An ad from anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA suggests that lawmakers’ motivation for granting green cards to immigrants is a belief that “black Americans don’t want to work,” basing this on the false premise that immigrants displace jobs that would otherwise be filled by Americans. But there is little truth to this; immigrants expand the economy by increasing demand, thereby creating new jobs and driving up wages for native workers.

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The Week In Conservative Attack Ads

Including a stray late-Friday-afternoon spot that didn’t make it into our roundup from last week, Bridge Project fact-checked 10 conservative ads this week. Eight of those were from the usual players – the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which focused on House races, Crossroads GPS, which took on its usual Senate targets, and American Crossroads, with a presidential ad. The remaining two came from the National Rifle Association and American Unity PAC, more minor players on the electioneering ad scene.

Rhetorically, this week saw a heavy focus on supposed threats to small business jobs, with six of the ads mentioning small businesses specifically. But most of the conservative claims about “small business” rely on distortions – for example, the conservative definition of a small business often includes large corporations and wealthy individuals rather than the mom-and-pop businesses the term conjures for most people. And the health care law, often cited as a source of crippling new taxes on small business, actually offers tax credits that will help those small businesses provide their employees with health insurance.

Read more after the jump.