Crossroads GPS accuses Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) of being “far left of Obama and Pelosi” and “too extreme for Washington,” citing her support for a budget proposal introduced by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The budget in question emphasized higher taxes for the wealthy, but also proposed to spend less than the president’s plan and would have eliminated the deficit faster than the GOP alternative introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan.
“Baldwin’s Budget” Would Eliminate The Deficit Faster Than GOP Plan
The ad cites a PolitiFact article from October 5, 2012, to support its claims about “Baldwin’s budget.”
Baldwin Voted For Progressive Caucus Budget. According to PolitiFact: “The fiscal 2012 budget proposed by the Progressive Caucus was what Thompson was referring to when he made his trillions more comment about Baldwin, Thompson campaign spokeswoman Lisa Boothe told us. That plan, unveiled in April 2011, was offered as an alternative to budgets proposed by President Barack Obama and by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Baldwin did vote for the caucus budget, which was introduced as an amendment to Ryan’s budget. The amendment failed in the House, 347-77.” [PolitiFact.com, 10/5/12]
The Economist: Progressive Budget Ended Bush Tax Cuts, Created New Tax Brackets For The Super-Rich, Eliminated Deficit Faster Than GOP’s Ryan Plan. According to The Economist: “The caucus’s co-chairs, Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, released it on April 6th. The budget savings come from defence cuts, including immediately withdrawing from Afghanistan and Iraq, which saves $1.6 trillion over the CBO baseline from 2012-2021. The tax hikes include restoring the estate tax, ending the Bush tax cuts, and adding new tax brackets for the extremely rich, running from 45% on income over a million a year to 49% on income over a billion a year. Mr Ryan’s plan adds (by its own claims) $6 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, but promises to balance the budget by sometime in the 2030s by cutting [programs] for the poor and the elderly.” [TheEconomist.com, 4/22/11]
Progressive Caucus Budget Spent Less Than President Obama’s Proposal. According to PolitiFact: “The Progressive Caucus budget would have spent $44.5 trillion from 2012 to 2021, according to an analysis done for the caucus by the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute. To see how that compared with Obama’s plan over 10 years, we contacted experts from two nonpartisan think tanks: Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government spending watchdog; and the Concord Coalition, which seeks balanced federal budgets. They agreed that Obama’s fiscal 2012 spending plan called for $46 trillion in spending. That’s $1.5 trillion more than the Progressive Caucus Budget. So, Thompson was wrong when he said the Baldwin-backed caucus would spend ‘trillions more” than Obama’s budget.’” [PolitiFact.com, 10/5/12]
[NARRATOR:] Democrats and Republicans rarely agree on anything in Washington. But they strongly agreed the $44 trillion budget Tammy Baldwin voted for was too extreme. Baldwin’s budget would raise $5 trillion more in taxes than President Obama’s budget. $5 trillion. Taking more from Wisconsin families to spend trillions more in Washington. With Tammy Baldwin that far left of Obama and Pelosi, she’s way too extreme for Washington. Crossroads GPS is responsible for the content of this advertising. [Crossroads GPS via YouTube.com, 10/16/12]