Issues: Debt Ceiling

Crossroads GPS: “Ideas”

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An ad from Crossroads GPS accuses Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) of pushing tax hikes, skimming over the fact that the largest of the revenue increases Kaine proposed as governor were designed to fund transportation upgrades that the state’s GOP wanted to pay for with long-term borrowing. The ad also accuses Kaine of supporting the defense cuts set in motion by last summer’s deal to raise the debt limit, lifting a quote out of context. Although Kaine supported the compromise to raise the debt ceiling and prevent default, he has proposed a plan to avoid the upcoming defense cuts.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Hole”

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Crossroads GPS blames President Obama and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) for the rising debt, citing the Recovery Act and Obamacare as examples of measures that allegedly “dug the hole.” However, the recovery bill helped rescue the economy from a deeper recession, while the Affordable Care Act actually reduces deficits. In reality, the deficit skyrocketed thanks to Bush policies – especially tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans – and the crushing recession Obama inherited. Crossroads also criticizes Tester for supporting “Obama’s budget deal” that included defense cuts, but the ad does not mention that congressional Republicans played a major role in forcing those cuts into law.

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American Crossroads: “Sack It”

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In its latest attack on President Obama, American Crossroads pretends that the economic recovery is not happening, asking, “Where are the jobs you promised?” The economy was hemorrhaging jobs when Obama took office, but the private sector has created 4.7 million new jobs over the last 31 consecutive months of growth. Indeed, even counting the hundreds of thousands of job losses each month in early 2009, the latest data shows positive net job growth in Obama’s first term. Moreover, Crossroads dishonestly blames Obama for rising debt fueled by the recession and Bush-era policies, such as tax breaks for the wealthy and unfunded wars.

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Americans for Tax Reform: “Charlie Wilson – Boxer”

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Grover Norquist’s anti-tax organization, Americans for Tax Reform, released an ad blaming Rep. Charlie Wilson (D-OH) for the country’s spending and debt. The ad derides the bipartisan bank bailout, which helped avoid an economic depression, and the Recovery Act without mentioning the conditions that made both actions necessary. The ad’s emphasis on the debt is disingenuous given Norquist’s rigid “Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” which commits signers to oppose tax increases and undermines any balanced solution to the nation’s fiscal troubles.

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American Crossroads: “Four More”

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American Crossroads looks forward in its latest ad, warning viewers that President Obama’s second-term plans will bring tax hikes on small businesses, job losses, and higher debt. In reality, Obama wants to extend tax cuts for the middle class while phasing out tax breaks on income above $250,000. That would reduce deficits without harming job creation, and the flawed study that American Crossroads cites to claim otherwise does not actually address Obama’s proposal. Meanwhile, the ad also claims that Obama has “nothing to show” for his first term, ignoring the economic disaster he inherited and the 4.7 million new private-sector jobs created over the last 31 months of growth.

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Crossroads GPS: “Looming”

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An ad from Crossroads GPS attacks Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) over his support for last year’s deal to raise the debt ceiling, which created the deficit reduction super committee and imposed defense cuts as an incentive for members to find a compromise. The super committee failed, and GPS blames Kaine for upcoming defense cuts, which could impact Virginia-based defense industry jobs particularly hard. But Kaine supported the debt ceiling deal because it was necessary to avoid devastating economic default, and he has laid out a plan to avoid the impending defense cuts.

Read more after the jump.

Restore Our Future: “New Normal”

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An ad from Restore Our Future dredges up an out-of-context quote from President Obama to suggest he believes 8 percent unemployment is “doing fine.” In reality, Obama was explaining that the private sector is steadily creating new jobs, while declining public-sector employment – a trend favored by conservatives – has slowed the recovery. The private sector has now added 4.6 million jobs over the last 30 consecutive months of growth. The ad also blames the president for America’s “crushing debt,” which exploded as a consequence of Bush administration policies and the recession, but fails to acknowledge that Republicans have rejected Obama’s debt-reduction proposals.

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American Crossroads: “Actually Happened”

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American Crossroads attacks President Obama’s economic record by grossly misrepresenting a “preliminary analysis” of a theoretical stimulus bill, which the president’s economic advisers conducted before his inauguration – and before the unexpected rise in unemployment soon thereafter. The analysis included disclaimers about the possibility of an unusually severe recession, which unfortunately came to fruition. Nonetheless, it’s clear that the devastating conditions Obama inherited would have become even worse without the Recovery Act, which created jobs and cut taxes for millions of working Americans. Since the recession officially ended, the private sector has steadily added jobs, including 4.7 million new jobs in the last 31 consecutive months of growth.

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Americans For Job Security: “Running”

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Americans for Job Security portrays the economy as still mired in recession, using a woman’s voiceover to suggest that President Obama has failed “to turn the economy around.” But while the economy has yet to dig out of the massive, nearly unprecedented hole created by the 2007-08 financial crisis, it has certainly turned around. The economy was hemorrhaging nearly a million jobs each month when President Bush handed over to Obama, and today the economy has been adding jobs for 30 months – two and a half years straight. Just as the ad’s depiction of the recent past is inaccurate, its insinuations about our immediate future are not supported by the evidence.

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Crossroads GPS: “Addicted”

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Accusing Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) of being “addicted” to spending, Crossroads GPS cites a budget Kaine proposed as the outgoing governor of Virginia. The plan, which would have made some tough spending cuts in order to balance Virginia’s recession-ravaged budget, would have raised the maximum state income tax rate by just one percentage point, a trade-off for preventing even deeper cuts to essential services. The ad also refers to the looming defense cuts triggered by the failure of the deficit reduction super committee. Kaine supported the creation of the super committee in a deal to raise the debt ceiling, but has laid out a plan for preventing the upcoming defense cuts.

Read more after the jump.