Issues: Economy

Crossroads GPS: “Hand Picked”

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Crossroads GPS attacks Indiana House candidate Brendan Mullen (D) over the Affordable Care Act, overlooking Mullen’s stated commitment to ‘fixing’ certain elements of the law that he does not support. The ad ridiculously suggests the law is “the largest tax increase in history on the middle class,” misleads on the impact of future Medicare spending reductions that do not cut seniors’ benefits, and fearmongers about the impact of the Medicare board responsible finding additional savings – an element of the ACA that Mullen actually wants to change.

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American Action Network: “Rail”

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The American Action Network dishonestly attacks congressional candidate Jose Hernandez (D-CA-10) for living in Texas, branding him as a cowboy and a carpetbagger even though the California native only lived outside the state while working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as an astronaut. The group also criticizes Hernandez for supporting high-speed rail as a way to create jobs, as well as the Recovery Act, which helped save the economy from an even deeper recession.

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American Action Network: “Tax And Spend”

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American Action Network goes after congressional candidate Val Demings (D-FL) over her support for the Recovery Act and for ending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, saying she supports wasting Floridians’ money. But the stimulus, which passed without any involvement from first-time candidate Demings, helped save the economy from an even worse recession, and ending the Bush tax cuts for top-tier earners would impact few real small businesses.

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American Crossroads: “At Stake”

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Clint Eastwood may not speak to an empty chair in the ad he filmed for American Crossroads, but he’s no less confused about President Obama’s record than he was during his infamous performance at the Republican National Convention. The octogenarian actor says, “In the last few years, America’s been knocked down,” ignoring nearly five million new private-sector jobs created in the last two-and-a-half years of growth. He also wrongly blames Obama for high deficits driven mainly by Bush policies, such as tax breaks for the wealthy, and the recession the president inherited.

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Americans for Tax Reform: “B is for Barrow”

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Grover Norquist’s anti-tax organization, Americans for Tax Reform, released an ad attacking John Barrow (D-GA). The group, which pushes Norquist’s rigid “Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” cites Barrow’s votes for the banking and automotive bailouts as reasons against Barrow’s re-election. However, the ad never mentions the economic context that made both bailouts necessary, or that the bailouts worked. The automaker bailout, for example, saved over a million American jobs in 2009-2010 and one of America’s largest industries.

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American Action Network: “Again”

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The American Action Network wants you to know that Rick Nolan stands “for raising taxes and killing jobs” – 700,000 jobs, to be precise. But that number comes from a study that explicitly did not analyze the actual White House proposal for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. The on-screen claim that Nolan would tax 894,000 small businesses is similarly bogus, as that definition of “small business” includes multi-billion-dollar corporations and both candidates for president. The ad is correct about Nolan’s 1975 votes on gas taxes, but they somehow fail to mention the same bill included tax credits to offset the increase in pump prices.

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American Crossroads: “Survive”

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An ad from American Crossroads features two small business owners talking about the challenges they face, which they blame on President Obama’s policies. However, despite the statements in the ad, the conservative charge that taxes and regulations are holding back job growth is not supported by the evidence. Instead, experts cite consumer demand, which plummeted as a result of the recession Obama inherited, as the key to increased hiring. While we are still recovering from the devastating impact of the recession, the private sector has added 4.7 million new jobs over the last 31 consecutive months of growth. Meanwhile, consumer confidence is now at its highest level since 2007.

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Restore Our Future: “Better”

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Restore Our Future is running an ad in 10 states making the case that “Barack Obama’s economy isn’t working.” The pro-Romney super PAC blames President Obama for the consequences of the devastating recession he inherited, ignoring the fact that the economy is growing and the private sector has added 4.7 million jobs in the last 31 months. The group also blames Obama for high deficits fueled by Bush policies and the recession, as well as for the credit downgrade that resulted from the GOP’s reckless approach to the debt ceiling and refusal to consider any deficit-reduction measure that increases revenue.

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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.

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American Crossroads: “Add Up”

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American Crossroads characterizes Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) as “extreme,” citing several alleged examples of her voting to take tax dollars “out of Wisconsin to pay for her extreme agenda in Washington.” However, the Bush administration’s bipartisan bailout of the financial sector helped prevent a possible depression; the Affordable Care Act does not raise taxes on most Americans and actually reduces the burden on the middle class; and “failed” Recovery Act not only created jobs but also cut taxes for millions of working American families.

Read more after the jump.