Crossroads GPS attacks Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) for supporting two “trillion-dollar” bills, citing his votes for the Affordable Care Act and the Recovery Act. But the health care law actually reduces deficits, while tax cuts accounted for about one-third of the Recovery Act’s price tag. In addition to creating jobs and helping prevent an even deeper recession, the recovery bill cut taxes for up to 95 percent of working Americans.
Read more after the jump.The Congressional Leadership Fund goes after Texas congressional candidate Pete Gallego for supporting the “job-killing” health care law “that cuts Medicare $716 billion,” but the claim that the Affordable Care Act will kill jobs has long been debunked, and the law doesn’t cut seniors’ benefits. Instead, it finds savings by reducing future Medicare spending – savings that Gallego’s opponent, Rep. Francisco Canseco (R), also voted for in the Ryan budget. The ad also attacks Gallego for voting to raise taxes as a state legislator, but Gallego voted actually voted against one of the tax bills CLF cites to prove their point.
Read more after the jump.Congressional Leadership Fund seeks to damn Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH) by tying her to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Although Sutton has received an unremarkable $25,000 from Pelosi’s leadership PAC since 2006, the rest of the ad’s accusations are misleading. Sutton’s vote for the Affordable Care Act didn’t cut $700 out of current Medicare spending; it found future savings without cutting seniors’ benefits. The “failed” stimulus helped rescue the economy from an even greater recession, and the cap-and-trade bill Sutton supported would have boosted the economy at minimal cost to consumers.
Read more after the jump.This week, conservatives flooded the airwaves with attacks on Democratic candidates. We fact-checked a total of 21 new ads, exceeding our total from the previous three weeks combined. The increase in volume was marked by 11 spots targeting House candidates, signaling a heightened focus on lower-level races as we approach the final stretch of campaign season.
Karl Rove’s groups were active as usual – American Crossroads launched a misleading attack on President Obama and Crossroads GPS targeted three Senate hopefuls – but they let some of their allies lead the charge this week.
Read more after the jump.A U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad attacks Senate candidate Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) over his votes against the Regulatory Accountability Act, against the Keystone Pipeline, for the American Clean Energy and Security Act, for Wall Street reform, and for the health care law. The Chamber implies that Heinrich’s votes killed jobs, created red tape, or harmed Medicare, misleading voters about the bills.
Read more after the jump.The Center for Individual Freedom attacks Kentucky Rep. Ben Chandler (D) for supporting the Recovery Act, bailouts, cap-and-trade, and “keeping the death tax.” The ad wrongly demonizes legislation that helped strengthen the economy (or, in the case of cap-and-trade, could have if it had passed). However, the ad’s most egregious distortion is that it ignores that Chandler recently voted with House Republicans to keep the estate tax limited.
Read more after the jump.The National Federation of Independent Business urges New York residents to vote against Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) because of her support for clean energy legislation and health care reform. However, the group misleadingly characterizes both policies as major middle-class tax increases. The ad also criticizes the Affordable Care Act for reducing the growth of Medicare spending, failing to acknowledge that the law’s “cuts” do not impact seniors’ benefits and were also included in Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget.
Read more after the jump.The Center for Individual Freedom attempts to link Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) to President Obama, citing their positions on the “failed stimulus,” increased oil drilling, and the repeal of health care reform. But the Recovery Act actually created jobs and cut taxes for millions of working Americans, while domestic energy production has increased under the Obama administration. Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act reduces future Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ current benefits – and Matheson opposed the bill when it passed in 2010.
Read more after the jump.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce attacks Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) over his “failed record on energy,” citing votes that allegedly harm America’s energy security and increase costs. However, the Chamber misrepresents the votes in question, which involved significant environmental concerns.
Read more after the jump.Even though the small business owners featured in American Crossroads’ latest presidential ad have benefitted from over $300,000 in government defense contracts during the Obama administration, they complain that President Obama’s “bad decisions” and regulations are harming job growth. But the ad cites a study that doesn’t address Obama’s proposals, and small business owners routinely say that regulations aren’t what’s keeping them from hiring.
Read more after the jump.
