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 U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which receives significant funding from health insurers, attacks Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) for voting to “cut” Medicare and for supporting the public insurance option. But the Affordable Care Act reduces future Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ benefits, and Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget actually preserved the law’s savings. Moreover, the Chamber’s description of the public option as “wildly unpopular” is absurd: Although it was dropped from the final legislation, 2009 polls consistently showed that a clear majority of Americans favored having the choice of a public plan.
Read more after the jump.The Center for Individual Freedom mischaracterizes the effects of the Affordable Care Act to claim that Rep. Leonard Boswell’s (D-IA) voting record is bad for Iowa’s seniors. For example, the ad implies that savings included in the ACA, indeed over $700 billion, will reduce Medicare benefits. The truth, however, is that the ACA reduces future Medicare spending without cutting benefits and that seniors—in Iowa and across the country—will benefit from expanded care and reduced gaps in coverage, all without the imagined interference from government bureaucrats.
Read more after the jump.The Center for Individual Freedom suggests that Rep. Bill Owens (D-NY) broke a campaign promise by supporting the Affordable Care Act, which the group criticizes for “slashing Medicare spending by over $700 billion.” But while the health care law reduces the growth of Medicare spending, it does not cut seniors’ benefits – and it was “benefit cuts,” not overall spending, that Owens pledged to oppose. In addition, same savings were included the Republican budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). The ad also falsely calls the ACA a “government takeover” and misleads about the power of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, whose members must be confirmed by the Senate and are prohibited from cutting benefits or “rationing” care.
Read more after the jump.The National Federation of Independent Business calls Iowa congressional candidate Christie Vilsack a “tax hiker,” citing her support for the Affordable Care Act. But the health care law doesn’t raise taxes on most Americans, and Vilsack has specified that she supports keeping the Bush-era tax cuts for those earning under $1 million.
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.An ad from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce grades Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s performance, saying he’s “failed Montana” by voting for the “$1 trillion ”Affordable Care Act, which cuts $716 billion out of Medicare. In reality, the health care law reduces the deficit, and finds future savings in Medicare without cutting seniors’ benefits.
Read more after the jump.The American Action Network reaches all the way back to the 1970s to accuse Rick Nolan (D-MN) of supporting the end of Medicare. But Nolan’s opponent, Rep. Chip Cravaack, voted to “essentially end” Medicare in 2011, in a GOP budget that also retained the Affordable Care Act’s Medicare savings, over which AAN attacks Nolan. Furthermore, the bill Nolan supported forty years ago would have replaced Medicare with universal coverage for all Americans – which was the dominant school of thought among health care reformers of the era.
Read more after the jump.Crossroads GPS criticizes Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) for supporting the Affordable Care Act, which the ad says “cut Medicare spending by $700 billion” and “could give bureaucrats the power to cut Medicare spending even more.” In fact, the health care law reduces the growth of Medicare spending without cutting seniors’ current benefits – and Berkley’s opponent, Sen. Dean Heller, voted for the same “cuts” when he supported the Ryan budget as a member of both the House and the Senate. Furthermore, those “bureaucrats” tasked with finding future savings must be confirmed by the Senate and are prohibited from cutting benefits or rationing care.
Read more after the jump.
