Issues: Jobs

Crossroads GPS: “Rubber Stamp Bailout”

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Crossroads GPS continues to take deeply misleading shots at Heidi Heitkamp’s record in the North Dakota Senate race, this time with an ad designed to suggest that Heitkamp is Wall Street’s candidate, and that President Obama and the Democrats were behind the bailout of the financial sector. President Bush’s bank bailouts were thoroughly bipartisan, though, and nowhere near as costly as they initially seemed. And if you can judge Wall Street’s feelings about the ND race by looking at where they’ve spent their money, it’s clear they believe Rep. Rick Berg (R) will represent their interests better than Heitkamp.

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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Crossroads GPS: “Promotion”

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Crossroads GPS attacks Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), who is running for Senate, over his votes in favor of a 2009 budget plan and the Affordable Care Act, which the ad suggests are harmful to small businesses. The non-binding budget resolution Donnelly supported cut taxes for middle- and lower-class Americans while letting the Bush tax cuts expire on top earners, few of whom are small businesses. The Affordable Care Act, meanwhile, contains tax credits for small businesses.

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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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American Action Network: “Search”

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The American Action Network attacks California congressional candidate Jose Hernandez (D) for supporting the “failed stimulus,” which actually created jobs, cut taxes for working Americans, and helped prevent an even worse recession. The ad also dishonestly attempts to brand Hernandez as a carpetbagger who only moved to California from Texas in order to run for Congress, omitting crucial details: Hernandez lived in Texas because he worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as an astronaut, and he has deep roots in the California valley he seeks to represent.

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American Action Network: “3 Wishes”

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In an ad urging voters to “make Kathy Hochul go away” on November 6, the American Action Network attacks the first-term Democrat from New York, claiming she voted to raise taxes “almost 50 percent” and increase spending “even more.” But the ad’s citations make clear that it’s referring to Hochul’s time on the Hamburg, New York town board, and the increases in question occurred over the course of 13 years. In fact, when the town budget is adjusted for inflation, spending actually increased a mere 8.5 percent during Hochul’s service. The ad also claims Hochul “voted for the job-killing health care law” and to increase small business taxes. But Hochul wasn’t in Congress when the health care law passed, and she voted to preserve tax cuts on the middle class while ending them for top earners, few of whom are true small businesses.

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Americans for Tax Reform: “Tax Raising Politician Sean Maloney (NY-18)”

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Americans for Tax Reform targets New York congressional candidate Sean Maloney’s (D) support for ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, which the group claims will hurt small businesses and kill jobs. However, conservatives rely on a dubious definition of “small business,” and allowing the top tax bracket to return to its pre-Bush level would not affect many actual employers. In addition, ATR’s charge that phasing out the tax breaks would cause job losses is based on a flawed study that assumes the revenue will not go toward deficit reduction, which is exactly what Maloney and other Democrats have proposed.

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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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Crossroads GPS: “Silly Spending” NY-01

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Crossroads GPS hits Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) over his support for the Recovery Act, suggesting Bishop voted for a series of wasteful projects while New York lost jobs. But the Recovery Act helped keep the recession from becoming even more severe, and the outlandish things Crossroads claims Bishop supported are seriously misrepresented. Meanwhile, New York and the country as a whole have been gaining jobs since the recession officially ended in June 2009.

Read more after the jump.