Issues: Medicaid

American Commitment: “Facts”

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American Commitment is running an ad in Florida that attacks Sen. Bill Nelson (D) with a litany of debunked talking points about health care reform. Contrary to the ad’s claims, the Affordable Care Act reduces the deficit, does not raise taxes on most Americans (and actually gives tax credits to millions), provides important benefits for seniors, and increases the number of insured Americans by millions. Meanwhile, repealing the Affordable Care Act as the group advocates would have devastating consequences for people all over the country who are already benefiting from the law.

Read more after the jump.

American Crossroads: “Hit”

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After the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, commonly known as the “individual mandate,” American Crossroads pounced with a new ad accusing President Obama of raising taxes on the middle class. Unfortunately, the ad leaves out some crucial facts: The mandate will not have a direct impact on the vast majority of Americans – aside from helping keep their premiums down – and Obama has cut taxes for working Americans by far more than the cost of forgoing insurance under the health care law.

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Americans For Prosperity: “Not A Tax Increase?”

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Americans for Prosperity is running an ad that portrays President Obama’s landmark health care law as a huge tax increase. In reality, most families that earn under $250,000 will not see their taxes go up under Affordable Care Act, which also provides tax credits for millions of working Americans. Meanwhile, the ad’s description of the law as a “$2 trillion health care takeover” is completely bogus – ACA reduces the deficit and relies heavily on the private sector to give millions of people better access to quality insurance.

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Crossroads GPS: “Why”

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In an ad attacking Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Crossroads GPS relies on baseless talking points to suggest that Heitkamp’s support for the Affordable Care Act is harmful to her constituents. In reality, Heitkamp’s endorsement of Obamacare isn’t at odds with her promises not to vote to take away seniors’ health care or limit care, and she was right when she called the deficit-reducing health care law “a budget saver.” GPS also cherry-picks a projection about employer-based coverage when it claims that “millions of Americans” could lose the coverage they have now; broader analyses of the law estimate that under the Affordable Care Act up to 33 million uninsured people will gain coverage.

Read more after the jump.

Americans For Prosperity: “Real Facts Real Solutions”

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In an ad attacking Senate candidate Tim Kaine’s record as governor of Virginia, Americans for Prosperity combines misplaced blame for financial woes caused by declining revenues in the Great Recession with outright falsehoods about Kaine’s response. Faced with impending shortfalls, Kaine cut billions in spending to leave Virginia with a balanced budget, not with the $4.2 billion shortfall AFP claims. Meanwhile, the most significant of the tax increases Kaine proposed (many were never enacted) were attempts to pay for desperately needed transportation upgrades that Virginia’s Republicans wanted to finance by going deeper into debt.

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Concerned Women For America: “Care”

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In an ad from the conservative Concerned Women for America, Dr. Ami Siems delivers a monologue riddled with misleading statements about the Affordable Care Act. No matter how many times conservatives say it, the law does not increase the deficit – it reduces it. And those “Washington bureaucrats” cannot deny or ration care. Perhaps the biggest problem with the ad is that it uses a seemingly neutral figure to argue that the law “just isn’t fixing things,” but this is not Dr. Siems’ first go-round as a conservative mascot. She appeared in 2009 anti-reform ad paid for by Americans for Prosperity in which she advanced several falsehoods.

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Americans For Prosperity: “Tell Tester: Start Supporting Montana”

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Americans for Prosperity seeks to link Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) to President Obama, calling Tester “one of Barack Obama’s favorite senators” and using a meaningless statistic to suggest that Tester casts his votes to please the president rather than to serve the people of Montana. The ad’s dishonest tactics cast doubt on its implications, however; the Affordable Care Act didn’t institute “government-run health care,” and although the debt ceiling had to be raised to allow Congress to pay its bills, Tester voted against the bank bailout.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Cheap”

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Crossroads GPS attacks Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-ND) over his support for the Affordable Care Act. Using the GOP’s long-debunked assertion that the health care law adds $700 billion to the debt, the ad ignores the fact that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has repeatedly found that the law will reduce the deficit. The ad also repeats the worn-out claim that Obamacare cuts $500 billion from Medicare, and omits important details when it warns about a “new tax on Ohio manufacturers.”

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Crossroads GPS: “How”

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A Crossroads GPS ad dishonestly blames Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-MT) votes in favor of the Affordable Care Act, the Recovery Act, and several bills to raise the debt limit for the ballooning national debt. In reality, Bush-era policies and the recession caused deficits to skyrocket, while the health care law actually reduces the deficit and the stimulus insulated the economy against even more drastic job losses. Meanwhile, raising the debt limit doesn’t cause higher debt – it simply allows the government to pay off obligations already incurred, thus avoiding the severe economic consequences that could come from a default.

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Crossroads GPS: “Everyday”

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Crossroads GPS dishonestly blames Rep. Joe Donnelly’s (D-IN) votes in favor of the Affordable Care Act, the Recovery Act, and several bills to raise the debt limit for the ballooning national debt. In reality, Bush-era policies and the recession caused deficits to skyrocket, while the health care law actually reduces the deficit and the stimulus insulated the economy against even more drastic job losses. Meanwhile, raising the debt limit doesn’t cause higher debt – it simply allows the government to pay off obligations already incurred, thus avoiding the severe economic consequences that could come from a default.

Read more after the jump.