Issues: Social Security

NRA Political Victory Fund: “Chipping Away”

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In an ad that provides no details or citations, the National Rifle Association claims an unspecified “they” are “attacking our Second Amendment rights” before urging voters to support the Romney/Ryan ticket. But despite conservative fears, the only gun laws President Obama has signed expand – rather than restrict – gun rights. The ad’s other claims about “mountains of debt” and “new spending” are also misleading, since it was Bush-era policies and the recession that drove up the debt and spending growth under Obama has been low.

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U.S. Chamber Of Commerce: “Louise Slaughter – Wrong Way”

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce attacks Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) over her vote for the Affordable Care Act and against a bill to extend the Bush tax cuts for top earners. What the ad doesn’t mention is that the health care law, which doesn’t raise taxes on most Americans, makes tax credits available to millions of small businesses. Meanwhile, although Slaughter opposed tax giveaways for the top 2 percent of earners, she has since supported extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class.

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Restore Our Future: “New Normal”

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An ad from Restore Our Future dredges up an out-of-context quote from President Obama to suggest he believes 8 percent unemployment is “doing fine.” In reality, Obama was explaining that the private sector is steadily creating new jobs, while declining public-sector employment – a trend favored by conservatives – has slowed the recovery. The private sector has now added 4.6 million jobs over the last 30 consecutive months of growth. The ad also blames the president for America’s “crushing debt,” which exploded as a consequence of Bush administration policies and the recession, but fails to acknowledge that Republicans have rejected Obama’s debt-reduction proposals.

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Club For Growth Action: “Jobs”

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Club for Growth Action accuses Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) of supporting “higher taxes, government health care, and trillions in new debt,” but the conservative group provides no evidence for its allegations. That may be because the charges against Donnelly don’t match his record. Donnelly recently voted to extend tax cuts for all Americans, while the Affordable Care Act expands private-sector health coverage and reduces deficits. Furthermore, Donnelly has supported conservative proposals for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

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American Crossroads: “Actually Happened”

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American Crossroads attacks President Obama’s economic record by grossly misrepresenting a “preliminary analysis” of a theoretical stimulus bill, which the president’s economic advisers conducted before his inauguration – and before the unexpected rise in unemployment soon thereafter. The analysis included disclaimers about the possibility of an unusually severe recession, which unfortunately came to fruition. Nonetheless, it’s clear that the devastating conditions Obama inherited would have become even worse without the Recovery Act, which created jobs and cut taxes for millions of working Americans. Since the recession officially ended, the private sector has steadily added jobs, including 4.7 million new jobs in the last 31 consecutive months of growth.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce: “Failed To Protect Medicare”

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The Chamber of Commerce’s attack on Bill Nelson’s Affordable Care Act vote holds up better in the vacuum the ad presents than it does in the real world. In reality, the law doesn’t cut Medicare benefits and extends the life of the program by eight years. Also in reality, Nelson is running against a congressman who not only voted for the same Medicare savings, but supported the Republican Study Committee’s “Paul Ryan budget on steroids.”

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Restore Our Future: “Kindergarten”

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An ad from pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future complains about high federal debt and the slow economic recovery, asking if America is going “forward” or “backward.” Restore Our Future fails to note, however, that 4.6 million new jobs have been created over 30 consecutive months of private-sector growth, or that GOP-favored public-sector downsizing is dragging down the recovery. In addition, it’s Bush-era policies plus the global recession that set the U.S. on a path towards an explosion of the federal debt.

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Americans For Job Security: “Running”

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Americans for Job Security portrays the economy as still mired in recession, using a woman’s voiceover to suggest that President Obama has failed “to turn the economy around.” But while the economy has yet to dig out of the massive, nearly unprecedented hole created by the 2007-08 financial crisis, it has certainly turned around. The economy was hemorrhaging nearly a million jobs each month when President Bush handed over to Obama, and today the economy has been adding jobs for 30 months – two and a half years straight. Just as the ad’s depiction of the recent past is inaccurate, its insinuations about our immediate future are not supported by the evidence.

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Crossroads GPS: “Big”

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Crossroads GPS accuses Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) of supporting “the largest tax increase in American history,” as well as “a plan to raise taxes on nearly a million small businesses next year.” Both charges are based on the scheduled expiration of the Bush tax cuts, and both are false. The Bush tax cuts were passed with an end date – an agreement in late 2010 extended them for two years – and allowing them to expire would not be the biggest tax increase ever. In addition, Berkley only wants to phase out tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, which would not affect many actual small businesses or harm job creation.

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Crossroads GPS: “Pressure”

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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.