Issues: Social Security

Crossroads GPS: “Spending”

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A Crossroads GPS ad linking Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to President Obama’s policies, particularly the Recovery Act, tries to paint a picture of wasteful spending that drove up the national debt without creating jobs. But the ad misrepresents projects funded by the stimulus, and in reality, Recovery Act spending is responsible for millions of jobs and for helping to stave off an even deeper recession. Meanwhile, it was Bush-era policies and the Great Recession that drove up debt, while spending growth under President Obama has been historically low.

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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.

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Crossroads GPS: “Stopwatch”

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An ad from Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS starts by asking, “Why isn’t the economy stronger?” The ad blames our economic troubles on the national debt, which Crossroads claims is rising because of President Obama’s spending. However, the acceleration of debt since Obama’s inauguration is largely a result of the massive recession he inherited from President Bush, who presided over historically weak economic growth even before the economic collapse. Moreover, while federal spending growth has been relatively slow on Obama’s watch, costly policies from the Bush administration continue to drive the deficit today.

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60 Plus Association: “Tell Sherrod Brown To Stop The Wasteful Spending”

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60 Plus Association claims that Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has “helped our national debt increase by more than $11 trillion” by supporting “every bailout proposed by Bush and Obama,” as well as the Recovery Act and health care law. But necessary actions taken to rescue the economy have had a relatively minor impact on deficits – which were driven upward by President Bush’s policies and the massive recession he left behind – and the Affordable Care Act actually reduces the deficit.

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Crossroads GPS: “Basketball”

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In an ad titled “Basketball,” Crossroads GPS portrays a working mother whose adult children are living at home because they “can’t find jobs to get their careers started.” The woman says that she now regrets voting for President Obama because, as her family’s struggles demonstrate, “things have changed for the worse” under his administration. Despite the ad’s softer tone, however, it relies on the usual distortions of Obama’s record on the economy, health care, and the debt.

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Crossroads GPS: “Obama’s Promise”

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An ad from Crossroads GPS features clips of President Obama describing his policies and accuses the president of breaking his promises to the American people. However, Crossroads’ attempt to use Obama’s words against him backfires, as the ad repeatedly misrepresents the facts about the president’s record.

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U.S. Chamber Of Commerce: “Wrong”

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The the Chamber of Commerce – which has received millions from the insurance industry to oppose health care reform – attacks Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for stating that the Affordable Care Act “pays for itself, actually reduces the deficit.” Instead, the Chamber claims, the law will add over $300 billion to federal debt. But the Chamber gets its figures from a dishonest study by a GOP operative who works for the Koch-funded Mercatus Center. The nonpartisan CBO, meanwhile, has affirmed that overall the health care law reduces the deficit by more than $200 billion over the next decade.

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American Future Fund: “Better Off”

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An ad from the secretive American Future Fund (AFF) makes a series of claims about the economy to argue that Americans are not “better off” under President Obama. But the ad the ignores the impact of the calamitous recession Obama inherited – as well as more than 4.5 million private-sector jobs over the last 29 months of growth – and cites misleading statistics to paint an inaccurate picture of Obama’s record.

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American Crossroads: “Backward”

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President Obama’s opponents have spent more than three years blaming him for the economic mess the Bush administration left behind, but an ad from Karl Rove’s American Crossroads is particularly disingenuous. Taking aim at the Obama campaign’s slogan “Forward,” Crossroads cherry-picks several statistics to claim the country has moved “backward” under the president. However, the economic picture they paint only reflects the magnitude of the recession that started in late 2007, almost a year before Obama was elected. In addition to whitewashing the dismal Bush record, Crossroads conveniently ignores significant evidence of progress, such as the 4.5 million private-sector jobs added over 29 consecutive months of growth.

Read more after the jump.