Issues: Taxes

60 Plus Association: “Wisconsin – Good Look”

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An ad from the 60 Plus Association draws a comparison between Wisconsin, where the ad claims “tough choices” were made to “balance the budget,” and Washington, where Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D) supported the Recovery Act and health care reform. But Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) “balanced” budget relied on delayed payments and didn’t conform to the accounting standards he promised he would use, while the Affordable Care Act reduces the federal deficit and the Recovery Act helped avert an even more devastating recession.

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American Future Fund: “Tomorrow”

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A dramatic ad from the American Future Fund features a woman describing her worries about the economy, her husband’s job, stimulus spending, and debt, but getting a lot of details wrong as she blames New Mexico Senate candidate Martin Heinrich for the her woes. The ad cites an article about a Recovery Act-funded car company building cars in Finland, but all the money loaned to that business supported work done in the U.S. Four-and-a-half million private-sector jobs have been added over the last 29 straight months of unemployment, and it was Bush policies and the recession that drove up the debt.

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Americans For Prosperity: “Washington-Style Reform”

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Americans for Prosperity hits Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) for supporting the Affordable Care Act, repeating multiple falsehoods in the process. The ad claims that the health care law ‘costs too much,’ but it actually reduces the deficit. AFP complains that the ACA “took over $700 billion from Medicare, which was already going bankrupt,” but without those savings Medicare would become insolvent sooner. Furthermore, the ad misleads on the ACA’s taxes and falsely claims that “bureaucrats” will “make health care decisions for you” under the law.

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Americans For Prosperity: “It’s Time For New Ideas”

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Americans for Prosperity has released another ad featuring people who say they voted for President Obama but don’t think he deserves a second term. However, the only substantive claim in the ad – that the economy “is still the same as it was four years ago” – is simply untrue. The economy was losing hundreds of thousands of jobs per month when Obama took office. Now, the private sector is steadily growing, as evidenced by 4.5 million jobs added over 29 consecutive months of growth.

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Crossroads GPS: “Mountain”

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Crossroads GPS attacks Rep. Tammy Baldwin for opposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, which it says would “stop the mounting national debt that threatens Wisconsin’s economy.” However, by forcing the government to make additional cuts any time the economy slumps and revenues fall, the balanced budget amendment would make future recessions even more severe. Meanwhile, the rising debt during Baldwin’s tenure has been fueled by President Bush’s policies, including costly tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans that Baldwin opposed.

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Crossroads GPS: “Channel”

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An ad from Crossroads GPS hits Sen. Sherrod Brown with a series of misleading insinuations, suggesting that Brown approved of a “health care takeover” and job-killing taxes on Ohio businesses. But the health care law relies on the private sector, and neither it nor Brown’s most recent vote for the Middle Class Tax Relief Act raise taxes for most Americans. What’s more, the Recovery Act didn’t ‘fail – it helped keep the recession that killed millions of jobs from being even worse.

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Crossroads GPS: “More Martin Spending”

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Crossroads GPS attacks Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) for supporting the Recovery Act, implying that the “failed stimulus” – and not the devastating recession that was well underway when Heinrich took office – is responsible for job losses in New Mexico. However, the Recovery Act created jobs and cut taxes for millions of Americans, while New Mexico’s unemployment rate has fallen almost 1.5 percentage points from its recession-driven high.

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Crossroads GPS: “Suffered”

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Crossroads GPS accuses Sen. Bill Nelson of “hurting Florida’s seniors” by supporting the Affordable Care Act, which the ad says “cuts Medicare spending by $700 billion.” However, while the health care law does reduce the future growth of Medicare spending, it does not cut seniors’ benefits – and Nelson’s opponent, Rep. Connie Mack, voted for the same savings last year when he backed the GOP budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan. The health care law also benefits seniors by closing the “donut hole” and providing free preventive care, while repealing the Affordable Care Act would hasten Medicare’s insolvency and have negative consequences for millions of Americans.

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Crossroads GPS: “Every Single Day”

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An ad from Crossroads GPS attacks Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) over the national debt, suggesting that he’s to blame even though it was Bush-era policies and the recession that drove up spending and decreased revenues. The Recovery Act helped prevent an even worse recession, and the “budget-busting” health care law actually reduces the deficits. Moreover, a vote against raising the debt ceiling wouldn’t keep down debt – it would have prevented the U.S. from paying bills it had already incurred and risked economic catastrophe.

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American Future Fund: “Choice: North Dakota Heidi Heitkamp”

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American Future Fund praises Heidi Heitkamp’s character, but suggests North Dakota voters shouldn’t support her because Rep. Rick Berg offers a better vision for government. AFF illustrates that contrast by talking about the Medicare spending reductions in the Affordable Care Act, which the ad claims are “putting seniors at risk.” But while Heitkamp was in North Dakota voicing support for President Obama’s health care law, Berg was in Congress voting for the exact same ‘cuts’ – twice.

Read more after the jump.