Issues: Taxes

Crossroads GPS: “Your Vote”

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Crossroads GPS attacks Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) over her support for the Affordable Care Act, claiming the law “raises taxes on the middle class” and cuts over $700 billion out of Medicare spending. But the health care law won’t raise taxes on most Americans, and finds Medicare savings without cutting current benefits. What’s more, the House Ryan budget passed by the House GOP contained those same savings – and Heitkamp’s GOP opponent, Rick Berg, voted for that bill.

Read more after the jump.

Romney’s “47 Percent” Comments Reflect Conservative Dogma

The Mother Jones video of Mitt Romney telling his donors that the 47 percent of Americans who pay no income tax are entitled, dependent “victims” is consistent with the nominee’s preference for addressing inequality “in quiet rooms.” But this is no mere pander to wealthy Republican donors. In the Obama era, conservatives have fully embraced the notion that those who owe no federal income tax must have more “skin in the game.” That means raising income taxes on the bottom 47 percent of earners.

In August of last year, the Wall Street Journal labeled this soak-the-poor idea “the new Republican orthodoxy.” Indeed, Republican leaders, movement activists, and powerful conservative institutions have pushed for “skin in the game,” for higher taxes on the bottom half of the income distribution.

Read more after the jump.

American Action Network: “Neighbor”

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American Action Network tries to paint California congressional contender Jose Hernandez as a carpetbagger, attacks him for having a tax lien placed on his business, and criticizes his support for the Recovery Act and the Affordable Care Act. But Hernandez grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and lived there most of his life, only leaving in 2004 to pursue a career as an astronaut. Meanwhile, the tax lien on Hernandez’ business – a restaurant run by his wife – was lifted in August 2011.

Read more after the jump.

American Action Network: “Radical Ideas”

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An American Action Network ad hits physician David Gill, the Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois’ 13th district, over his support for the Recovery Act, Solyndra, and for a single-payer health care system. But the stimulus helped stave off a deeper economic recession; the Solyndra loan was part of a program constructed to withstand some defaults; and AAN’s claims about Gill’s health care positions are highly misleading.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Broke”

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Crossroads GPS calls President Obama “dishonest on taxes,” claiming that the Affordable Care Act imposed a “huge tax increase” on the middle class while Mitt Romney’s tax plan will cut middle-class taxes by 20 percent. But the health care law does not raise taxes on most Americans, and it actually provides tax relief for millions. Moreover, despite Romney’s rhetoric, his plan would require significant middle-class tax increases in order to remain deficit-neutral, which he insists it will.

Read more after the jump.

Treasure Coast Jobs Coalition: “Seen”

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Treasure Coast Jobs Coalition, a murky super PAC, attacks first-time congressional candidate Patrick Murphy (D-FL) over his assertion that he would have voted for the Recovery Act in order to help “keep us from going into a deep recession.” Ignoring that the Recovery Act did, indeed, help prevent an even deeper recession, Treasure Coast distorts elements of the bill, and tries to pin the blame on Murphy.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Bunch of Cash”

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Crossroads GPS is up with an ad in Nevada that features President Obama saying, “don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas,” a phrase taken completely out of context to suggest that the president is dismissive of Nevada’s tourism-driven economy. But the president wasn’t denigrating Las Vegas or advising people not to go there, he was speaking about the choices families must make about how to prioritize their spending in a recession. In addition, the ad blames Obama for a lackluster recovery, even though the last 30 months of private-sector job growth have been dragged down by GOP-favored public-sector downsizing.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Teeth”

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A nearly identical pair of ads from Crossroads GPS attack Senate hopeful Tim Kaine (D) over education cuts during Kaine’s tenure as Governor of Virginia. The first “cuts” mentioned, however, were really a proposal to avoid redistributing public school funding from the poorest Virginia districts to wealthier ones. The second were part of Kaine’s outgoing budget proposal, which required deep cuts to close shortfalls caused by the recession, and which was revised by incoming Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) to include even deeper cuts to school spending.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Football”

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Crossroads GPS targets Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) support for the Affordable Care Act, which it describes as the “$1 trillion health care law that cuts $700 billion from Medicare spending.” However, the ACA actually reduces the deficit, and the reductions in the future growth of Medicare spending do not cut seniors’ benefits.

Read more after the jump.

Crossroads GPS: “Questionable”

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Crossroads GPS attacks Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) over his support for last year’s deal to raise the debt ceiling, which created the deficit reduction “super committee” and imposed defense cuts as an incentive for members of the committee to reach a compromise. Now that the super committee has failed and the defense cuts are looming, GPS is accusing Kaine of backing a plan to “devastate America’s defense and Virginia jobs.” But Kaine supported the debt ceiling deal because it was necessary to avoid devastating economic default, and he has laid out a plan to avoid the impending defense cuts.

Read more after the jump.