Organizations: American Action Network

American Action Network: “Spending”

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Accusing former New Hampshire Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D) of “reckless” spending, an ad from American Action Network points to two earmarks. But attempts to thwart the local projects – one of which was requested by a Republican – were shot down by large bipartisan majorities that included Shea-Porter. The ad also blasts Shea-Porter for supporting a budget plan that would have raised $683 billion in taxes without noting that that entire amount would have come from the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, and that the budget would have eliminated the federal deficit.

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American Action Network: “Rail”

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The American Action Network dishonestly attacks congressional candidate Jose Hernandez (D-CA-10) for living in Texas, branding him as a cowboy and a carpetbagger even though the California native only lived outside the state while working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as an astronaut. The group also criticizes Hernandez for supporting high-speed rail as a way to create jobs, as well as the Recovery Act, which helped save the economy from an even deeper recession.

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American Action Network: “Tax And Spend”

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American Action Network goes after congressional candidate Val Demings (D-FL) over her support for the Recovery Act and for ending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, saying she supports wasting Floridians’ money. But the stimulus, which passed without any involvement from first-time candidate Demings, helped save the economy from an even worse recession, and ending the Bush tax cuts for top-tier earners would impact few real small businesses.

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American Action Network: “Again”

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The American Action Network wants you to know that Rick Nolan stands “for raising taxes and killing jobs” – 700,000 jobs, to be precise. But that number comes from a study that explicitly did not analyze the actual White House proposal for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. The on-screen claim that Nolan would tax 894,000 small businesses is similarly bogus, as that definition of “small business” includes multi-billion-dollar corporations and both candidates for president. The ad is correct about Nolan’s 1975 votes on gas taxes, but they somehow fail to mention the same bill included tax credits to offset the increase in pump prices.

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American Action Network: “Search”

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The American Action Network attacks California congressional candidate Jose Hernandez (D) for supporting the “failed stimulus,” which actually created jobs, cut taxes for working Americans, and helped prevent an even worse recession. The ad also dishonestly attempts to brand Hernandez as a carpetbagger who only moved to California from Texas in order to run for Congress, omitting crucial details: Hernandez lived in Texas because he worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as an astronaut, and he has deep roots in the California valley he seeks to represent.

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American Action Network: “3 Wishes”

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In an ad urging voters to “make Kathy Hochul go away” on November 6, the American Action Network attacks the first-term Democrat from New York, claiming she voted to raise taxes “almost 50 percent” and increase spending “even more.” But the ad’s citations make clear that it’s referring to Hochul’s time on the Hamburg, New York town board, and the increases in question occurred over the course of 13 years. In fact, when the town budget is adjusted for inflation, spending actually increased a mere 8.5 percent during Hochul’s service. The ad also claims Hochul “voted for the job-killing health care law” and to increase small business taxes. But Hochul wasn’t in Congress when the health care law passed, and she voted to preserve tax cuts on the middle class while ending them for top earners, few of whom are true small businesses.

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The Week In Conservative Attack Ads

This week, conservatives flooded the airwaves with attacks on Democratic candidates. We fact-checked a total of 21 new ads, exceeding our total from the previous three weeks combined. The increase in volume was marked by 11 spots targeting House candidates, signaling a heightened focus on lower-level races as we approach the final stretch of campaign season.

New Players, Same Money?

Karl Rove’s groups were active as usual – American Crossroads launched a misleading attack on President Obama and Crossroads GPS targeted three Senate hopefuls – but they let some of their allies lead the charge this week.

Read more after the jump.

American Action Network: “Dangerous”

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The American Action Network reaches all the way back to the 1970s to accuse Rick Nolan (D-MN) of supporting the end of Medicare. But Nolan’s opponent, Rep. Chip Cravaack, voted to “essentially end” Medicare in 2011, in a GOP budget that also retained the Affordable Care Act’s Medicare savings, over which AAN attacks Nolan. Furthermore, the bill Nolan supported forty years ago would have replaced Medicare with universal coverage for all Americans – which was the dominant school of thought among health care reformers of the era.

Read more after the jump.