Organizations: American Enterprise Institute

American Future Fund: “Better Or Worse”

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A video from the American Future Fund rattles off a laundry list of deceptive claims about President Obama’s record, starting with the old falsehood that the president made the economy “worse.” But that’s nonsense: Obama inherited an economy that was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs per month, and while we still haven’t fully recovered from the crushing Bush recession, the private sector has created more than 4 million jobs in the past 29 months of growth. Those gains are due in part to the Obama administration’s Recovery Act and rescue of the auto industry, both of which, along with the health care law, AFF completely misrepresents.

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Crossroads GPS: “Excuses”

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An ad from Crossroads GPS ridicules President Obama for making “excuses for the bad economy,” using footage of the president speaking about global challenges that have affected the recovery. But while the ad suggests that Obama’s “wild spending and skyrocketing debt” are the real problem, those are legacies of the Bush years and the crushing recession that Obama inherited, and Republicans have consistently opposed Obama’s efforts to bring down the deficit.

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Americans For Prosperity: “Doing Fine”

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Americans for Prosperity follows closely in the footsteps of pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, taking President Obama’s comment that “the private sector is doing fine” out of context in order to leave voters with the impression that the president is out of touch with economic reality. Full context reveals, however, that Obama was speaking specifically about how public-sector job losses are impeding economic recovery – something that’s backed up by facts. As the private sector has gained 4.5 million jobs over 29 straight months of growth, state and local government have been forced to lay off employees, with the GOP crowing about shrinking government all the while.

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Restore Our Future: “Doing Fine?”

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The pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future released an ad exploiting President Obama’s comment that “the private sector is doing fine.” While Restore Our Future might have voters believe that the president’s statement is evidence of a callous or out-of-touch approach to economic recovery, the full context reveals that Obama was speaking specifically about how public-sector job losses are impeding economic recovery – something that’s backed up by facts. As the private sector has gained 4.3 million jobs over 28 straight months of growth, state and local government have been forced to lay off employees, with the GOP crowing about shrinking government all the while. That’s a reality that disproportionately impacts women and African Americans – something that Restore Our Future’s ad neglects to mention when it’s wielding accusations about women’s unemployment “under Obama.”

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60 Plus Association: “Tell Bill Nelson To Stop The Wasteful Spending”

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A 60 Plus Association ad blames Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and President Obama for a host of economic woes faced by the Sunshine State, but Florida’s unemployment rate and struggling housing market are all symptoms of the global recession that tanked the national economy. Thanks in part to the Recovery Act, which 60 Plus says “failed,” the jobs picture is improving both in Florida and across the nation. Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Rick Scott – not Nelson – held up a program that would have helped Florida homeowners avoid foreclosure.

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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: “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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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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U.S. Chamber Of Commerce: “Claire McCaskill Means More Government And More Regulation”

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opens its attack on Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) by declaring, “Washington is standing in the way of job creation, and it’s getting worse.” That statement, of course, is blatantly false: The private sector has added 4.5 million jobs in the last 29 months, and Missouri’s unemployment rate has gone down. Making matters worse, the Chamber’s argument relies on McCaskill’s support for the Affordable Care Act, but the GOP claims that the health care law will “kill jobs” has been repeatedly debunked.

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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.

Read more after the jump.