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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American Future Fund: “Come Clean”

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American Future Fund calls on North Dakota Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp to “come clean” about the Affordable Care Act, repeating misleading talking points about “government bureaucrats” and other alleged consequences of the law. Contrary to what the ad suggests, the Affordable Care Act slows the rise in health care costs and reduces future Medicare spending without ‘cutting’ seniors’ benefits. In fact, most of the Medicare savings in the health care law were preserved in the Republican budget plan supported by Heitkamp’s opponent.

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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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American Crossroads: “Behind”

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American Crossroads’ attack on former Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA) attempts to paint him as self-serving and ambitious at the expense of the Virginians who elected him. To that end, Crossroads insinuates that his decision to serve as Democratic National Committee chairman during his final year as governor is connected to the state’s job losses, rather than the nationwide recession, and they snatch multiple clips of Kaine out of context to deceive voters about how he talks about his public service.

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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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American Future Fund: “Priority”

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The American Future Fund’s attack on Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), who is running for the Senate, proclaims that “New Mexico’s unemployment is up 20 percent” since he took office. Of course, the ad fails to mention that Heinrich took office during the worst month of a crushing recession that predated his election – or that the state’s unemployment rate has dropped from a 2010 high of 8 percent to well below 7 percent today. The ad also repeats tired distortions of the Recovery Act and the health care law.

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Let Freedom Ring: “Gas Price Hypocrisy”

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An ad from Let Freedom Ring accuses President Obama of “gas price hypocrisy,” suggesting that a clip of Obama speaking on the campaign trail in 2008 contradicts remarks he made in March 2012. In both speeches, however, Obama espoused the same position: that there is no “silver bullet” for an immediate reduction in gas prices, and that instead we must develop alternate energy sources in order to end America’s dependence on foreign oil. Even so, under President Obama, domestic oil production and exports are up, but since oil is traded on a global market, increased domestic drilling doesn’t have much of an impact on gas prices.

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Crossroads GPS: “ObamaClaire”

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In an ad titled “ObamaClaire,” Crossroads GPS vilifies Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) for supporting the Affordable Care Act, which the group claims will “slash” Medicare benefits and “restrict seniors’ access to medical care.” These are stale falsehoods that have been thoroughly discredited – and, in fact, the GOP Medicare scheme authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) retains almost all of the health care law’s savings. Meanwhile, Crossroads GPS ignores the significant benefits for seniors in the Affordable Care Act and the severe consequences that repeal would have for millions of Americans.

Read more after the jump.