POLITICS - Season of Lie-TV

"The Fall TV Season’s Senate Air Wars" by Robert Farley, D’Angelo Gore, and Lalita Clozel; FactCheck.org 11/15/2011

Excerpt

Ads from Crossroads GPS and the League of Conservation Voters signal the official start of the battle over the Senate.

Summary

The November elections are still nearly a year away, but the TV air wars over Senate seats have officially begun in earnest. The balance of power is up for grabs, and outside groups are pouring millions into ads attacking candidates in key Senate races. The biggest plays have come from Crossroads GPS, which is weighing in with five new ads attacking Democrats in five states, and the League of Conservation Voters, which is blanketing Massachusetts TV with an ad attacking Republican Sen. Scott Brown. Distortions abound. Welcome to the new fall TV season.

Among the highlights:

• An ad from Crossroads GPS ties Elizabeth Warren to radical elements in the Occupy Wall Street movement, showing supportive comments she made about the protesters, but leaving out comments she made about the need to obey the law. The ad also cites dubious polling results to paint the group as one that supports “radical redistribution of wealth, and violence.”


• Another Crossroads GPS ad claims that when Tim Kaine was governor of Virginia, his “reckless spending turned a budget surplus into a big deficit.” But Kaine actually trimmed spending to balance the budget, as required by state law.


• Crossroads GPS ads recycle an old claim about support for the stimulus bill, saying that Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson and Kaine voted for projects that weren’t specifically mentioned in the legislation. They also misconstrue an “office upgrades” project, claiming it was $39 million worth of “wasteful spending,” though it was actually low-interest financing assistance.


• The ad targeting Nelson exaggerates when it says the stimulus was “a bill Nelson helped write.” Nelson’s most notable contribution to the stimulus was a bipartisan agreement to trim $110 billion worth of proposed spending.


• The ad also ties Nelson to Obama, claiming that “whenever Obama needs him, Ben Nelson’s there with another blank check.” But Nelson has voted along with the Democratic Party less than any other Democratic senator; he recently voted against allowing Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill to move forward.


• Another Crossroads GPS ad accuses Montana Sen. Jon Tester of voting “against preventing Obama’s EPA from being able to regulate Montana farmers’ dust.” But the Senate never voted on such a measure. And Tester is on record as being opposed to increased regulations on farm dust.


• An ad from the League of Conservation Voters paints Massachusetts Sen. Brown as a Washington insider in the pocket of big oil, citing his vote against closing tax loopholes for oil and gas companies. But the ad fails to mention that Brown has repeatedly said he favors elimination of all special tax breaks, provided it is tied to lower tax rates.

Let the lies begin continue.