* Gov. Pat Quinn has unveiled a harsh new Internet promo video slamming Bill Brady for being anti-union Have a look..
* Meanwhile, in a move that will probably be noticed by far more people, the National Republican Congressional Committee is running two new ads that blast Democratic incumbent Debbie Halvorson and Democratic candidate Dan Seals.
“Illinois families may be struggling, but Debbie Halvorson just doesn’t seem to care. This career politician has supported Nancy Pelosi’s reckless energy tax that could cost Illinoisans more than just their hard-earned money; it could cost them their jobs. Given today’s shaky economy, Illinois families should ask themselves if they can afford to send Halvorson back to Washington.” — Tom Erickson, NRCC spokesman
* Halvorson voted for what’s been called the most irresponsible budget in history… (111th Congress, Vote 192 and Vote 216)
o Union Leader: Democrats’ budget is “the most fiscally irresponsible budget in the history.” “They are pikers compared to Democrats under President Obama, who just passed the most fiscally irresponsible budget in the history of the federal government.” (Editorial, “Reckless; A Historic Failure,” Union Leader, April 5, 2009)
* …Voted for $1.2 trillion in new government spending… (111th Congress, Vote 86 and Vote 70)
* …and even voted for a energy tax that could cost families $1,700 more per year and could kill over 120,000 Illinois jobs. (111th Congress, vote 477)
o “Higher energy prices would have ripple impacts on prices throughout the economy and would impose a financial cost on households. Illinois would see disposable household income reduced by $167 to $328 per year by 2020 and $1,096 to $1,782 by 2030.” (Study by American Council for Capital Formation and National Association of Manufacturers, August 12, 2009)
o “By 2030, as emission reduction targets tighten and other W/M [Waxman-Markey] provisions phase out, Illinois jobs decline by 88,400 under the low cost case and by 120,340 under the high cost case. The primary cause of job losses would be lower industrial output due to higher energy prices, the high cost of complying with required emissions cuts, and greater competition overseas manufacturers with lower energy costs.” (Study by American Council for Capital Formation and National Association of Manufacturers, August 12, 2009)
* Response from the Halvorson campaign…
The National Republican Campaign Commitee has begun running attack ads on Chicago cable to mislead voters on Debbie Halvorson’s record and distract from their nominee Adam Kinzinger’s support for policies that would ship Illinois jobs overseas.
Here are the false claims peddled in the NRCC commercial and the real facts:
NRCC CLAIM: Debbie Halvorson listens to Nancy Pelosi instead of us.
FACT: Debbie Halvorson is an independent fighter that puts Illinois families first. Standing up to Washington Democrats, Debbie has a history of earning A+ ratings from the National Rifle Association (1), and even stood up to party leaders to save jobs in her district. (2) Halvorson also has been called the most ‘fiscally responsible Democrat’ in the Illinois Congressional Delegation (3), and was ranked among the top ten moderate Members of Congress by the non-partisan National Journal. (4)
NRCC CLAIM: Debbie Halvorson voted for “…the most fiscally irresponsible budget” in history.
FACT: Here, were the NRCC is referencing Halvorson’s vote for the 2010 budget. They conveniently overlook that the Chairman of the House Republican Conference, Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), called the 2009 budget the “most fiscally irresponsible budget” in history. (1) Pence fought with President Bush for deficit exploding tax cuts for the super rich, and even challenged current Republican Minority Leader and staunch conservative, John Boehner, to his House leadership position in 2006 after citing the Republican caucus had begun to lose their conservative “values”. (2)
NRCC CLAIM: Debbie Halvorson voted for $1.2 trillion in new spending.
FACT: The 2010 Federal budget included for the first time funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which provided critical equipment and materials for our men and women fighting overseas. Far from being wasteful spending, this was restoring truth in budgeting and stopping the deception of the GOP controlled House, which insisted for years on funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through “emergency supplemental” appropriations to hide the fact they were being paid for with borrowed money. (1) In addition, Halvorson voted to restore statutory, “Pay-As-You-Go” laws that ensure that any new discretionary spending is paid for, not adding to the deficit.
NRCC CLAIM: Debbie Halvorson voted for $1700 a year national energy tax.
FACT: There were no official U.S. Treasury projections that there would be a tax of $1700. The $1700 figure comes from a CBS News blogger who, according to factcheck.org, made projections from memos about legislation that was not voted on in Congress. In fact, factcheck.org states that, “Alan B. Krueger, Treasury assistant secretary for economic policy, called McCullagh’s estimate ‘flat out wrong.’”
NRCC CLAIM: ‘National energy tax’ could kill over 120,000 jobs.
FACT: The 120,000 jobs number cited comes from a report released by the National Association of Manufacturers and created by the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a big corporation who has spent nearly $20 million on lobbyists while donating tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans. (1)
In fact, the Blue Green Alliance, an advocacy group green jobs estimated that the investments made in renewable energy in the 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act could create as many as 56,579 Illinois jobs. (2)
(1) Media Matters, 8/12/09
(2) Blue Green Alliance, How to Revitalize America’s Middle Class with the Clean Energy Economy, 6/15/09
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has launched a new ad exposing two-time failed candidate Dan Seals’ support for a healthcare bill that would cut Medicare, lead to massive tax increases and even raise insurance rates.
NRCC Comment: “Career candidate Dan Seals has some pretty extreme ideas on healthcare that includes supporting the Democrats’ government run healthcare plan. With out-of-the-mainstream ideas like this, it’s easy to see why Illinois families have twice rejected Dan Seals.” — Tom Erickson, NRCC spokesman< Additional Information:
* Pelosi’s Healthcare Plan: $500 Billion In Medicare Cuts, Hurting Our Seniors:
o “It would cut an additional $60 billion from Medicare, bringing total cuts to the program to more than $500 billion over the next 10 years. And it would delay a tax on high-cost insurance polices until 2018, replacing the lost revenue by imposing the Medicare payroll tax on investment income for families earning more than $250,000 a year.” (Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, “With Senate 'fixes' bill, GOP sees last chance to change health-care reform,” Washington Post, 3/24/10)
o “The new provisions will generally reduce MA[Medicare Advantage] rebates to plans and thereby result in less generous benefit packages. We estimate that in 2017, when the MA provisions will be fully phased in, enrollment in MA plans will be lower by about 50 percent (from its projected level of 14.8 million under the prior law to 7.4 million under the new law)” (Richard S. Foster, “Estimated Financial Effects of the ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as Amended,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, April 22, 2010)
* Massive Tax Increases: “Now that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 has been passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama, substantial tax increases can be expected in the near future. Combined, all of these tax increases (including those on employers that do not provide health insurance for their employees and on individuals who do not buy health insurance) will cost taxpayers $503 billion between 2010 and 2019.” (Curtis Dubay, “Obamacare: Impact on Taxpayers,” Heritage Foundation, April 14, 2010)
* Rationing Of Care: “Marjorie Baldwin, a health care economist at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, expects the measure to ‘cost way more’ than the $938 billion over 10 years estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. … Ms. Baldwin expects the legislation to produce unintended consequences, such as ‘some form of rationing’ as doctors and insurers strive to serve 32 million more people gaining coverage under the plan even as they treat current patients.” (Patrice Hill, “Health plan may hobble economy recovery,” Washington Times, April 1, 2010)
* Raising Insurance Premiums: “For individuals and employers, the result of these new federal regulations will be across-the-board increases in health insurance costs and premiums.” (Edmund Haislmaier and Brian Blase, “Obamacare: Impact on States,” Heritage Fondation, July 1, 2010)
* Dan Seals Says He Supports The Even More Expensive Public Option: “Three of the four Democratic primary candidates for Kirk’s seat offer blanket support for a public health insurance option as part of national health care reform. Aside from Hamos, supporters include Highland Park attorney Elliot Richardson and two-time challenger Dan Seals of Wilmette.” (Joseph Ryan, “Congressional Candidate Up With Pro-Public Option Ad,” Chicago Daily Herald, Nov. 7, 2009)
