Competing ads in a Republican congressional primary in Pennsylvania go too far in their attacks related to federal farm subsidies and a vehicle mileage tax.
Stretching the Facts in Pennsylvania
Locations: Pennsylvania
Americans United for Change
Americans United for Change is a liberal group whose message closely mirrors that of the Obama White House.
Corbett’s Not So ‘Remarkable’ Job Boast
A new radio ad from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett boasts that he “created 150,000 new private sector jobs,” a feat called “remarkable” in a Web ad on Corbett’s campaign website. Not really.
NextGen Climate Action
A liberal super PAC founded by San Francisco billionaire and climate-change activist Tom Steyer that focuses on environmental issues.
‘Lost Jobs’ from Obamacare
Republicans have distorted a Congressional Budget Office report, wrongly claiming that it said the Affordable Care Act would cause more than 2 million people to “lose their jobs.”
‘Soft’ on Rape? Nonsense
In one of the most blatantly false attack ads of the political season, an outside Republican group blamed a former assistant district attorney now running for attorney general in Pennsylvania of going “soft” with plea deals in two rape cases she never actually handled.
In one case, the ad says, a judge “rejected [Kathleen] Kane’s weak deal because of the brutality of the crime and age of the victim,” and in another case, the ad says Kane “went soft on a rapist of a 16-year-old who was released and later assaulted two more women.”
Taxpayer-funded Abortions in High Risk Pools
Q: Will all legal abortions be covered by federally subsidized health insurance policies in state "high-risk pools"?
A: No. The Department of Health and Human Services says the only abortions covered will be those in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is endangered.
A False Hit on Critz
We’ve written about misrepresentations in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s attack on Tim Burns, the GOP candidate in the Pennsylvania 12th. Being equal-opportunity fact-checkers, we can’t let a false attack ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee in this race slip by without mention.
The hit on Democratic nominee Mark Critz says that "Congress and liberals like Mark Critz didn’t listen" when "Americans said no to government-run health care." Now, we could go into all the claims the ad makes about the new health care law,
Giving Till They’re Blue?
Summary
It’s not uncommon for GOP candidates to accuse each other of not being Republican enough. But the fight is ordinarily over issues, such as tax cuts. In Pennsylvania, two House candidates are instead attacking each other for sending money behind enemy lines. The ads they’ve launched provide a good lesson in how politicians can mislead voters even with accurate numbers.
Chris Hackett accuses his opponent of having "a long history of supporting liberal Democrats."