Lies, Damn Lies, And Political Ads -- Part II

ATTACKS ON SHERROD BROWN FROM THE DARK SIDE

Right-wing fat-cat puppet-masters have targeted a number of key 2012 elections in so-called "battleground" states. Ohio is such a state, and Senator Sherrod Brown is their target. Their efforts are underway already in a couple of putrid TV ads.

One attack ad features Pat Boone whoring himself out on behalf of something called 60Plus.Org. In his smoothest, most unctuous tones, Pat begins, "Hello, friend," (you're not my friend, asshole!) and launches into a disjointed diatribe on the Affordable Care Act:

It's utter, fact-twisting nonsense. There was not "overwhelming opposition" to President Obama's Affordable Care Act. The majority of Americans favored health care reform and still do. The "$500 billion cut in Medicare"? That's a 10-year projected savings from trimming waste and fluff from Medicare providers, not beneficiaries. ACA doesn't cut anything from seniors, and it certainly doesn't "fund more wasteful spending". The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) has authority over Medicare payments to providers, not beneficiaries. If Medicare costs keep rising and Congress does nothing, IPAB could cut Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors. Hospitals and doctors call this "rationing". IPAB will not "deny treatment" in any direct, case-by-case manner. IPAB members will indeed be unelected. Good. Congress has been in control of this for 45 years and here we are. Medicare will not "go broke in 9 years." That's an unsourced scare tactic. Certain "experts" have been predicting Medicare's demise for decades, and they've been wrong for decades. Sherrod Brown "ignoring the problem" is simply code for "he voted for the goddam ACA." And what the fuck is "real Medicare reform"?

60Plus.Org claims to be a "non-partisan seniors advocacy group". Bullshit! In reality, it's a far-right special interest PAC funded by Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) -- i.e., drug company lobbyists. 60Plus.Org advocates privatizing Social Security, and eliminating the federal estate tax, federal energy standards, and gun control laws. It's against any sort of tax increases. It was founded in 1992 to oppose Clinton's health insurance overhaul and is of course now dedicated to the repeal of the ACA. That's some pretty special senior advocacy!


Another attack job is airing courtesy of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This one demonizes Brown for not being a Big Oil lapdog:

There was never a vote on the Senate floor to "block American energy production", nor was there ever a vote to "increase energy taxes". The ad is obliquely referring to Brown's opposition to unlimited drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (BP, anyone?) and his support for ending subsidies to the oil industry.

Brown's positions sound about right to me.


A third attack ad again comes from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It's grainy black & white (bad guys are always in B&W), with a voice-over that sounds like a cheesy 1930's newsreel:

Yes, the world is going to hell and it's all Sherrod Brown's fault because he voted for health reform. Actually, the ACA gives small employers a tax credit of 35% of their health care premiums. By 2014, larger companies must offer health insurance to their employees or pay a penalty. No job-killing, no tax-raising, no economy-worsening. Jesus! What a crock of shit!


These deceptive ads are bottom-of-the-barrel pandering and fear-mongering. Just the thing to persuade the average American idiot. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has lost all perspective and all credibility. Just a bunch of corporate ass-kissing tools. Fuckin' bastards!

(Full disclosure: Both Sherrod Brown and your humble correspondent hail from the same town. We attended the same church and junior high school, and were both among a student group that travelled to Great Britain in 1970. We are distant acquaintances, not friends. After Obama signed the ACA into law in 2010, Sherrod asked me to say a few words at a local health care rally. And I did, gladly. I am a very occasional, very small contributor to his campaign. Mostly, he ignores me conspicuously. Sherrod Brown is a great guy -- funny, highly intelligent, a born leader, a real mensch, and an unapologetic progressive liberal. If you are an Ohio voter, Buster strongly recommends Brown for Senate in 2012.)