j***@rhosos.not
2012-11-02 18:25:04 UTC
Republican Mailers Mislead in New Mexico
New Mexicos Republican Party misleads in two mailers attacking the
states Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, two-term Rep. Martin
Heinrich.
¦One mailer states that New Mexico workers have a jobs problem. But
the states unemployment rate is 6.4 percent, well below the national
rate, or the 8 percent figure the flier displays.
¦Another flier claims that Heinrich voted for the Bush-era tax cuts
to expire for everyone. Heinrich actually supported a bill that
preserved the tax cuts for everyone except high-income taxpayers. What
he opposed was a compromise measure that also extended the tax cuts
for those at the top.
¦The same mailer claims: Raising taxes, as Heinrich wants to do,
would cost another 4,300 jobs in New Mexico. That prediction is based
on a business-backed study that assumes the government will increase
spending if it lets tax cuts expire for high-income taxpayers.
Heinrich said he wants to reduce the deficit with that money, a course
of action the study did not examine.
¦A mailer fails to tell the whole story when it claims Heinrichs
vote for the stimulus allowed insurance company AIG to award executive
bonuses using bailout money. Heinrich never had a chance to vote up or
down on the bonus issue. A Senate version of the stimulus bill banned
AIG from awarding bonuses. But that ban was removed before the bill
returned to the House for final passage.
Heinrich holds an eight-point lead over Republican opponent Heather
Wilson, according to the Albuquerque Journals latest poll. Wilson
previously held Heinrichs seat in Congress, serving five terms before
she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2008. Heinrich and
Wilson are vying for the seat held by Jeff Bingaman, New Mexicos
senior U.S. senator, who is retiring.
Jamie Dickerman, communications director for the Republican Party of
New Mexico, told us in an email that the organization stands behind
the facts presented and the citations given in the mailers.
Our thanks to Allen Stenger of Alamogordo, N.M., who uploaded the
mailers to our Spin Detectors page, through which we ask our readers
to help us monitor political claims and campaigns across the country.
Stenger, who is active in his local chamber of commerce, said he knew
the mailer misled when it claimed that New Mexico has a jobs problem
but cited the national unemployment rate.
New Mexicos Republican Party misleads in two mailers attacking the
states Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, two-term Rep. Martin
Heinrich.
¦One mailer states that New Mexico workers have a jobs problem. But
the states unemployment rate is 6.4 percent, well below the national
rate, or the 8 percent figure the flier displays.
¦Another flier claims that Heinrich voted for the Bush-era tax cuts
to expire for everyone. Heinrich actually supported a bill that
preserved the tax cuts for everyone except high-income taxpayers. What
he opposed was a compromise measure that also extended the tax cuts
for those at the top.
¦The same mailer claims: Raising taxes, as Heinrich wants to do,
would cost another 4,300 jobs in New Mexico. That prediction is based
on a business-backed study that assumes the government will increase
spending if it lets tax cuts expire for high-income taxpayers.
Heinrich said he wants to reduce the deficit with that money, a course
of action the study did not examine.
¦A mailer fails to tell the whole story when it claims Heinrichs
vote for the stimulus allowed insurance company AIG to award executive
bonuses using bailout money. Heinrich never had a chance to vote up or
down on the bonus issue. A Senate version of the stimulus bill banned
AIG from awarding bonuses. But that ban was removed before the bill
returned to the House for final passage.
Heinrich holds an eight-point lead over Republican opponent Heather
Wilson, according to the Albuquerque Journals latest poll. Wilson
previously held Heinrichs seat in Congress, serving five terms before
she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2008. Heinrich and
Wilson are vying for the seat held by Jeff Bingaman, New Mexicos
senior U.S. senator, who is retiring.
Jamie Dickerman, communications director for the Republican Party of
New Mexico, told us in an email that the organization stands behind
the facts presented and the citations given in the mailers.
Our thanks to Allen Stenger of Alamogordo, N.M., who uploaded the
mailers to our Spin Detectors page, through which we ask our readers
to help us monitor political claims and campaigns across the country.
Stenger, who is active in his local chamber of commerce, said he knew
the mailer misled when it claimed that New Mexico has a jobs problem
but cited the national unemployment rate.