television ad Archives - FactCheck.org

Future Fund’s Faulty Fusillade

March 19, 2010

The American Future Fund, a conservative advocacy group, is launching an offensive on multiple fronts against the proposed health care bill. Its television ad mixes bits of recycled images and false claims with new falsehoods, while its print ad sticks closer to the facts but begs some context.
Video Attacks

First off, the ad says that "liberals are crafting a secret health care bill behind closed doors." That’s absurd. The health care overhaul bills were passed months ago (the House version passed in November,

Health Care Summit: We Rebut A Pre-buttal

February 24, 2010

The conservative American Future Fund has released an attack ad in anticipation of President Obama’s health care summit with Democrats and Republicans at the Blair House on Thursday. The group said the ad would air on cable television during the week.

It says that the president and liberals want to build on a health care bill that includes "Backroom Deals" including a "Cornhusker Kickback" and a "Louisiana Purchase."

The "Cornhusker Kickback" claim is outdated. That was a nickname given by Republicans to an exemption within the Senate-passed health care bill.

Koop’s False Claims

February 1, 2010

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop claims that the United Kingdom’s health care system would consider seniors “too old” to qualify for the artificial joints, heart pacemakers and coronary stent that he’s received in the U.S. U.K. guidelines make clear …

More “Funding the Troops” Bunk

December 22, 2009

Democrats are running an attack ad in Washington, D.C., and nationally on cable networks that says Republicans "delayed funding for our men and women in uniform, then they voted against it." But it’s not true. Senate Republicans did delay a vote on military funding, as part of their strategy to drag out the fight against health care legislation. But the funding itself wasn’t delayed. And ultimately, Republicans voted overwhelmingly to approve the defense funds.

Health Care Battle, Infomercial-Style

June 1, 2009

The group Conservatives for Patients’ Rights has produced a 30-minute documentary-style commercial, which aired May 31 on NBC after “Meet the Press.” Hosted by former CNN anchor Gene Randall, the program, labeled “paid programming” throughout, was a very lengthy version of ads the group has run criticizing government-run health care systems in Britain and Canada.
We called one of the group’s ads “misleading,” saying that it “falsely suggests Congress wants a British-style system here in the U.S.”

Supremely Civil Ads … So Far

June 1, 2009

Both the Coalition for Constitutional Values, a liberal group supporting Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court, and the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative organization that opposes President Obama’s choice, have ads up attempting to enhance or undermine her confirmation prospects. The ads are accurate and civil. JCN’s spot, which …

Linking Dems to Pelosi

May 29, 2009

On May 28, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced a new ad campaign attacking Democratic House members by attempting to tie them to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s winding story of what the CIA did or did not tell her about U.S. interrogation techniques. The NRCC says it plans to target 20 Democrats with mailers, robocalls, TV and radio ads; it announced that robocalls and radio spots will run in 17 districts. So far we have seen one television ad,

Government-Run Health Care?

April 30, 2009

A group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights began airing a television ad this week that criticizes government-run health care and falsely suggests Congress wants a British-style system here in the U.S. The ad neglects to mention that President Obama hasn’t proposed a government-run plan and, in fact …

Specter’s Scorched-Earth Slip-Ups

April 2, 2009

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter apparently doesn’t need an official opponent to come out with guns blazing in an attack ad that marks the first TV spot in this race. His ad criticizes former U.S. Rep. Patrick Toomey, a probable challenger in the GOP primary. But Specter misfires a few times along …

Targeting Obama with Bonus ‘AIG’itation

March 24, 2009

The American Issues Project, a conservative group, has released an ad attacking President Obama and congressional Democrats for the bonuses issued by American International Group after it received federal bailout funds. The ad is scheduled to run for the next week on a $500,000 ad buy.
Here’s the ad:

It shows a headline saying that "Obama Accepts Blame for AIG Bonuses," which the group’s backup says is from The Wall Street Journal. And indeed,