Obama Hits Misleading’ Ads; Walden Goes After Taxes and Spending
President Barack Obama used his Saturday radio address to put attack ads against Congressional Democrats into the context of Republican opposition to campaign finance reform. But in the Republican response, Rep. Greg Walden (Ore.) stuck to the GOP’s main line of attack this campaign season and challenged Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to hold a vote on a Republican plan to cut taxes and spending.
Obama pointed to a “flood of deceptive attack ads sponsored by special interests using front groups with misleading names,” which he said sprang up in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case.
“We can see for ourselves how destructive to our democracy this can become,” Obama said. “We see it in the flood of deceptive attack ads sponsored by special interests using front groups with misleading names. We don’t know who’s behind these ads or who’s paying for them. Even foreign-controlled corporations seeking to influence our democracy are able to spend freely in order to swing an election toward a candidate they prefer.”
Efforts to pass legislation that would require disclosure of who paid for such ads were stymied by Congressional Republicans, Obama said. “It’s politics at its worst,” he said. “But it’s not hard to understand why.”
Sticking to economic issues, Walden touted the call of Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for a vote this fall on cutting nearly $100 billion out of this year’s budget and extending the George W. Bush tax cuts set to expire on Jan. 1.
“Now, with just days remaining in this legislative session, House Republican Leader John Boehner has informed Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Republicans are ready to work together to enact this two-point jobs plan immediately,” Walden said.
He charged that Democrats “tried to short-circuit the rules and rig the final vote” for the health care overhaul passed earlier this year.
“That’s why Leader Boehner has asked Speaker Pelosi to assure the American people that she will allow nothing short of a full up-or-down vote on bills to cut spending and stop all of the looming tax hikes,” Walden said.
