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CA-Sen: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Runs Ads on Barbara Boxer Bouncing Checks
The television ad which I have seen on NBC, Los Angeles is “on air” at least in Los Angeles County. You can view it here.I’ll embed the video when the Chamber decides to allow it.Well, shocker, Senator Barbara Boxer when she was in the House of Representatives was the 24th most egregious of the miscreants.
The PBS onlineNewshour summarizes the House Banking Scandal, also known as Rubbergate: “In 1992, many House members were suspected of bouncing checks from accounts they held at the so-called “House Bank” — a loose operation that allowed member of Congress to cash their checks but kept shoddy records and often were quite delayed in recording deposits or withdrawals. Although the lawmakers had broken no laws and many did not even know they were bouncing checks, several took advantage of the bank system and many voters viewed the scandal as a blatant abuse of power. Of the 296 sitting representatives and 59 former members who had overdrafted their personal accounts in the preceding 39 months, the House Ethics Committee released a list of the 24 worst abusers.”
Boxer was among the top 24 involved in the House bank scandal. On March 1, 1992 the Sacramento Bee quoted Boxer as admitting she didn’t pay enough attention to her House bank account. More specifically, that meant 143 bad checks totaling $41,417 over a three-year period that she had written on the House bank.
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CA-Sen Video: U.S. Chamber of Commerce To Air More Ads Against Barbara Boxer
U.S. Chamber of Commerce television ad: “28 Years”The U.S. Chamber is going back “on air” to inform California voters about Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer.
We hear that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — which has emerged as a big-time player in the midterm elections — is about to drop at least $1.25 million in negative TV ads next week against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer next week.
Look for the spots to hit in LA, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Sacramento.
“We can neither confirm nor deny this,” the Chamber’s J.P. Fielder told us. But, he said, “All options are still on the table.” Asked whether the very close race — which Boxer is still slighty leads — is still in play, Fielder said: “Absolutely.”
That’s bad news for Boxer, who has already absorbed $3.2 million in Chamber TV ad pummeling.
I would expect even more independent expenditure money to come into California at the last minute since this race may determine control of the U.S. Senate for the GOP.
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Is Foreign Money Financing U.S. Chamber of Commerce Pro-Republican Political Attack Ads?
President Obama and the LEFT are merely creating a diversion away form their disastrous public policy decisions that Americans do not favor.
To many Democrats, the accusation by President Obama and other party leaders that foreign money might be bank rolling some pro-Republican political attack ads sounds both compelling and ominous — but is it fair?
“We learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign sources,” President Obama said last week, referring to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the second biggest spender in the midterm elections, behind only the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
“Are you going to let special interests from Wall Street and Washington and maybe places beyond our shores come to this state and tell us who our senator should be?”
Democrats and liberal groups take the argument further.
A Democratic National Committee TV ad warns conservative third-party groups like the Chamber are “stealing our democracy” and spending millions in “secret foreign money to influence our elections.”
And, an ad by the liberal group MoveOn.org asks “Where has the Chamber been getting some of their money lately? From foreign corporations in countries like China, Russia and India — the same companies that threaten American jobs.”
Yet while Obama is trying to tie Republicans and some of their backers to the specter of foreign interference in U.S. elections, an examination of the evidence provides little support for the claims.
“We have no idea if the Chamber or any 501(c) organization as defined by the IRS code, is taking foreign money for the purposes of playing politics,” said Dave Levinthal of the Center for Responsive Politics. “Saying that that foreign money is actually going toward attack ads or any type of messaging in the political realm, you just don’t know. It’s speculation and nothing more.”
So, it is speculation at best and demagoguery at worst. But, it does provide Obama cover after he leads his Democratic Party to disaster on November the 2nd.
The foreign money beat us…..
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CA-Sen: United States Chamber of Commerce Launches Barbara Boxer Attack Ads on Jobs and Water
San Diego centric U.S. Chamber of Commerce television ad attacking Senator Barbara Boxer’s recordBarbara Boxer’s record is dismal and these ads will bite her.
The nation’s largest business organization launched a multimillion-dollar advertising attack in California on Wednesday night on U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, part of a nationwide effort targeting vulnerable Democrats.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce began running ads in San Diego, Bakersfield, Fresno and Sacramento, where Boxer’s Republican rival Carly Fiorina has shown strength. The first round of ads castigates Boxer’s record on jobs and the environment.
The Chamber would not say exactly how much it plans to spend on the race. But the ads, which will be combined with a major push to identify and contact business-friendly voters, reflect the aggressive political strategy that the nonprofit business lobbying group will employ this year in an effort to stymie what it considers the anti-business thrust of the Obama administration.
The chamber has set aside about $75 million for political spending nationwide this year. It has already run ads against Democrats in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and plans to begin ads in Florida soon.
The California ad buy represents a first in this Senate race for the national and state Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has not been active in U.S. Senate races in California in the past because the state was seen as heavily Democratic. But Boxer faces one of the tightest reelection races of her career. On Wednesday, a CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. survey showed Boxer holding a 48% to 44% margin over Fiorina, within the margin of error.
Here is the Central Valley version of the ad:
Will these ads boost Carly Fiorina?
Probably and augments Fiorina’s own advertising resources.
With the Senate race in dead heat, the chamber’s ad campaign could provide a substantial boost to Fiorina, who has trailed Boxer in fundraising. After the six-week reporting period that ended June 30, Boxer had nearly 12 times more cash on hand than Fiorina, who had approximately $1 million. Boxer, who did not have any significant primary opposition, had spent $5.8 million by the end of June to Fiorina’s $9.7 million. Neither candidate has aired television ads during the general election phase of the campaign.
“Barbara Boxer has been hostile to the business community,” said Bill Miller, the U.S. chamber’s political director. “Our decision shows that we believe she is vulnerable and that there is a viable alternative who will advocate on behalf of those who create jobs.”
The first 30-second spot alleged that Boxer’s decisions on water policy saved a small fish species at the expense of the Central Valley economy.
“Without water, the Central Valley can’t work,” says a voice-over on the ad, citing Boxer’s support of legislation that “voted to cut water to the Central Valley, killing jobs and driving unemployment as high as 40%.”
Fiorina has accused Boxer of allying herself with “extreme environmentalists” while praising California’s senior senator, Democrat Diane Feinstein, who drafted but then backed away from legislation that would have eased some endangered species protections to send more water to San Joaquin Valley farms.
Neither candidate has starting airing their own ads. But, this won’t last long.
