Archive for September 30, 2010
Blurred Distinctions
by John Weckerle
As the silly season progresses, and the attack ads grow more desperate, we find that perhaps not everybody is as the campaign ads suggest. For example, Congressman Martin Heinrich is portrayed as a tax-and-spend Pelosi devotee in recent ads for challenger John Barela. Yet according to this press release from Mr. Heinrich’s office, he has proposed to make the Bush tax cuts for the middle class permanent and let the cut for the top 2% (by income) expire, with the revenue to be used for deficit reduction. According to the same press release, “Rep. Heinrich cosponsored legislation that reestablished the statutory “pay-as-you-go” (PAYGO) requirements that helped turn deficits into surpluses during the 1990s under the Clinton Administration. He also cosponsored the SAFE Commission Act, which would help balance long-term spending and revenue for the nation, and the Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act, which would eliminate wasteful and unnecessary government spending.” This article in the New Mexico Independent indicates that at the same time that Mr. Barela has been touting his opposition to stimulus-type programs, he has been benefiting financially from exactly that sort of program. Now, we don’t fault Mr. Barela for taking advantage of these programs, but we do think it just a little disingenuous for him to attack his opponent as a “tax-and-spender” while both collecting from and promoting programs involving such spending at the State level. We also think he should answer the New Mexico Independent’s questions.
We’ve made it pretty clear that we don’t have much use for campaign ads as sources of information, and the examples above perhaps underscore that point. We acknowledge, with both resignation and disappointment, that most voters are probably going to be picking up a lot of their information from such ads and from sound bites presented by the media. For those looking for more information, there are other sources to consider.