McCain Ads Attack Romney

McCain Radio Ad
Narrator: They say Mitt Romney likes numbers. His campaign says he likes to look at data. Well here are some numbers that should scare every Florida Republican. 400 million dollars. That's how much over budget the Romney health care debacle costs taxpayers in Massachusetts. 700 million. A tax increase Romney stuck to the people of Massachusetts. 20 billion dollars – that's what Romney promised Detroit to bail out the auto industry on the back of taxpayers. And here is the number that should scare Florida Republicans most. 16 points. The Wall Street Journal says Hillary Clinton beats Mitt Romney by 16 points. The bottom line: Mitt Romney loses to Hillary Clinton. Republicans lose. We can't afford Mitt Romney. John McCain. He's the one Republican who can beat Hillary Clinton.
McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.
Narrator: Paid for by John McCain 2008.

A few of them, however, are misleading or require context. The announcer in the ad says that Romney promised $20 billion to Detroit "to bail out the auto industry on the back of taxpayers." But that $20 billion was what Romney proposed as a "national investment in energy research." Here's Romney at a Jan. 14 speech to the Detroit Economic Club:

Romney (Jan. 14, 2008): If we're going to be the world's greatest economic power, we also have to invest in the future. It's time for us to be bold. I will make a five-fold increase – from $4 billion to $20 billion – in our national investment in energy research, fuel technology, materials science, and automotive technology. Let's invest in our future.

Perhaps to McCain's ears that's a bail out. But the senator has been a strong proponent of pursuing alternative energies in the past – so strong that he proposed the improbable goal of making the country "oil independent" within five years. We didn't let that claim go unchecked, either.

Sticking It To Him
The radio ad also says, "700 million … a tax increase Romney stuck to the people of Massachusetts." We've quibbled with this one before. Technically, most of what Romney raised was in the form of fees, not taxes, such as court filings and firearm licensing fees. But he also closed loopholes on corporate taxes. There is disagreement on the total amount as well, with the state Department of Administration and Finance putting the fee total at $260 million a year and the corporate tax change at $174 million a year, and the independent Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation saying both fees and taxes totaled $740 million to $750 million a year.

This point has been grist for both campaigns, as Romney uses the fact that most of the state revenue increases came from "fees" to make the misleading claim that he never raised "taxes."

Republished with permission from factcheck.org

Sources
Massachusetts Commonwealth Connector. "About the Connector: Overview." www.MAHealthConnector.org , 6 Dec. 2007.

Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services. "HCFP Survey Finds 40,000 Decrease in State's Uninsured." 27 Aug. 2007.

Romney, Mitt. Address to Detroit Economic Club. MittRomney.com, 14 Jan. 2007, accessed 28 Jan. 2007.

Haslmaier, Edmund F. "The Massachusetts Health Reform: Assessing its Significance and Progress." 21 Sep. 2007.

Hyman, David A. "The Massachusetts Health Plan: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." 28 Jun. 2007.

Himmelstein, David U., and Steffie Woolhandler. "I Am Not a Health Reform." The New York Times. 15 Dec. 2007.

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