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Fact Check: Dina Titus Lies Again

Dina Titus Continues Her Sloppy Campaign With New Campaign Ad

CLAIM: The role of Congress is not to create jobs – Joe Heck, taken out of context.

“When President Obama comes into town this Friday, will Congresswoman Titus slam him for also stating that it’s not the role of government to create jobs? Or, will she continue her say anything strategy filled with lies and fearmongering in a desperate attempt to get re-elected?” – Mari Nakashima, Spokeswoman for Dr. Joe Heck

FACT CHECK:

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  “I’ve never believed that government has all the answers to our problems.  I’ve never believed that government’s role is to create jobs or prosperity.  I believe it’s the drive and ingenuity of our entrepreneurs or small businesses, the skill and dedication of our workers, that has made us the wealthiest nation on Earth.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks of President Barack Obama on the Economy In Cleveland, Ohio, 09/08/10)

CLAIM:  Joe Heck and Sharron Angle, would have let City Center fail, losing 21,000 jobs fail.

“This attack against Joe is false. Congresswoman Titus has a problem with telling the truth and the fact that she continues to propagate these lies against Joe Heck sends a clear message to southern Nevada that she will stop at nothing to save her own job. Unfortunately for Nevadans, while Congresswoman Titus shamelessly continues to save her government job, she has no record of saving any private sector job in Nevada, including those at City Center.”- M.N.

FACT CHECK:

FULL HECK QUOTE: “I think you have to look at what exactly was the call that was made.” (Joe Heck, Vegas Voice Radio Show, 8/17/2010)

HECK:  “I don’t believe the government should be in the practice of picking winners and losers. I believe in the free markets and I believe that had City Center not been able to be completed by MGM, that another organization would have come in and would have purchased the infrastructure and completed the project just like we see negotiations going on for Fontainebleau which is another project that’s kind of been mothballed and now folks looking at it say well, maybe we’ll buy it, maybe we’ll finish it because the free market will work given the opportunity. So I don’t believe that government should be in the practice of saying who’s going to succeed and who’s going to fail, that the free market should drive it.”  (Joe Heck, Vegas Voice Radio Show, 8/17/2010)

 “[Heck] Says He Would Do Anything To Save Jobs In The Valley, Including At City Center.” (Maryann Martinez, FOX 5, 9/9/2010)

CLAIM: Heck and Angle support tax loopholes that send jobs overseas.

“This attack is a lie and has been called out by several main stream media sources, over and over again. Congresswoman Titus either doesn’t understand that she’s lying or blatantly disregards the truth. Either way, Nevadan’s deserve better than a failed stimulus bill that sent jobs to China, Spain, and South Korea while exploding our national debt: Nevadan’s deserve better than Dina Titus.” - Mari Nakashima, Spokeswoman for Dr. Joe Heck.”-  Mari Nakashima, Spokeswoman for Dr. Joe Heck

FACT CHECK:  

This Attack Has Been Used And Proven False Before: “A new Democratic attack ad accuses a Republican House candidate in Hawaii of signing a pledge protecting tax breaks for sending jobs overseas. It could be a prototype of future attack ads against any number of other Republican House members and candidates, most of whom have signed the anti-tax pledge in question. But we find the ad to be false. The pledge only protects corporations from an increase in taxation overall. It explicitly allows elimination of any specific tax deduction or credit if matched dollar-for-dollar by an overall cut in rates. And it says nothing about jobs.” (Brooks Jackson, “A False Tax Attack,” Factcheck.org, 04/09/10)

American’s For Tax Reform’s Goal:  “ATR’s goal is to prevent higher taxes for American taxpayers and the goal behind the Pledge is simple: make candidates and elected officials put their no-new-taxes rhetoric in writing. Candidates tend to talk a big game about never wanting to raise taxes. Why not simply ask them to put it in writing? A promise has more validity when put down for all to see. Djou has done just that and should be applauded for his decision.  Anyone that reads the language of the Pledge will recognize that a candidate or elected official makes the Pledge to his (or her) constituents promising to ‘oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses … and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.’”  (Adam Radman, “DCCC Attacks Charles Djou with False Claims about the Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” ATR blog, 04/07/10)

No New Taxes Pledge: “The ‘No New Taxes’ Pledge commits a signer to ‘oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.’” (Americans For Tax Reform Press Release, “Titus Campaign Launches “Blatantly False” Attack Ad on Joe Heck,” 9/1/2010)

This Is Not The First Time Dems Have Tried To Misrepresent The Pledge: This is not the first time Democrats have tried to misrepresent the meaning of the Pledge. During the special election in HI-01, the DCCC ran misleading attack ads against the Pledge. FactCheck.org, a non-partisan "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics, responded by condemning the DCCC and agreeing that the ads were “blatantly false.” (Americans For Tax Reform Press Release, “Titus Campaign Launches “Blatantly False” Attack Ad on Joe Heck,” 9/1/2010)

Americans For Tax Reform Grover Norquist:  ‘“Democrats are desperate to take voters’ eyes off of their dismal performance as stewards of our economy. That’s why they continue to roll out this disturbingly false claim about candidates and the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Quite simply, there has been no improvement in the economy or in job growth since Democrats took over. They have nothing to show for themselves in the run up to November,’ said ATR President Grover Norquist.” (Americans For Tax Reform Press Release, “Titus Campaign Launches “Blatantly False” Attack Ad on Joe Heck,” 9/1/2010)

Democrats Fail To Understand Taxpayer Protection Pledge: “The idea behind the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is to protect against tax increases and to promote revenue-neutral tax reform. This is a concept that Democrats fail to understand as they continue to betray voters trust on the issue of taxes.”  (Americans For Tax Reform Press Release, “Titus Campaign Launches “Blatantly False” Attack Ad on Joe Heck,” 9/1/2010)

CLAIM:  Heck opposed the travel promotion act that would create 12,000 new jobs. Heck and Angle, two peas in a pod, with the same bad ideas.

“Dr. Heck has always been a proponent and advocate of southern Nevada’s travel and tourism industry. However, Dr. Heck does prefer the millions of dollars that this international tax will collect go directly into the Las Vegas economy as opposed to routing the dollars through another government bureaucracy.  Congresswoman Titus cannot accurately and honestly quantify the number of jobs this bill actually affects but still chooses to attack Joe Heck with this ridiculous and dishonest claim as a continuation of her pattern of lies and deception to try and trick southern Nevada voters.” – Mari Nakashima, Spokeswoman for Dr. Joe Heck

FACT CHECK:

Fourteen Dollars May Not Sound Like A Lot … “Fourteen dollars may not sound like a lot. But this autumn, the sum -- in the shape of the new fee being charged by the United States to some overseas visitors coming into the country -- is proving enough to inflame tempers in the European Union. This month, an increasing number of members of the European Parliament and other EU officials are blasting the charge for being both incongruous and for running counter to US-EU agreements.” (Charles Hawley, “European Union Up in Arms over U.S. Travel Tax,”

9/28/2010)

Alexander Graf Lambsdorff: Member Of European Parliament With Germany's Business-Friendly Free Democratic: “I Think It Is A Bit Bizarre To Introduce A Tax To Promote Tourism.” (Charles Hawley, “European Union Up in Arms over U.S. Travel Tax,”

9/28/2010)

This Tax Could Actually Dissuade People From Traveling To The U.S. “In addition to pointing out that such a tax could actually dissuade people from traveling to the US, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff also said "it seems a bit absurd that the US of all countries would tax people who are not represented in this debate. Taxation without representation, I believe, has played a certain role in American history." (Charles Hawley, “European Union Up in Arms over U.S. Travel Tax,”

9/28/2010)

Now, The EU Is Exploring The Possibility Of Introducing A Similar Tax For American Travelers. “Now, the EU is exploring the possibility of introducing a similar system for travellers from the US, according to the European Commission for Home Affairs. A "policy study" is currently being undertaken to investigate the feasibility of such a fee.” (Charles Hawley, “European Union Up in Arms over U.S. Travel Tax,” 9/28/2010)

Steve Lott, A Representative For The International Air Transport Association:  “It's like inviting a friend over for dinner and then charging them a fee at the door … If the idea is to make the United States more welcoming and to increase tourism, raising the entry fee seems to be counterintuitive to what you're trying to do.” (Charles Hawley, “European Union Up in Arms over U.S. Travel Tax,” 9/28/2010