FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Brian Baluta, [email protected]

LAS VEGAS — Harry Reid and his shady Senate Majority PAC have once again shown they will spare no expense to carry Reid’s flawed, hand-picked candidate Catherine Cortez Masto across the finish line – this week announcing $450,000 for TV ads in Las Vegas and Reno to attack Iraq veteran, Army Reserve brigadier general, and Republican for U.S. Senate, Dr. Joe Heck.

“Harry Reid and his shady super PAC have to resort to these tactics to compensate for their flawed candidate who has no real accomplishments and has based her campaign on a mortgage settlement she herself has repeatedly denied negotiating,” said Heck spokesperson Brian Baluta. “Joe Heck knows what it’s like to suffer the stress of losing a home because when his father was shot in a robbery and unable to work, his family almost lost theirs. That’s why Joe Heck has helped countless Nevada families threatened by foreclosure.”

Joe Heck’s real record helping Nevadans hurt by the mortgage crisis

To better assist his Congressional district, which was hardest hit in the country by the mortgage crisis, Heck made the innovative move of hiring an experienced realtor for his district office to handle hundreds of housing cases. And he brought a Congressional field hearing of the House Financial Services Committee to Las Vegas to help find solutions for those hurt by the crisis.

Las Vegas Review-Journal, 3/15/12: Foreclosed properties scrutinized at Las Vegas hearing

• U.S. Rep. Joe Heck’s congressional office recently helped a senior couple refinance their mortgage. Working with their bank, the pair got a 30-year, fixed-rate loan that dropped their monthly payments from more than $900 to $500, he said Thursday.

“Five-hundred dollars for a senior couple on a fixed income is huge,” said Heck, R-Nev. “My question for the banks is, ‘Why is it so difficult to do this?’ You’ll do it if we call you. Why won’t you do it when the consumer calls you?”

Heck’s office has been helping hundreds of Nevadans renegotiate loans to get their monthly mortgage payments down as the state leads the nation for the fifth year in home foreclosures. But the freshman congressman said most homeowners still aren’t getting cooperation from banks.

Looking for more private sector solutions, Heck on Thursday brought a congressional hearing to Las Vegas to explore ways to prevent more homeowners from defaulting and losing their houses.

The House Financial Services Committee held the field hearing at Heck’s request. He represents the 3rd Congressional District, which has the most severe foreclosure problems in Nevada.

Heck also introduced legislation and was instrumental in pushing House leadership to address the mortgage debt forgiveness issue. The two-year extension he helped achieve at the end of last year assures Nevada families who are underwater on their mortgages, trying to refinance or sell short will not be hit with an unfair tax bill on income they will never receive.

In order to further stabilize the housing market, Heck cosponsored the First Time Homeowner Savings Plan Act, which would increase the maximum amount that may be withdrawn, without penalty, from a qualified retirement account to alleviate some of the burdens shutting many first time buyers out of the real estate market, and to provide individuals and young families with a greater opportunity to become homeowners.

Cortez Masto claims on mortgage settlement refuted by Cortez Masto

The false attacks on Heck are an attempt to distract from Cortez Masto’s embellishment of her shoddy record on the mortgage crisis. She brags about securing $1.9 billion from banks on behalf of Nevada homeowners as part of the National Mortgage Settlement in her stump speeches and campaign ads. However, her own words contradict that claim. The settlement was announced February 9, 2012. Following that announcement, then Nevada Attorney General Cortez Masto gave a series of interviews where she repeatedly emphasized she did not help broker the settlement.

• Cortez Masto revealed she did not help negotiate the settlement, which was “already baked by the time we got it.” Masto: “Let me just say, I didn’t help broker this [settlement]. The only thing I brokered was the Bank of America piece of it. The other part of the global settlement, cake was already baked by the time we got it to make a decision whether we were going to sign on or not. I wasn’t part of that.” (KRNV, Catherine Cortez Masto Interview, February 18, 2012, 4:48 Remaining Mark)

• Cortez Masto claimed she tried to get involved in yearlong settlement negotiations but “was not allowed to participate.”Q: “You were not part of the year-long [settlement] negotiation. Madame Attorney General, no state has been hit harder by the foreclosure crisis. There may have been no state that has had more bad behavior by some of the actors in this than Nevada. And, yet, you’re not in the middle of the negotiations. Explain to people watching how that cannot be?” Masto: “Not for a lack of trying. There’s a multi-state process that occurs. And, in this case, there were some lead states that made the decisions who would be part of this executive committee and who would not. I had asked to be a part of it, and was not allowed to participate.” (KRNV, Catherine Cortez Masto Interview, February 22, 2012, 17:30 Remaining Mark)

• And she could not answer why negotiators signed off on the settlement because she was not part of the process.Q: “So why did everybody sign off on this [settlement]? Masto: “I can’t answer that. I was not part of the negotiating team.” (Nevada Newsmakers, April 4, 2012, 4:40 Mark)

Why was Cortez Masto so adamant about denying involvement in the mortgage settlement then?

Because the mortgage settlement Cortez Masto is now touting was panned by Nevada media – and Cortez Masto herself.

• Las Vegas Business Presseditors: “A drop in the proverbial bucket,” “not a great deal for Nevada and Nevada homeowners.” So Nevadans who have been harmed by foreclosure abuse such as “robo-signing” can expect checks of $1,500 to $2,000. And Nevada underwater borrowers, which constitute a majority, are going to split $42 million? Does this now seem like a drop in the proverbial bucket? Well, yes. Will it conclude the foreclosure crisis and soothe all wounds? Well, no. Will someone who was robo-signed into a home now worth less than what they paid for it be mollified with a check for $2,000? Nope. And if 400,000 homeowners statewide who are underwater statewide split $42 million - $105 each - will they now feel better about their housing situation? Not a chance… But now the deal is done. Homeowners, the officeholders who negotiated the deal and the politicians who proudly proclaimed it, need to accept it. It is not a great deal for Nevada and Nevada homeowners. But it’s time to move on. (Las Vegas Business Press, editorial, February 20, 2012)

• More from the Las Vegas Business Press:“Good for the banks.” So why is this deal good for banks? It puts the issue behind them. And it shields the financial institutions involved - Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Citibank and Ally Financial - from some lawsuits that are the result of the mortgage meltdown. It also benefits banks by soothing investor anxiety and putting a final number on penalties they’ll have to pay to the federal government and 49 states. (Las Vegas Business Press, February 20, 2012)

• Las Vegas Review-Journaleditors argued the settlement did nothing to advance economic recovery or the housing market, threatened to make mortgages more costly, and failed to address sub-prime lending. Does the $25 billion agreement hit the banks where it hurts? Absolutely. Will it do anything to speed an economic recovery, strengthen the housing market and put Americans back to work? No, no and no. If anything, it might prolong our misery by making mortgages more expensive and further dragging out an already interminable foreclosure process. The settlement, which would be the largest shakedown of a single industry since tobacco companies emptied their bank accounts 14 years ago, is purportedly for deceptive foreclosure practices that forced people from their homes. [The fact that they had stopped paying their mortgages apparently had nothing to do with those evictions]. But the deal has very little nexus between wrongdoing and remedy. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, Editorial, January 25, 2012)

• Cortez Masto conceded the settlement was not worth much to struggling Nevada homeowners.Q: “So, for homeowners who have been through the ringer on this whole foreclosure crisis, is this settlement worth it?” Masto: “If you look at it from that perspective, no. And keep in mind, when this settlement came to Nevada - for a lack of a better word - the cake was already baked. I mean all the terms were already set into it.” (KRNV, Catherine Cortez Masto Interview, February 17, 2012, 8:30 Remaining Mark)

Harry Reid Super PAC, super hypocritical

Senate Majority PAC’s treasurer and co-chair is Rebecca Lambe, a top political strategist for Harry Reid. The other co-chair is Susan McCue, Reid’s former chief of staff. For years, their boss Reid has railed on his favorite boogeymen, Charles and David Koch, but he has no problem taking millions from liberal billionaires.

Among the largest contributors to the Senate Majority PAC are billionaire hedge-fund manager James Simons and San Francisco billionaire and climate-change activist Tom Steyer, who was for coal before he was against it.

Politico, 9/24/14: Dems relying on big donors to win

• Among the groups reporting the biggest political ad spending, the 15 top Democrat-aligned committees have outraised the 15 top Republican ones $453 million to $289 million in the 2014 cycle, according to a POLITICO analysis of the most recent Federal Election Commission reports, including those filed over the weekend — which cover through the end of last month.

The analysis shows the fundraising edge widening in August, when the Democratic groups pulled in more than twice as much as their GOP counterparts — $51 million to $21 million. That’s thanks to a spike in massive checks from increasingly energized labor unions and liberal billionaires like Tom Steyer and Fred Eychaner.

Joe Heck, the real bipartisan problem solver in this race

Joe Heck has been rated by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University as one of the most bipartisan Members of Congress. That’s because he identifies problems faced by Nevadans, finds Democratic colleagues whose districts face the same challenges, and together they craft legislation that can get passed by the House and Senate and signed into law. His bills signed into law include:

• His Three Kids Mine Act allows for clean-up and redevelopment of a toxic mine site at no cost to taxpayers. It is expected to create as many as 3,000 new jobs.

• Heck’s Hoover Power Allocation Act protects and ensures Nevada’s access to stable, low cost and clean hydro power until 2067.

• His Stolen Valor Act protects the honor of military awards, and the men and women who earn them, by making it a crime to knowingly benefit from misrepresenting the receipt of certain military medals.

• Heck’s Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act provides increased support to runaway and homeless youth who are victims of human trafficking.

Other Heck bills that enjoy wide bipartisan support include:

• His Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act passed the U.S. House and would help reduce veteran homelessness.

• Heck’s Jobs Originated through Launching Travel or J.O.L.T. Act, which earned broad bipartisan support, would create an estimated 1.2 million jobs nationwide and add as much as $860 billion to our economy.

• His Creating Access to Residency Education or CARE Act would establish a $25 million grant program so states like Nevada can attract more medical residents.

Cortez Masto puts partisan politics first

While Joe Heck works in a true bipartisan approach to help Nevada’s families, Catherine Cortez Masto was picked by Harry Reid because she was one of the most partisan AGs in Nevada history, indicting popular Republican Lieutenant Governor and potential Reid-challenger Brian Krolicki on bogus charges and letting Democrat Assemblyman Moose Arberry off on felony charges with a slap on the wrist.

Las Vegas Sun, 10/23/11: “Arberry case reinforces double standards”

• As one Democrat — yes, Democrat — said of the Arberry deal made for a Democrat by a Democrat: “Horrific. Embarrassing for all of us.”

The perception is even worse for an attorney general who indicted a GOP lieutenant governor (Brian Krolicki) for financial mismanagement but never alleged he enriched himself — as Arberry did — before the case fell apart. Many will argue Cortez Masto was willing to go to the wall for a lesser offense against a Republican while letting an outrageous crime by a Democrat go virtually unpunished. (Arberry, claiming destitution, has a $100-a-month restitution requirement, which means he has to pay it off before his 175th birthday.)

“Catherine Cortez Masto needs to rely on Harry Reid’s money and a campaign built on false attacks because she has no record of her own on which to run. The policies she does support, like the Unaffordable Care Act and President’s horrible deal with Iran are disasters for Nevada’s families,” said Baluta. “We fully expect her to continue this strategy as her campaign seeks to hide her from the media.”

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