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Lazy, cut-and-paste campaigns

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* The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is notorious among reporters for blasting out endless cut -and-paste e-mailed press releases with only the names changed. Here is one such clump I received one day last week…

* DCCC Launches New Advertising Linking Congressman Schilling To Paul Ryan’s Budget that Ends Medicar

* DCCC Launches New Advertising Linking Congressman Walsh To Paul Ryan’s Budget that Ends Medicare

* DCCC Launches New Advertising Linking Congressman Dold To Paul Ryan’s Budget that Ends Medicare

It got to the point earlier this year that I personally asked a DCCC media person to remove me from the list. I’ve been taken off some of them, but not all. I rarely open them any more.

* But I did open a recent e-mail when I saw this headline…

REPORT: Under Ryan Budget, Congressman Walsh Gets Better Health Care Than Illinois Seniors

I received several more of the same, exact press releases about other incumbent Republicans. From the DCCC’s statement…

According to a new Bloomberg News report today, Congressman Joe Walsh’s (IL-08) Medicare-ending Ryan budget would increase health care costs for seniors while protecting health care for Members of Congress like himself. The Ryan-Walsh budget is a “plan to revamp the health-care program for the elderly [that] wouldn’t have the safeguards against rising costs included in the coverage that lawmakers and other federal workers receive.”

“Congressman Joe Walsh will do anything to protect himself and his perks like taxpayer-funded health care, even while ending Medicare for Illinois seniors,” said Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Congressman Walsh would sell out seniors by ending Medicare and raising their health care costs but at the same time protect his own taxpayer-funded health care. For months voters have learned about Congressman Walsh’s agenda to protect millionaires instead of protecting Medicare, but now it’s clear he’s really just trying to protect himself too.”

Trouble is, Walsh has declined the congressional health insurance benefit. From January of 2011…

Rep.-elect Joe Walsh, a Republican from Illinois, will make good on a campaign promise and forgo government provided health care for himself and his wife in protest of the Obama’s health care plan — in spite of his wife’s a preexisting condition.

“I don’t want to burden the American tax payer about my health care bill,” he said on CNN Tuesday.

“Right now,” he continued, “the health care system has a real bias against folks who need to shop out there in the individual market. My wife and I now are going to have to go through the struggles that a lot of Americans go through, trying to find insurance in the individual market and having to deal with problems of preexisting conditions.”

There are plenty of things the DCCC can use against Joe Walsh. More than I can count. The guy practically has a “Kick Me” sign permanently attached to his back. I mean, just imagine the sort of cognitive dissonance required to say this…

Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh said Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s comments about rape were “idiotic” and “insulting,” but he’s questioning why fellow Republicans haven’t stood up for him.

I replied to the DCCC’s blast e-mail asking about Walsh’s refusal to take the health care benefit, but have yet to hear back. I’ll let you know what they say, if they ever reply.

* In other news…

A suburban congressional candidate improperly claimed two homeowner exemptions at once over a period of several years, a Daily Herald investigation has found.

But after the Daily Herald pointed out the error, Tammy Duckworth says she paid $1,928 in taxes she saved because of the extra exemption, plus an added $612 in penalties. […]

According to her campaign, Duckworth never applied for the Cook County homeowner exemption after moving to the Hoffman Estates property, and only began receiving the exemption after applying for a veterans tax credit.

In 2010, Duckworth was appointed to a veterans affairs cabinet post in the Obama administration and was living in Washington D.C. for part of the year. She completed a change of address form with the U.S. Postal Service, noting the Hoffman property was still her primary residence, Fahey said.

After that, Fahey said, Duckworth received a letter that the homeowner exemption was taken off the DeKalb property.

Doesn’t appear to be much there, but I’m sure it’ll be used against her, especially if this Illinois Republican Party press release is any indication…

In the wake of the Daily Herald report that 8th District Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth improperly claimed two homeowner exemptions at once over a period of several years, the Illinois Republican Party urged Duckworth to come clean to the voters and answer the following unanswered questions:

1) According to the Daily Herald, Tammy Duckworth was alerted in 2010 that she was not eligible to receive a second homestead tax exemption. Why did she wait until the Daily Herald contacted her two weeks ago to correct the supposed error?

2) Does Tammy Duckworth think it’s hypocritical that she advocates raising taxes on 8th District residents when she herself wasn’t paying the taxes she owed?

3) At a time when more than 8% of homes in Illinois are facing foreclosure, will Tammy Duckworth apologize to struggling 8th District families for gaming the system?

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 9:11 am

Comments

Well, the ILGOP should be applauded. I see no mention of “Madigan” or “Federal Investigation”.

See, Pat Brady, you can make a point without mentioning Madigan.

Good for you, Pat!

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 9:20 am
O’Willy: It’s early yet. I bet Pat will come thru with his “Madmania”.

Comment by walkinfool Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 9:27 am
Both sides get a little too carried away with their technical capabilities rather than substance.

The Democrats especially have learned the wrong lesson from their 2008 technological edge during the Obama campaign. They are like generals fighting the last war.

Comment by Cassiopeia Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 9:36 am
Both parties are ‘dumbing down’ for the electorate. “Medicare as we know it” will go broke and end, if we do nothing. Obama needs to come up with his plan for ending “medicare as we know it”, and stop bashing his opponent for having such a plan! Then let the debate over details begin.

Comment by formerpolitico Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 9:54 am
== Trouble is, Walsh has declined the congressional health insurance benefit. ==

There you go, doing that “background research” thing again!!

Comment by BCross Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 10:16 am
==Obama needs to come up with his plan for ending “medicare as we know it”, and stop bashing his opponent for having such a plan! Then let the debate over details begin. ==

Obama already cut health care expenditures by more than any POTUS ever.

When he did offer a serious plan, did the Republicans discuss the substance of the plan? Or did they formulate political attacks based on distorting the particulars of the plan?

And what about the corporate media? Did the reporters take time to read the legislation? Did they go to experts on health care policy and the economics of medicine? Or did they put Tea Party idiots ranting at their members of Congress on TV?

The Republicans have offered two different plans for dealing with Medicare. There are two truths about the plans.

1. The GOP plans for Medicare put more money in the pockets of corporations by creating a layer of bureaucracy that does not now exist in Medicare.

2. The GOP plan for controlling health care costs is to put seniors on the hook for costs beyond what the government wants to spend. Since Republicans want to create a system where government doesn’t control costs, this will result in more and more seniors not having the money to pay for health care.

Obama cut huge amounts of money that went into useless overhead. Republicans used this fact to attack Democrats for “cutting Medicare”. Now Republican partisans are whining that Obama is not having a substantive discussion of issues.

Hey, you lying GOP hacks, Go Cheney yourselves.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 10:33 am
In 2001-02 I worked in DC for an organization that had a small PAC associated with it. My boss focused on the Senate side; I focused on the House. So, I got invited to the DCCC briefings to progressive PACs.

One of the things the DCCC was particularly hostile to at that time was to run a national messaging campaign.

The DCCC was so enamored with the idea of picking off a Republican leaning district here and there, e.g. Lincoln Davis in central Tennessee, they did not want to come out clearly for anything.

It does make it sort of ironic that the DCCC holds the idea of tailoring the message to the district in such high regard when telling progressives “yeah, we’re not going to fight against Bush hard”, but the DCCC can’t be bothered to tailor it’s attacks to specific districts.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 10:40 am
–Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh said Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s comments about rape were “idiotic” and “insulting,” but he’s questioning why fellow Republicans haven’t stood up for him.–

I find Rep. Walsh refreshing. Here’s a man who willing to defend his idiotic and insulting beliefs.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 11:36 am
In all fairness it’s part of the national committees’ (DCCC/NRCC etc) job to frame nationalized issues. So of course they’ll blast out boilerplate plug-in attacks; that’s the issues they want everyone to talk about.

This is almost always not the best way to attack any SINGLE candidate. No committee or IE has the resources to customize like that. This is why individual campaigns should always shell out for their own opposition research. Yes it costs money (a very small amount relative to your total budget), but in return you get someone who can devote a lot more attention to your own specific race and the specific opponent.

On an entirely unrelated note, I’m still accepting clients for this cycle.

Comment by Will Caskey Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 12:48 pm
@Nyberg, criticizing national Republicans for failing to come up with medicare and healthcare plans is one thing. Bashing their plans is another. If the plans exist please don’t pretend they don’t.

The problem with the DCCC and other national groups of both parties is they spend most of their time running their mouths and distorting individual positions of candidates they seek to attack, without paying attention to their own inconsistencies. Thus, the lie that all Republicans in Washington, DC are bought and paid for and are members of the Tea Party persists.

You can’t have it both ways. That’s the problem with national political discourse these days.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 1:42 pm
===I find Rep. Walsh refreshing. Here’s a man who willing to defend his idiotic and insulting beliefs.===

What is the quote, “You can’t fix stupid”?

I guess you can defend lunacy??

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 2:09 pm
It is fair to both attack the GOP plan and say the GOP doesn’t have a plan.

The system of cost controls in the GOP doesn’t work. So it’s a plan the way that wishful thinking is a plan.

Both can be true. The GOP plan can contain bad ideas. And it can contain self-contradictory ideas that won’t work and obviously won’t work.

Let me know when the Republicans are willing to discuss the ACA, aka Obamacare, based on facts.

Romney is portraying the cost cutting as cuts in services. This is mendacious. But Republicans have been pretty much lying continuously since the 9/11 attacks. And the GOP apologists in the corporate media have been enabling the BS and lies. So, why would the GOP start telling the truth now.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 3:07 pm
Republicans blaming the national discourse is yet another Republican lie.

Louis G. Atsaves, there’s nothing that stops you from telling the truth. It’s just that you don’t want to do it.

So, man up, and take some responsibility for what you have to say.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 3:09 pm
@Nyberg, how can you criticize the Republican plans and then claim they have no plan? How can you claim the Republican plans won’t work and then claim they have no plan?

Maybe that’s the problem with the national political discourse? Sorry pal, you are still trying to have it both ways.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Aug 24, 12 @ 3:52 pm