Fear, Lies, and Bob's Ad

We've all seen Bob McDonnell's ad that claims Creigh Deeds will raise every family's taxes by $7,800 over four years. Sounds pretty scary, right? And that's exactly what McDonnell's big Republican Party donations are buying - fear based on falsehoods. That has been their only strategy at the national level and they're bringing it to the Commonwealth.

Factcheck.org takes a long hard look at the ad and finds it filled with distortions, which in this bird's opinion are just a nice way of saying lies. Lies McDonnell calculates will spread fear among families struggling in the tough economy.

Lie #1 - McDonnell's ad says Deeds would ad 20¢ to a gallon of gas. The truth - Deeds has not proposed a gas tax increase; he has said that if a bipartisan commission proposed revenue increases (not necessarily a gas tax) and the General Assembly concurred, he would sign the bill. Creigh explained his plan in an op-ed in the Washington Post (emphasis mine):

The day after I'm elected, I will begin assembling a bipartisan commission to craft a comprehensive transportation package....

There must be a nexus between funding and those who use our transportation system -- Virginians and those from other states. Virginia needs a bipartisan plan... All funding options are on the table except taking money from education and other obligations met by Virginia's general fund.

I will not let lawmakers go home until we pass a comprehensive transportation plan -- our economic future depends on this.

Let me be clear regarding taxes. I will sign a bill that is the product of bipartisan compromise that provides a comprehensive transportation solution.

Lie #2 - McDonnell's lies continue when he accuses Deeds of supporting federal cap and trade legislation (Bob seems intent on running against D.C. rather than facing up to Virginia issues) that would cost families $1,700 over four years. The truth - Deeds doesn't support the current federal legislation. And that $1,700 is a gross distortion designed to elicit fear.

Factcheck's bottom line: the McDonnell ad's figure of $7,800 is "mostly hot air." i.e. lies.

That's how I sum up Bob's entire campaign - hot air distorting Creigh Deeds' record while blowing smoke to obscure his own rightwingpatrobertsontalibanbob past. If McDonnell can't talk straight to Virginians now, could we trust him to do so as governor?