Majority PAC – Virginia
“Only One”
6/18/12
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SCRIPT Narrator: Only one candidate for Senate actually served in Congress…and look what George Allen did to Virginia while he was there. |
BACKUP |
| Narrator: He turned the largest budget surplus into a massive federal deficit. | In 2000, The Congressional Budget Office Projected The “Largest Federal Budget Surplus Ever.” According to the Atlanta Constitution Journal, “For the current fiscal year, which began last October, the government is on track to run a surplus of about $ 23 billion — again, not including Social Security and the Postal Service — according to projections last month by the Congressional Budget Office. That would be the largest federal budget surplus ever, measured in dollars, and the largest in 49 years as a percentage of the country’s economic output.” [Atlanta Constitution Journal, 2/6/00]PolitiFact: Allen Voted For Roughly Four Dozen Appropriations Bills During His Term, Leading To A Debt Increase Of $3.202 Trillion. According to PolitiFact, “Under the budgets approved during Allen’s term, debt climbed by $3.202 trillion. Congress sets budgets through a series of appropriations bills, and Allen supported all of the roughly four dozen bills to hit the Senate floor during his term… Radtke said debt increased by $3 trillion during Allen’s Senate term, a figure equal to $16,000 per second. The actual figures were $3.202 trillion, or $16,896.68 per second.” [PolitiFact, 4/15/11]
Allen Voted For “Record-Busting Spending Bills That Produced Record Deficits Exceeding $400 Billion Due To Tax Cuts and Prescription Drug Benefit. According to the Newport News Daily Press, “Even as he backed President Bush’s $1.7 trillion tax-cut initiative, they note, Allen has voted for record-busting spending bills that have helped produce record federal budget deficits exceeding $400 billion…But Allen has voted for large increases in domestic spending as well. In 2003, two years after passage of a $1.3 trillion tax-cut package, Allen voted for a new and costly federal entitlement: a prescription drug benefit under Medicare, with an initial estimated 10-year cost of $400 billion. The White House has since revised the estimate to more than $500 billion. And just this year, Allen voted for a federal highway bill that is estimated to cost $318 billion over six years — a 50 percent increase in spending over the last long-term highway authorization, approved in 1998, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget. The Bush administration is pushing for a smaller highway package of $256 billion.” [Newport News Daily Press, 5/10/04]
2006: Allen Left The Senate With The Federal Government Facing “One Of The Largest Red-Ink Displays In U.S. Budget History.” According to the Chicago Tribune, the federal deficit was $247.7 billion for the fiscal year that ended in September of 2006, “one of the largest red-ink displays in U.S. budget history.” [Chicago Tribune, 10/12/06] |
| Narrator: Voted to weaken Medicare. | In 2005, Allen Was The Deciding Vote Against A Measure To Protect Medicare Beneficiaries From Paying Higher Premiums. According to the Palm Beach Post, “Senate Democrats called Wednesday for a measure to protect Medicare beneficiaries from paying higher premiums in 2007 if Congress increases payments to doctors next year… As part of the budget bill, the Senate appears poised to approve a 1 percent increase in Medicare doctor payments instead of a 4.3 percent across-the-board reduction that had been scheduled. Because Medicare premiums are based on 25 percent of Medicare’s spending for doctors and related services, the fee increase for physicians would have resulted in higher premiums in 2007. Nelson’s bill would eliminate the physician increase from premium calculations for 2007.” Allen voted against the measure and it failed by one vote. [Vote 287, 11/3/05, Failed 49-50; Palm Beach Post, 11/3/05]2001: Allen Voted To Block Measure To Protect The Medicare Trust Fund From Being Used To Fund The Bush Tax Cuts. According to text entered into the Congressional Record, Senator Stabenow said, “Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in this motion to recommit and to join with Senator Bob Graham, who has been such a leader in protecting Medicare, and my colleague from Minnesota, Senator Dayton, who has been such a champion on Medicare and prescription drugs. This is a very simple, straightforward motion. No. 1, it says we will not use the Medicare Part A trust funds in order to pay for this tax cut. We have seen in the numbers from the final conference committee on the budget that every single year Medicare trust funds are used for this tax cut. This says no to that practice. It puts into place a 60-vote point of order in the future for any other attempts to use the Medicare trust fund.” Allen voted to block consideration of the procedural motion. [Vote 160, 5/23/01; Congressional Record, 5/23/11]
2001: Allen Chose Tax Cuts For The Wealthy Over The Long-Term Solvency Of Both Social Security And Medicare. In 2001, Allen voted to block consideration of an “amendment that would delay the effective date of the tax rate reductions in the highest rate bracket until the enactment of legislation that would provide for long-term solvency of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds.” The amendment fell 45-54 [Vote 137, 5/22/01; Congressional Quarterly, 5/22/01] |
| Narrator: And gave tax breaks to companies who shipped our jobs overseas. | Allen Voted To Protect Low Tax Rate For US Companies That Used Offshore Plants “As Export Platforms To The United States.” According to National Journal, “Also up for votes by this afternoon are an amendment from Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., to strike tax breaks in the FSC/ETI bill for multinational companies and use the proceeds for a payroll tax cut, and a proposal from Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., to require the taxation of overseas income of multinational companies that use offshore plants as export platforms to the United States.” The amendment would require those companies to pay federal income taxes on foreign factories when goods are reimported back into the United States. Employers also would be required to notify employees and the Labor Department when jobs will be moved offshore, including the number of jobs affected, the relocation destination of those jobs and the reason for the relocation. Allen voted to kill the amendment. [S 1637, Vote 83, 5/5/04, Motion to Table Passed 60-39; National Journal, 5/5/04]
Allen Voted For A Steep Tax Cut On Income Earned Overseas. On May 15, 2003, Allen voted for an overseas tax provision, which would allow companies to repatriate earnings from overseas at a tax rate of 5.25 percent, instead of the regular U.S. corporate tax rate of 35 percent. Proponents said the cut, which would apply only this year, could bring as much as $135 billion back to the United States that could be used for investment to jump-start the ailing economy. However, many economists said the plan was simply charity for tech and other firms and would not necessarily stimulate the economy. They argued that companies continually move funds between the United States and their overseas divisions, and make investment decisions based on many factors beyond the cost of moving that money around. The amendment, which was sponsored by Sen. John Ensign, passed, by a vote of 75-25. [Vote 165, 3/15/03, Passed, 75-25; Washington Post, 5/16/03]
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| Narrator:But Tim Kaine?He made Virginia “the best state for business” four years in a row. | 2009: Forbes Ranked Virginia As The “Best State For Business” Four Years In A Row. According to the Virginian-Pilot, “Forbes.com has ranked Virginia the ‘best state for business’ for the fourth consecutive year, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s office said Wednesday . Though the state’s economy has ‘deteriorated,’ Forbes.com said, ‘Virginia is booming’ compared with the rest of the country. ‘The state government’s finances are in good shape,’ despite the recession, Forbes said.” [Virginian-Pilot, 9/24/09] |
| Narrator: Cut five billion dollars in spending. | Associated Press: “Kaine And The General Assembly Cut Nearly $6 Billion.” According to the Associated Press, “The first independent expenditure attack ad of Virginia’s 2012 Senate race debuts Thursday attacking Democrat Tim Kaine’s 2012 Senate bid… The ad portrays the former governor and Democratic National Committee chairman as a cheerleader for President Barack Obama’s stimulus spending. It erroneously claims Virginia ran ‘a big deficit.’ While the recession depleted revenues, Kaine and the General Assembly cut nearly $6 billion and never finished a fiscal year with insufficient funds, something Virginia’s constitution forbids.” [Associated Press, via WBOC16, 11/10/11] |
| Narrator: And kept Virginia’s unemployment below the national average. | In January 2010, The National Unemployment Rate Was 9.7 Percent While Virginia’s Unemployment Rate Was 7.3 Percent. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in January of 2010. That same month the unemployment rate in Virginia was over two percent lower, at 7.3%, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6/14/12; Virginia Employment Commission, 3/30/12]
In January 2009, The National Unemployment Rate Was 7.8 Percent While Virginia’s Unemployment Rate Was 5.8 Percent. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in January of 2009. That same month the unemployment rate in Virginia was two percent lower, at 5.8%, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6/14/12; Virginia Employment Commission, 3/30/12]
According To Data From The Bureau Of Labor Statistics, The 2008 National Unemployment Rate Was 5.8 Percent While Virginia’s 2008 Unemployment Rate Was 4.0 Percent. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2008 national unemployment rate was 5.8 percent while Virginia’s 2008 unemployment rate was 4.0 percent. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed 6/14/12]
According To Data From The Bureau Of Labor Statistics, The 2007 National Unemployment Rate Was 4.6 Percent While Virginia’s 2007 Unemployment Rate Was 3.1 Percent. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2007 national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent while Virginia’s 2007 unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed 6/14/12]
According To Data From The Bureau Of Labor Statistics, The 2006 National Unemployment Rate Was 4.6 Percent While Virginia’s 2006 Unemployment Rate Was 3.0 Percent. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2006 national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent while Virginia’s 2006 unemployment rate was 3.0 percent. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed 6/14/12] |
