#NVSen: Harry Reid Front Group Keeps Pushing False Attacks on Taxes, Medicare

New Ad Attacks Dean Heller for Voting to Protect 6,000 Jobs

(Las Vegas, NV) – Harry Reid’s front group Patriot Majority is out with another round of false attacks, this time making inaccurate statements about Dean Heller’s record on taxes in addition to the usual attempts to scare seniors about their Medicare. While Dean Heller voted to protect 6,000 Nevada jobs, Shelley Berkley has consistently fought to raise taxes and destroy American businesses.

“With nearly 164,000 Nevadans unemployed, seven-term Congresswoman Shelley Berkley voted for tax hikes that could cost 6,000 Nevada jobs, raise taxes on Nevada’s small business owners in a recession, and supported $500 billion in cuts for Medicare.  And Shelley Berkley claims she is looking out for the middle class?

“So far, Congresswoman Berkley has based her entire campaign on false attacks and the ‘Lie of the Year’ in a sad and desperate attempt to distract from her failed policies,” said Chandler Smith, Heller for Senate spokeswoman.

Dean Heller voted against tax hikes that would have a devastating effect on Nevada’s and the nation’s economy:

·         Dean Heller has never voted to raise taxes on the middle-class.

·         Shelley Berkley and her Democratic allies are urging Congress to pass tax hikes at a time when nearly 164,000 Nevadans are unemployed.

·         Meanwhile, Dean Heller voted against a tax hike that could destroy 6,000 jobs in Nevada and as many as 710,000 jobs nationwide. (S. 3412, July 25, 2012; Robert Carroll and Gerald Prante, “Long-Run Macroeconomic Impact of Increasing Tax Rates on High-Income Taxpayers in 2013,” Ernst & Young, July 2012, Appendix C;)

·         And according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 940,000 small businesses would get hit by Democrats’ latest tax hike. “So the 2013 tax cliff is a big enough economic problem that President Obama now wants to postpone it for some taxpayers. But it isn’t so big that he’s willing to curb his desire to raise taxes on tens of thousands of job-creating businesses.” (Editorial, “Off the Tax Cliff He Goes,” The Wall Street Journal, 7/12/2012)

Shelley Berkley is the candidate in this race who voted to cut $500 billion out of the Medicare program – and that became law.

• Shelley Berkley also created a panel of 15 unelected bureaucrats that have the power to deny health care for seniors. (House Vote 165 – HR 3590, HR3590, March 21, 2010)

·         ObamaCare puts Medicare Advantage benefits at risk, including for 110,000 Nevadans: “Seniors in a number of states risk losing their Medicare Advantage benefits because of cuts in President Obama’s healthcare reform law, according to a new report from Avalere. The law contains about $200 billion in direct and indirect cuts to private Medicare plans through 2017.” (Julian Pecquet, “Report: Healthcare law cuts put Medicare Advantage benefits at risk in some states,” The Hill’s Healthwatch Blog, 3/12/12)

·         Shelley Berkley voted for a 2% cut from the Medicare program which would restrict seniors’ access to care: Sequestration as a result of the Budget Control Act would require Medicare cuts of up to $11 billion a year (about $140 billion over ten years) if deficit reduction targets are not reached (RC #123, 112th Congress, 1st Session).

• In fact, Dean Heller has repeatedly voted to preserve the Medicare program, voting against $1.6 trillion in proposed Medicare cuts. (RC #787, 110th 1st Session; RC #165, 111th Congress, 2nd Session; RC #123, 112th Congress, 1st Session).