The Truth About Jerry
"The sad reality about the political commercials now crowding California's airwaves is that they are, de facto, not subject to the same truth in advertising rules that govern ads for, say, cars or computers, laser eye treatments, weight loss programs or plastic surgery.
Candidates can say whatever they want, sometimes totally contradicting facts and suddenly taking positions 180 degrees different from their past stances, usually called a flip-flop.
They hope voters won't notice the lies and punish the liars. And even though political ads are covered by the same laws as other paid messages, campaigns are so short the damage is almost always done before anyone can protest, let alone see a lawsuit through the lugubrious legal process.
With more money than ever spent on political ads whose purpose often is to paper over candidates' awkward situations, lies or past statements, it's vital to track what's true or false in both campaign commercials and candidate statements." - Thomas D. Elias, freelance columnist
"It's unlikely the state will ever have a more scrupulously honest governor." - Gerald C. Lubennow and Martin Kastndorf
Here we debunk the false ads and provide the truth about Jerry Brown
Jon Coupal Abandons Jarvis Legacy, Distorts Brown's Record in New Whitman Radio Ad
OAKLAND - Ignoring the fact that Howard Jarvis voted for Jerry Brown the year Proposition 13 became law in California, billionaire Meg Whitman released a new radio ad today, enlisting the current president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to distort Attorney General Jerry Brown's record on Proposition 13.
This ad follows the release of five false and misleading television attack ads in just one week by the Whitman Campaign.
"Jerry Brown so faithfully implemented Proposition 13 that Howard Jarvis cut an ad for him, voted for him, and called him the ‘governor to make it work,'" said Brown for Governor Spokesman Sterling Clifford. "Jerry Brown has been crystal clear about his position on taxes from the start: there will be no new taxes in California unless the people vote for them."
(More...)
Whitman Doubles Down on Distortion with Second Attack Ad Today
OAKLAND - With one false attack ad already under her belt today, Meg Whitman's flailing campaign doubled down with a second misleading ad - the fourth in six days - this time distorting Attorney General and Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jerry Brown's record on education reform.
"For months, Meg Whitman has lobbed false attacks at Jerry Brown - on crime, pension reform, campaign finance, taxes, spending and jobs - so it's no surprise that she's now turned to education as her attack du jour," said Brown for Governor Campaign Spokesman Sterling Clifford. "Meg Whitman's willingness to imply that a man who founded two charter schools in the heart of Oakland, now opposes these schools, says more about her relationship with the truth and her campaign's desperation, than it does Jerry Brown's record."
(More...)
Brown Campaign Responds to Whitman's Third Attack Ad in Six Days
OAKLAND - Trailing in the polls, out of ideas and desperate for something to stick, Meg Whitman unleashed her third false attack ad in just six days today against Attorney General and Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jerry Brown, repeating the same hollow attacks that have come to define the billionaire's dishonest and misleading campaign.
"It's rich that a candidate who carved out a special exemption in her pension plan to win a union's endorsement is attacking Jerry Brown for being beholden to special interests," said Brown for Governor Spokesman Sterling Clifford. "This is the same candidate who has pocketed millions from big bank and corporate executives, while promising them a multi-billion dollar capital gains tax break."
(More...)
Brown Campaign Responds To Whitman's Latest Whopper
OAKLAND - Meg Whitman attacked Jerry Brown in a new TV ad today, the ninth attack ad she has launched since the start of the general election. The ad recycles five false claims about Jerry Brown from previous ads.
"Under fire and out of ideas, Meg Whitman has fallen back to where she started - with an attack on Jerry Brown," said Brown Campaign spokesman Sterling Clifford. "By now, we all know the facts - taxes went down under Jerry Brown, and he is committed to no new taxes without voter approval."
(More...)
Meg's Latest Attack
The Brown for Governor Campaign today fired back at Meg Whitman's latest false attack against Attorney General Jerry Brown's record.
"This is just more of the same from Meg Whitman. The kind of nasty and cynical attacks that are the foundation of voter disgust with today's politics," said Brown Campaign Spokesman Sterling Clifford. "She can continue to slash at Jerry Brown's record with her fiction. We will continue to respond with the facts."
Instead of Meg Whitman's campaign fiction, get the facts.
(More...)
Whitman Attacks! (Part VI)
Oakland - Determined to answer the question "how many times can you tell the same lies?" Meg Whitman released her sixth attack against Jerry Brown, but offered no new information to voters - just the same sad lies she's told all summer.
What is Jerry Brown's record on job creation? We all know the answer - 1.9 million new jobs - a better record on job creation than any governor since.
And how about taxes? Under Brown's leadership, Californians received $16 billion in tax relief in addition to Proposition 13. And who did Prop. 13 author Howard Jarvis vote for that year? Jerry Brown, of course.
And now, in 2010, Brown has committed to no new taxes unless the people vote for them.
Whitman's Latest Radio Ad Repeats Oldest Falsehoods
Oakland - Meg Whitman's campaign for governor released yet another radio attack ad. The ad repeats a host of discredited attacks on Jerry Brown, and falsely credits Brown with ads his campaign has not released.
"Another day, another lie from the Whitman campaign," said Brown spokesman Sterling Clifford. "Meg Whitman has run more than 100,000 negative ads in what is far and away the most negative campaign in California history.
"Sacramento is mired in petty politics-as-usual, and Meg Whitman's answer is is to sling mud faster and farther. California needs real leadership, not more empty promises, partisan attacks and consultant-driven platitudes."
Facts Don't Line Up With Joel Fox's Attack Ads
By Sterling Clifford
Joel Fox essentially takes the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination in explaining why he will not disclose the donors to his TV ‘issue' ad fusillade against Jerry Brown. Under the auspices of the "Small" Business Action Committee (SBAC), Fox, his right wing partner James Lacy, and their secret financial backers, are using $1.6 million worth of false ads to pummel a foe Fox brands a job killer, taxer, spender, debtor, and all around bad guy.
Let's start with some basic facts:
Bell residents slam Whitman for trying to link their city's woes to Brown
By Seema Mehta - Los Angeles Times
Bell residents blasted Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman for equating the salary and pension fiasco unfolding in their city with what occurred in Oakland when Democratic rival Jerry Brown was that city's mayor.
"We have a simple message for Meg Whitman. Don't take the suffering of Bell residents and use it for political purposes. Cease and desist!" said Denise Rodarte, a representative of the Bell Assn. to Stop the Abuse.
New Meg Whitman Ad Continues Her Misleading Dishonest Campaign Against Jerry Brown
Oakland - In her newest radio ad, as part of her $170 million campaign, Meg Whitman continues to stretch, contort, and warp the truth. The ad attempts to connect Jerry Brown to the scandal ravaging the City of Bell, California, where unscrupulous city officials have bilked taxpayers out of millions of dollars.
Whitman attacks the pay of firefighters, dedicated city employees, who received increased overtime pay to make up for an earlier accounting error. Of course, this is context that Whitman doesn't bother with.
Throughout California and the nation, independent media outlets and fact-checkers have decried Whitman's ads as false, misleading, and devoid of the truth. This latest ad is just another in her dishonest campaign to November.
Campaign Check: Lies and Half-Truths Outed
By Joe Garofoli and Carla Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle
In an appearance last week on "Good Morning America," GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman touted her targeted tax cuts for employers and plans to streamline regulations to help keep businesses in California. She called for eliminating the factory tax, which she said "taxes manufacturers on the equipment they buy to manufacture in California." As an example of job flight, she said, "We cannot letNorthrop Grumman leave California."
Here's why company officials say Grumman left California for Virginia. "As a global security company with a large customer base in the Washington, D.C. region, this move will enable us to better serve our nation and customers," said Wes Bush, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman. While 300 people from its corporate offices moved, the company employs 30,000 people in California.
New Attack, Same Story: Meg Whitman Repeats Old Lies With New Pictures
Oakland - Republican Meg Whitman released the latest in her "Lie About Jerry Brown" TV campaign today, repeating claims that have been proven false by journalists and non-partisans like factcheck.org.
"Meg Whitman has refused to tell the truth about Jerry Brown from the very beginning," said Brown Campaign Manager Steven Glazer. "From lies about assaulting an employee at eBay to false claims about how long she's lived in California to false statements about Jerry Brown, Whitman seems incapable of telling the truth."
Whitman's latest ad repeats the false claims that Jerry Brown raised taxes, that California lost jobs or that state employees gained excessive benefits. Whitman's ad offers no specifics and no support for those claims.
FactCheck.org finds Meg Whitman's attack ad "Fails to tell the truth"
By D'Angelo Gore and Kelsey Ferguson
Republican Meg Whitman is making false claims about Democrat Jerry Brown's "lifetime in politics" in an attack ad. The two are battling to become the next governor of California.
The ad claims that "crime soared" while Brown was mayor of Oakland. That's false. The total number of crimes actually went down by more than 13 percent.
Also false is the ad's claim that Brown "damaged the school system so badly the state had to take it over." As mayor, Brown had almost no control over the school district, which was run instead by an elected school board.