A New York Times' editorial takes issue with a television ad that targets U.S. Rep. Gary Peters.
The ad is one of many nationwide that are sponsored by Americans for Propserity, the conservative advocacy group organized by the Koch brothers, the billionaire industrialists. The Times says the ads "take aim at House and Senate candidates for re-election who have supported the health law, and blame them for the hyped-up problems with the law’s rollout that now seem to be the sole plank in this year’s Republican platform."
Peters, a Democrat who is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Carl Levin, who is retiring, now represents Michigan's oddly shaped 14th District, which twists and turns from Southwest Detroit to Grosse Pointe Woods to Oakland County.
The Times says the ad is "full of distortions and lies:"
It accuses Mr. Peters of lying when he said the law bars cancellations of insurance policies. Mr. Peters happened to be right, as millions of people who once faced losing all insurance after they got sick now appreciate. The 225,000 Michigan residents who the ad said received “cancellation notices” were actually told that they could change to a better policy; they were not told they could no longer have insurance, as the ad implies. And though the ad said health care costs are “skyrocketing,” national spending on health care is now growing at the slowest pace ever recorded, in part because of the reform law.
The $20 million ad blitz nationally has harmed Democrats, the paper reports, who do not have the funds to strike back.
