New Web Ad: The Extreme Hypocrisy of Angle’s New DC Handlers vs. the Real Sharron Angle
Angle’s extreme agenda would be bad for jobs, make current housing downturn even worse for all Nevadans
LAS VEGAS – As Sharron Angle’s new DC handlers double down on their worn-out, thoroughly-debunked economic attacks – attacks a non-partisan economist said could only be made by an “economic illiterate” – their real motivation becomes abundantly clearer by the moment: do or say anything to divert attention from Sharron Angle’s extreme and dangerous agenda for Nevada.
The reality is simple: Sharron Angle would be devastating for NV jobs and Angle would make our current housing crisis even worse.
Angle’s latest spot is narrated by a candidate who has repeatedly stated that, as a US Senator, it’s not her job to fight for jobs here in Nevada. Even more hypocritically, Sharron Angle has an abysmal record in the state legislature on housing issues, voting repeatedly against tougher regulation of the mortgage industry and their lending practices.
***Watch the new web ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90PzLbyo-sg
Angle has also unequivocally opposed the Wall Street reforms Sen. Reid led the fight to pass – reforms that will prevent the abuses that plunged our real estate market into crisis and are responsible for the dire foreclosure situation we face today. And she opposed the $130 million dollars in homeowner relief Sen. Reid delivered for struggling Nevadans via the economic stimulus.
“These thoroughly-debunked attacks by Sharron Angle’s new DC handlers – simply rooting for bad economic news to take political cheap shots – belies the abysmal record of Sharron Angle on fighting for Nevada jobs and allowing abusive mortgage lenders to operate with impunity,” said Reid spokesman Kelly Steele. “Once again, Sharron Angle’s very own words show the rank hypocrisy of her latest false and misleading attacks, given that her extreme and dangerous agenda would make our current economic and housing situation even worse than it is today.”
ANGLE’S THOROUGHLY-DEBUNKED ECONOMIC ATTACKS
FACT: SHARRON ANGLE AND HER SUPPORTERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN TAKEN TO TASK FOR THEIR RIDICULOUS ATTEMPTS TO BLAME NEVADA’S ECONOMIC WOES ON SEN. REID
RGJ Fact Checker: “You Can't Pin State's Job Losses On Reid.” In June 2010, the Reno Gazette-Journal Fact Checker reported, “It's easy -- and can be fun -- to blame one person. But it doesn't seem to be true regarding Nevada's unemployment rate, even partly. I've contacted Angle's campaign multiple times without response. I've searched conservative sites to find details on specific things Reid did to cost Nevada jobs. All I found was rhetoric -- or claims Reid used his power too much to benefit Nevada … Reid potentially could have done more, and I hold out the possibility someone will turn up concrete examples that he did less or did demonstrably harmful things. Until then, it appears untrue that Nevada's record unemployment can be laid at Reid's feet.” [Reno Gazette-Journal, 6/27/10]
FactCheck.org Has Already Called Out Angle For Making “Questionable” Claims On Foreclosures And Unemployment. In July 2010, FactCheck.org analyzed one of Angle’s ads writing, “Things could definitely be better in the Silver State, to be sure. But Angle’s ad attempts to attribute all these woes to Reid personally; Angle repeatedly says ‘he’s done’ these things. That’s questionable, to put it mildly. Many analysts attribute Nevada’s high unemployment rate to the recession, compounded by the fact that so many of the state’s jobs have been in the leisure and hospitality sector, which is dependent on discretionary spending by Americans who have been doing less of that lately, and construction, which is off nationwide. Bankruptcies and foreclosures go hand-in-hand with high unemployment.” [FactCheck.org 7/26/10]
FactCheck.org Called Angle’s Ad Blaming Reid For Dropping Home Prices “A Real Stretch.” In August 2010, FactCheck.org analyzed Angle’s ad attacking Reid on the housing crisis, saying, “GOP candidate Sharron Angle’s latest ad blames rival Sen. Harry Reid for Nevada’s dramatic decline in home value. That’s a real stretch. Angle gets the numbers right, but doesn’t show that Reid is responsible. In fact, the housing bubble was already starting to deflate by the time Reid became Democratic leader of the Senate. The ad is another dubious attempt by the Republican tea party enthusiast to pin responsibility for Nevada’s economic woes on the incumbent.” [FactCheck.org, 8/5/10]
KOLO Called Angle’s Claim That Reid Was Responsible For Dropping Home Prices “False;” Economist Said Only An “Economic Illiterate” Would Link Reid’s Position As Majority Leader With The Housing Collapse. In August 2010, KOLO fact-checked Angle’s ad attacking Reid for the housing collapse in Nevada. The report loked at Angle’s claim that “That means if your home was worth $300,000 before, now, thanks to Harry Reid's disastrous economic policies, you’ve lost over $150,000. Wiping out people's retirement savings overnight.” According to KOLO, that claim is “False. The arithmetic is simple; laying the blame on Senator Reid is a little more complicated … Economists say there's plenty of blame to go around including the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low, banks making risky loans, Wall Street playing economic roulette, and a general lack of oversight and hubris on everyone who wanted to believe home prices would keep rising. The housing bubble grew higher, faster here and in states like California and Florida. When it burst, prices fell lower and faster. And it began to burst in mid-2006 months before Reid became Majority Leader. On that point alone we have to call this claim false … An economist we talked with called the ad ‘disingenuous’ saying only an ‘economic illiterate’ would claim Reid becoming Majority Leader had anything to do with the housing collapse, noting all the causes at work long before.” [KOLO, 8/11/10]
ANGLE’S ABYSMAL RECORD ON HOUSING ISSUES
ANGLE’S RANK HYPOCRISY: AS A STATE LEGISLATOR, ANGLE VOTED REPEATEDLY AGAINST PROTECTING HOMEOWNERS
Angle Voted Against Tougher Regulation Of Nevada’s Mortgage Industry. In 1999, Angle was one of only three votes in the Assembly opposing AB 64, which revamped Nevada’s mortgage company laws. According to a May 1999 Associated Press report, AB 64 set up, “licensing requirements for mortgage companies, along with mortgage agents. The companies also must meet minimum net worth standards. The bill also gives the attorney general the authority to enforce Nevada's mortgage company laws.” The final version of the bill included a provision “that mortgage companies can't run advertisements that guarantee investors a specific rate of return. Mortgage agents also must register with the state Financial Institutions Division and pass a criminal background check.” [AB 64, 4/30/99; Associated Press, 5/1/99; Associated Press, 5/31/99]
Angle Voted Against Creation Of Division Tasked With Regulating Mortgage Lending In Nevada. In 2003 Angle was only one of two votes in the Assembly opposing AB 490, which created the Mortgage Lending Division in the Nevada Department of Business and Industry. In August 2003, the Reno Gazette-Journal wrote of the bill’s passage, “Nevada's mortgage bankers, brokers and loan officers will soon be much more strictly regulated…” Acting head of the newly-created Mortgage Lending Division, Doug Walther, told the paper, “The MLD's intent is to allow more focused attention on this industry and hopefully a more proactive approach to regulating it and raising standards and competence ... through education and licensing.” The legislation also had the support of the Department of Business and Industry, whose spokeswoman told the Associated Press in June 2003, “The director (Sydney Wickliffe) feels it's a necessary and critical step to create a new agency, due to the complexity and expansiveness of the mortgage industry.” [AB 490, 5/31/03; Reno Gazette-Journal, 8/22/03; Associated Press, 6/4/03]
Angle Opposed Cracking Down On Abusive Real Estate Brokers. Angle in 2003 was one of only two votes in the Assembly voting against SB 428, which authorized the state Real Estate Division to investigate complaints against real estate brokers and determine their solvency to carry out transactions. [SB 428, 5/21/03]
