JOHNSTOWN – Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding the blatantly false smear ad the DCCC launched today.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Mark Critz is proving that he will go to any length to win this election – even if it means having Speaker Pelosi’s political attack machine spread more lies about his opponent,” Gleason said.  “Just weeks after apologizing for mischaracterizing Tim Burns record, Critz is supporting the Democrats efforts to recycle bogus claims against his opponent’s record.  I am not sure why Mark Critz doesn’t want to run an honest campaign, but I can assure him the 12^th Congressional District deserves better.”

Although FactCheck.org debunked the Democrats’ hits against Tim Burns as “false” and “misleading,” the DCCC continues to push lies about our candidate’s record.  The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee is up with a new ad that says Tim Burns supports the FAIR Tax and that he outsourced jobs.

On the FAIR Tax….

• · Tim Burns opposes the FAIR Tax: Watch Tim Say He Opposes the FAIR Tax

“I do not support the FAIR Tax.  In fact, you’ve probably heard that I did, but that is one of the lies that are being told by my opponents.  In fact, had to apologize for that anyway, so I do not, I want to make it clear, that I do not support the FAIR Tax.” – Tim Burns, 5/12/2010

• ·         Mark Critz apologized for lying about Tim’s record on the FAIR Tax:Watch Critz’s Apology

“If I have misstated Mr. Burns’ position on something, I apologize.  I didn’t mean to do that.  It was my understanding that he did support the FAIR Tax.  If that’s wrong, I apologize.” – Mark Critz, 4/29/2010

• ·         FactCheck.org debunked this attack when it was used the first time around by the DCCC as “misleading” and “deceptive.”  FactCheck.org’s Report

On Outsourcing Jobs….

• · This attack was proven to be “false” by FactCheck.org in an earlier ad by Mark Critz.
• ·         From 4/21: FactCheck.org concluded that Mark Critz’s latest TV ad is a phony attack which falsely claims that Tim Burns supports tax breaks to ship jobs overseas. FactCheck.org confirmed that Mark Critz is “misrepresenting” his opponent’s position, and called his ad a “false accusation” and a “claim [that] isn’t backed up.”

“Earlier this month, [FactCheck.org] called out Democrats for falsely accusing a Republican House candidate in Hawaii of pledging to protect tax breaks for sending jobs overseas. All he did was sign a pledge not to raise taxes. Now a Democratic candidate [Mark Critz] is making the same false claim against his opponent in another special election in Pennsylvania. . . . In the latest ad, Democrat Mark Critz levels the false accusation against Republican candidate Tim Burns. . . . In the Critz ad, the narrator says, ‘Tim Burns wants to keep tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.’ But this claim isn’t backed up.”  (Brooks Jackson, “Another False Tax Attack (And One That’s Just Deceptive),”FactCheck.org, 4/21/2010)

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