North Carolina | Political Correction

In September, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, initiated an investigation of Planned Parenthood's financial records looking for misappropriated federal funds and requesting paperwork going back over 13 years. This Republican vendetta against Planned Parenthood is part of a larger fight in which Republicans are trying to prevent women from being in control of their reproductive health. To that end, House Republicans introduced a multitude of bills and amendments since January that would chip away at women's reproductive rights by eliminating Title X funding, defunding Planned Parenthood, imposing harsh restrictions on funding for abortions, replacing sexual education programs with abstinence-only programs, redefining rape to limit abortion exceptions, reinstating the global gag rule, supporting crisis pregnancy centers and imposing harsher parental notification laws.

August 12, 2011 12:07 pm ET filed under Blog

House Oversights - Week Of August 7

A weekly roundup of what House Republicans are and aren't doing with their committees.

July 26, 2011 12:04 pm ET filed under Video

Rep. Foxx Blasts "Status-Quo Tax Hikes," Claims Dems Aren't Willing To Cut

From a July 26, 2011, speech on the House floor:

July 13, 2011 12:06 pm ET filed under Blog

Will Oversight Antics Engulf Warren's Return?

July 08, 2011 2:16 pm ET filed under Blog

House Oversights - Week of July 3

A weekly roundup of what House Republicans are and aren't doing with their committees.

June 22, 2011 10:50 am ET filed under Blog

Rep. Ellmers Takes IPAB Fear Mongering To A New Extreme

June 14, 2011 2:50 pm ET filed under Video

Rep. Foxx: Founding Fathers Were "Right-Wing Radicals"

From a June 14, 2011, debate on the floor of the House of Representatives:

May 25, 2011 3:22 pm ET filed under Blog

GOP Bill Could Stop Doctors From Learning How To Perform Legal Abortions

May 10, 2011 5:25 pm ET filed under Blog

GOP Jobs Plan: Cut Funding For Job Training Programs

April 18, 2011 10:07 am ET filed under Blog

Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - April 17, 2011

April 18, 2011 9:45 am ET filed under Fact Check

Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - April 17, 2011

On Sunday morning, first-year Tea Party Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) almost managed to upstage her party's budget chairman by wrongly insisting on ABC that the GOP's "Path to Prosperity" budget is not a voucher program, works just like the insurance benefits for members of Congress, and would be sufficient to cover the cost of medical care for seniors. But Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) still offered the biggest whopper of the morning, claiming on CBS that the GOP budget doesn't cut taxes for the rich. None of these claims is true. The Republican plan slashes income taxes for the wealthy to Herbert Hoover levels while eliminating the capital gains tax. For the non-rich, the plan would end Medicare as we know it, leaving the typical 65-year-old with over $20,000 in annual medical costs by the year 2030. Meanwhile, freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) claimed President Obama hasn't helped grow the economy, which is demonstrably false, and Walsh joined Rep. Allen West (R-FL) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in calling for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that would in fact cripple Congress' ability to control spending and address recessions.

February 28, 2011 4:09 pm ET filed under Blog

Rep. Ellmers Can't Name A Single Republican-Proposed Health Care Solution

January 25, 2011 3:04 pm ET filed under Blog

Rep. Ellmers Wants Government-Subsidized Insurance Because Her $174,000 Salary Is Too Little

January 11, 2011 5:56 pm ET filed under Blog

Rep. Foxx: Arizona Shooter's Beliefs Are "The Liberal Of The Liberals"

November 30, 2010 4:18 pm ET filed under Blog

Rep. Foxx Blatantly Lies, Claims Democrats Have Not Cut Anybody's Taxes

November 30, 2010 4:17 pm ET filed under Fact Check

Rep. Foxx Lies About Taxes To Attack Democrats

Earlier today, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) took to the floor of the House to criticize Democrats over taxes, claiming that Americans have not received "any tax cuts in the past four years" and lamenting the imposition of "more than $680 billion in tax increases" on the American people. However, President Obama and congressional Democrats have cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, and many of the supposed tax increases that Congress has enacted actually eliminated corporate tax loopholes. Foxx also disingenuously raised the specter of "the largest tax increase in the history of the country" while ignoring elements of Obama's proposal to extend pieces of the Bush tax cuts.

October 29, 2010 6:32 pm ET filed under Ad Check

Despite American Crossroads' Claims, Shuler's Clean Energy Vote Was Job Friendly

The Rove-linked American Crossroads is out with an ad blasting Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) over his vote in favor of clean energy legislation, claiming that cap-and-trade would kill over 60,000 jobs in North Carolina. In reality, clean energy legislation would create over 50,000 jobs in North Carolina and millions across the nation. In addition, it would boost the economy while costing only about a postage stamp per day, to boot.

October 28, 2010 3:22 pm ET filed under Ad Check

NRCC Scare Mongers About Social Security To Malign Rep. McIntyre

In a new attack ad against Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC), the NRCC attempts to scare seniors into believing they are being "robb[ed]" of their Social Security benefits. In reality, Social Security holds assets of over $2.5 trillion and is solvent for over 25 years despite the recession. And, in the unlikely event that Congress fails to shore up Social Security's finances before 2037, benefits would have to be cut — but would still be paid.

October 25, 2010 6:35 pm ET filed under Ad Check

Latest Center For Individual Freedom Ad "Wastes" Its Time On Empty Attacks

The Center for Individual Freedom offers its weakest political ad yet, managing to hit Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) only on his vote to elect Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House, suggesting that he's "supported her job-killing policies ever since" and voted to add trillions to the national debt. But the exploding debt and deficit are legacies of Bush-era Republican policies.

October 15, 2010 5:22 pm ET filed under Ad Check

Center For Individual Freedom "Wasting" Airtime On Stale Stimulus Falsehoods

The conservative non-profit Center for Individual Freedom is using some of its undisclosed funding to run TV ads this election season, and like so many other right-wing ads, the CIF relies on a false portrayal of the Recovery Act. In new ads attacking Democratic Reps. Travis Childers (MS), Larry Kissell (NC), Paul Kanjorski (PA), Allen Boyd (FL) and Michael Arcuri (NY), CIF uses the "failed stimulus" argument that appears in so many ads this season. In reality, the Recovery Act was successful at boosting American employment by millions and avoiding another great depression. Blaming the Recovery Act for the debt means ignoring the Bush-era policies that put us in this mess. The Center for Individual Freedom is free to do so, of course — but they shouldn't force their lies on voters.

September 30, 2010 3:51 pm ET filed under Video