Rep. Jack Kingston's new ad this week in the U.S. Senate runoff is a strong negative hit on businessman David Perdue.
Using Perdue's image, Kingston delivers attacks on the Pillowtex bankruptcy, a company that took stimulus money while Perdue was on the board and claims Perdue wants tax increases. The fine folks at factcheck.org already picked through the ad and find it to be a re-airing of "several deceptive claims."
But there's a new ear-catcher, too, a declaration that Pillowtex got a bailout. Here's factcheck.org:
"The ad's claim about a "government bailout" is a new twist on an old claim, but suffers from the same faulty logic as the one about the Pillowtex layoffs. It's a reference to U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s announcement on Oct. 30, 2003, that it would assume responsibility for Pillowtex's pension benefits because of the bankruptcy proceedings. That announcement, like the bankruptcy filing and the layoffs, occurred months after Perdue had left the company."
A note on the obscure Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., from its website:
"PBGC is not funded by general tax revenues. PBGC collects insurance premiums from employers that sponsor insured pension plans, earns money from investments and receives funds from pension plans it takes over."
Be sure you take a moment on this holiday to reflect on the American-ness of a good ol' attack ad.
About the Author
