Americans for Tax Reform has reserved $496,000 in air time for television ads in Georgia’s competitive 12th Congressional District race. After a barrage of proven-false attack ads from the Democrat Super PAC Center Forward and other John Barrow allies, ATR is fighting back for Republican Taxpayer Protection Pledge signer Lee Anderson.

ATR has reserved air time in the Augusta-Aiken, Macon, and Savannah media markets for television ads to begin airing on Monday, October 15th. The first ad responds to Center Forward’s ad. It explains that the Taxpayer Protection Pledge “is a simple Pledge, to not raise your taxes.” It is a Pledge that Anderson has made to the taxpayers of Georgia’s 12th Congressional District. 

In addition to $496,000 in television ads, ATR has spent $17,500 on a targeted direct mail campaign. The campaign will highlight the fact that Anderson has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, promising Georgians that he will oppose any effort to raise taxes. It will also highlight Democrats’ reckless behavior in Congress over the last couple of years.

The Center Forward attack ad contains recycled claims made against Pledge signers in 2010, suggesting that Pledge signers promise to “protect” tax breaks for “companies that ship out American jobs.” The Associated Press labeled the attack as “one of the wildest claims of the 2010 campaign.” Adding insult to injury, the non-partisan FactCheck.org rated the attacks against the Pledge as “blatantly false.”

The Taxpayer Protection Pledge that Lee Anderson signed reads as follows:

I, Lee Anderson, pledge to the taxpayers of the 12th District of the state of Georgia, and to the American People that I will:

ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses; and

TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing taxes.

When the DCCC said the exact same thing against Republicans in 2010, another independent fact-checking organization weighed in. To the accusation that the Pledge “protects” companies who ship jobs overseas, Politifact noted that the claim about the Pledge included a “spurious connection” that requires a “huge leap of logic,” concluding that the DCCC’s claim was “False.”

As a result, Americans for Tax Reform is defending Anderson from the barrage of false claims in his bid for Congress in Georgia’s 12th Congressional District.

“Democrats seem to lack the kind of negative attack ad creativity we have come to expect from their organizations over the past couple of election cycles,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Recycling a proven-false claim against Pledge signers is perhaps the best they’ve got as an alternative to explaining their plan for an economic recovery: higher taxes and more government spending.

Lee Anderson has made a simple promise to Georgia voters. He has promised them that when he gets to Washington, he will not raise their taxes. Voters would do well to protect their pocketbooks by voting for Lee Anderson, the only Pledge signer in the race,” continued Norquist.

Posted by Paul Blair on Friday, October 12, 2012 5:56 PM EDT

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