September 19, 2012 09:01 PM UTC

Tipton Goes Full Orwell In New Medicare Ad

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• by: Colorado Pols

Here’s a new ad for freshman GOP Rep. Scott Tipton, running against Democrat Sal Pace in CD-3. This ad is produced by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

This ad is intended to blunt a major line of attack on Tipton, his vote in 2011 for the GOP budget proposal authored by Rep. Paul Ryan. Tipton promised during the 2010 campaign, surrounded by senior citizen extras, that there would be “no cuts, no privatization” of Medicare. Despite that promise, the 2011 GOP budget centered around a plan to privatize Medicare in ten years.

There’s only one way to say it: this ad depends on the viewer not knowing basic facts. Tipton sets himself up as the “defender” of Medicare because of his opposition to Obamacare–completely ignoring his own vote to privatize Medicare. The closest Tipton gets to acknowledging that vote is his assertion that “we can’t let Medicare go bankrupt,” which is apparently the full explanation for his vote to privatize Medicare and abandon his promise to never do so.

Perhaps worse is Tipton’s attack on opponent Sal Pace, a state legislator, for his “support for Obamacare”–even though Pace has made waves among Democrats for equivocating on the Affordable Care Act. Regardless, the claim that “Obamacare cuts Medicare by $716 billion” has been debunked by every fact-checking outfit in America, every time it’s been trotted out.

So in addition to Tipton counting on viewers not knowing the facts, he’s counting on them never consulting with any fact-checkers. Whether or not it works is yet to be seen, but the factual history behind this ad makes it a 180-degree departure from the truth.