Senate Race

In response to tonight’s debate.

Allentown – As expected, Congressman Sestak lobbed one dishonest attack after another in order to try to run away from his extreme record of voting for every single bailout, record-breaking debt, hundreds of billions of dollars in new tax increases, a cap-and-trade energy tax, and government-run health care.

But the truth is catching up with him.

FALSEHOOD: Pat Toomey voted for the largest deficits in history.
TRUTH: Actually, Joe Sestak voted for the largest deficits in U.S. history. Over his four years in Congress, Joe Sestak voted for $3.3 trillion in new deficit spending. In contrast the cumulative budget deficit over Pat Toomey’s six years in Congress from 1999 – 2005 was $456 billion.

FALSEHOOD: Pat Toomey is a Wall Street lobbyist.
TRUTH: WTAE-TV News already debunked this attack, saying last month: “That’s false. Toomey has never been a lobbyist. We checked the records. Toomey is not now, and never was a registered lobbyists” (WTAE ABC, 09/23/10)

FALSEHOOD: Sestak voted against taxpayer-funded abortions.
TRUTH: Sestak voted against the Stupak amendment that would have prohibited taxpayer-funded abortions. Fourteen members of the Pennsylvania delegation, including seven democrats voted for the Stupak amendment, but not Joe (RC #884, 11/07/09).

FALSEHOOD: Sestak did not vote for a version of the bill to outlaw private health insurance.
TRUTH: Sestak voted for a version of the health care bill in the Education & Labor Committee that contained a Dennis Kucinich amendment that would allow states to outlaw private health care altogether (Education & Labor Committee, 07/17/09).

FALSEHOOD: PatToomey was not a real small business owner.
TRUTH: Many individuals who have worked with Pat Toomey during his years as a small business owner between 1991 – 1998 have testified to Pat’s daily involvement in the business. During that time, Pat’s restaurant business was his sole source of income and the business created hundreds of jobs in the Lehigh Valley.

FALSEHOOD: Pat Toomey voted to throw pay-as-you-go out the window.
TRUTH: Pat Toomey voted for a much stricter version of PayGo than Joe Sestak’s version. Pat voted for the Spending Control act of 2004 which set statutory caps on discretionary spending and instituted pay-as-you-go rules that would require mandatory spending increases to be offset (RC #318, 06/24/04). Congressman Sestak voted against a cap on discretionary spending (RC #611, 07/22/09) and voted for over $1 trillion in PayGo exemptions and waivers.

FALSEHOOD: Joe Sestak supports small businesses, while Pat Toomey supports large corporations.
TRUTH: Congressman Sestak has voted for legislation that will cost Pennsylvanians tens of thousands of jobs. These include the cap-and-trade energy tax (RC #477, 06/26/09) that was opposed by 44 democrats, including 4 Pennsylvania Democrats; thegovernment-run health care bill that would impose billions of dollars in taxes on small businesses (RC #165, 3/21/10); and Card Check legislation (RC #118, 03/01/07) which could lead to the loss of 600,000 jobs (Alliance to Save Main Street Jobs, 03/05/09). There is only one candidate in this race that has been endorsed by the largest association of small businesses – the National Federation of Independent Business – and that is Pat Toomey.