Debunking Schrader’s misleading statements on Bruun

Debunking Schrader’s misleading statements on Bruun

Schrader was mentioned in this morning’s Wall Street Journal guest column “Democrats and ‘Poisoned’ Politics” by Karl Rove who said, “Many Democratic incumbents now routinely assert in their ads that Republicans who pledge not to raise taxes support shipping jobs overseas—a claim that the nonpartisan FactCheck.org has found to be false. Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader featured a senior citizen saying that if Republican challenger Scott Bruun “had his way, I’d be out on the street.”

Below are the three recent false Bruun attacks by congressman Kurt Schrader

Schrader Claim: Scott Bruun “supports tax loopholes and policies that have outsourced 85,000 Oregon jobs.”

The facts: Scott Bruun wants to create jobs in Oregon, while Schrader allowed tax breaks that helped foreign companies create jobs in China rather than in the U.S. “The Department of Energy estimated that 82,000 jobs have been created and has acknowledged that as much as 80 percent of some green programs, including $2.3 billion of manufacturing tax credits, went to foreign firms that employed workers primarily in countries including China, South Korea and Spain, rather than in the United States.” (Patrice Hill, “‘Green’ jobs no longer golden in stimulus,” Washington Times, 09/09/2010)
Schrader Claim: Scott Bruun “opposed cracking down on Wall Street, saying that greed on Wall Street wasn’t the cause of the mess we’re in.”

The facts: Schrader conveniently omitted full context: “What the financial regulatory bill completely sidesteps is what truly caused the problem we are in now. And yes there was greed on Wall Street—guess what, news flash—there always has been greed on Wall Street. That’s not what caused the crisis—it fed on the crisis… The worst thing about this financial regulatory bill is that it doesn’t address at all the core fault of the financial problems we are in… it doesn’t address Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Plus, what it does is guarantee forever these bailouts—it just takes it off the front page and puts it in the back door.” (Scott Bruun, March 2010)

Scott Bruun wants to put a stop to Wall Street bailouts and reform Wall Street, while Kurt Schrader has only supported policies that have done little to change Wall Street or reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“Despite much rhetoric about ending bailouts, the bill does nothing to address Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two of the largest recipients of federal bailout money. These two government-sponsored enterprises, now in federal receivership, helped fuel the housing bubble. When it popped, taxpayers found themselves on the hook for some $150 billion in bailout money… The failure to address their future is a serious error and shows just how hollow are claims that this agreement will prevent future crises.” (David C. John and James Gattuso, “Financial Reform in Congress: A Disorderly Failure,” The Heritage Foundation, 06/28/2010)

Schrader Claim: Scott Bruun “supports privatizing Social Security and gambling it in the stock market.”

The facts: This claim has already been proven false.Bruun does not support privatization: “I do not support privatizing Social Security.” (Straight Talk, “August 7, 2010: Republican State Rep. Scott Bruun,” KGW, 08/07/2010)
“Schrader exaggerates, suggesting that Bruun wants to fully privatize the system.” (Charles Pope, “Kurt Schrader says Scott Bruun wants to privatize Social Security,” Politifact, 10/02/2010)