Karl Rove's super PAC blasts Obama on "fiscal cliff"
If you had the hope that the end of election season would mean a vacation from political advertising, you may want to stop reading now.
Crossroads GPS, the independent expenditure outfit helmed by Republican consigliere Karl Rove, launched a new TV ad today decrying President Obama's lack of "balance" in his proposals to avert the "fiscal cliff," a shorthand reference to the package of spending cuts and tax hikes slated to take effect at the beginning of 2013 absent congressional action.
The ad begins with a clip of Mr. Obama explaining, "If we are serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue."
The narrator, in response, says, "But so far, a big tax increase is his solution. No real spending reforms; instead, more taxes."
"The time for politics has ended," the narrator continues. "We need bipartisan ideas we can all support."
The spot concludes by urging viewers to "Call President Obama and tell him it's time to show us a balanced plan, because every day wasted is another $4 billion we're deeper in debt."
The president's opening offer in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations included $1.6 trillion in additional taxes on wealthy Americans and $400 billion in spending cuts. The House GOP counteroffer included $800 billion in additional revenue, secured not through rate hikes but through closing loopholes and eliminating unspecified deductions, as well as approximately $900 billion in entitlement cuts.
The Crossroads ad, which is backed by $500,000, will run for a week on national cable news channels and during the Sunday political talk shows in the Washington, D.C., media market.