Tuesday October 14, 2008
(Manchester, NH) – In response to yet another misleading attack ad from John Sununu, Jeanne Shaheen for Senate today set the record straight on John Sununu's record of walking in lockstep with George Bush and his failed agenda. Sununu has been making misleading attacks on Jeanne Shaheen, including in his most recent television ad, in a desperate attempt to run from his eight-year record of voting with George Bush 90 percent of the time.
"During the last eight years, George Bush and his failed agenda have had no greater ally than John Sununu," said Kate Bedingfield, communications director for Jeanne Shaheen for Senate. "This is yet another desperate attempt to distract New Hampshire voters from the fact that John Sununu has voted 90 percent of the time with George Bush, driving our economy into the greatest economic crisis we've seen since the Great Depression, standing with Wall Street and investment firms while turning a blind eye to New Hampshire's small businesses and families, doubling our national debt to more than 10 trillion dollars, preventing medical progress through stem cell research and refusing to bring our troops home from Iraq.
"New Hampshire voters deserve better than Sununu's desperate attempts to distract from his record. We need a new direction in Washington, but to achieve that, we need a new Senator."
| SUNUNU TV AD FACT CHECK | |
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THE FACTS |
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Shaheen: "I'll stand with President Bush on National Security, the War on Terrorism and to disarm Saddam Hussein."
| In 2002 Jeanne Shaheen believed President Bush when he told the American people that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that threatened the national security of the United States. As early as 2004, however, when it became known that the Bush administration misled the American people about the existence of weapons of mass destruction and it was clear that the Iraq war was mismanaged, Jeanne Shaheen spoke out against Bush administration's Iraq war strategy.
2004: Shaheen Criticized Bush's "Go It Alone Policy" in Iraq. The Union Leader reported in March 2004 that, "Shaheen said: 'The split screen image of the attack in Baghdad and the political attack from Mr. Cheney demonstrates the urgent need for the President, the vice president, and the secretary of state to stop playing politics and fix a failed and flawed go-it-alone policy that is making Iraq more dangerous for our soldiers and making it harder for them to secure the peace in that country.'" [Union Leader, 3/18/04]
2004: Shaheen Said President Needed to Answer American People on Why He Went to War. In March 2004, Shaheen said, "I think this president has to answer to the American people about why he went to war without that specific link." [Concord Monitor, 3/26/04]
2004: Shaheen: "George Bush has taken us in the wrong direction. He misled us into war in Iraq." [CNN American Morning, 9/7/04]
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Shaheen: "I supported the Bush Tax Cut.
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2002: Shaheen Supported Making Middle Class Tax Cuts Permanent. At a debate on WNDS in October 2002, Jeanne Shaheen said: "I support President Bush's tax cut. Had I been in the Senate, I would have voted for that. I support making virtually all of it permanent." [WNDS, 10/14/02]
2002: Shaheen Supported Making Tax Cuts Permanent for "Lower, Middle and Upper Middle Income Families." At a debate on WMUR in October 2002, Jeanne Shaheen said: "I do support the President's tax cut, and if I had been in the senate I would have voted for it. I think we need to make virtually all of it permanent, those pieces that would help lower, middle and upper middle income families." [WMUR Debate, 10/25/02]
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John Sununu has been a steadfast supporter of the failed Bush agenda, voting with President Bush 90% of the Time. [CQ Member Profile, 7/3/07]
Voting with George Bush's interests instead of New Hampshire's interests
Sununu Voted for a $850 Billion Bailout to Pay for the Economic Mess John Sununu Helped George Bush Create. [Senate Vote #213, 10/1/08]
Sununu Voted Against Overriding President Bush's Veto of Medicare Bill. [Senate Vote #177, 7/15/08]
Sununu Voted 15 Times Against the Withdrawal of Troops from Iraq. [Senate Vote #75, 3/15/07; Senate Vote #116, 3/27/07; Senate Vote #126, 3/29/07; Senate Vote #147, 4/26/07; Senate Vote #167, 5/16/07; Senate Vote #252, 7/18/07; Senate Vote #345, 9/20/07; Senate Vote #346, 9/21/07; Senate Vote #362, 10/30/07; Senate Vote #411, 11/16/07; Senate Vote #437, 12/18/07; Senate Vote #438, 12/18/07; Senate Vote #181, 6/22/06; Senate Vote #182, 6/22/06; Senate Vote #322, 11/15/05
Sununu Has Voted With Bush on Iraq Eight Times Since Beginning of 2007. Since the beginning of 2007, Sununu repeatedly voted with Bush and to block debate on Iraq, and against a change in course in Iraq. Twice in February, Sununu joined with his GOP colleagues to filibuster even debating resolutions dealing with Bush's planned Iraq escalation. Since then, Sununu voted eight times against changing the course in Iraq by setting a timetable for redeployment of U.S. forces. [Vote 438, 12/18/07; Vote 411, 11/16/07; Vote 346, 9/21/07; Vote 252, 7/18/07; Vote 147, 4/26/07; Vote 126, 3/29/07,Vote 116, 3/27/07; Vote 75, 3/15/07; Vote 51, 2/17/07; Vote 44, 2/5/07 ; Congressional Record, 2/5/07; Denver Post, 2/6/07; New York Times, 2/6/07]
Sununu Voted for George Bush's Plan to Privatize Social Security. [Senate Vote #68, 3/16/06]
Sununu Voted To Privatize Social Security. In March 2008, Sununu voted for a GOP budget amendment that Sen. Max Baucus described as "privatization of Social Security." Arguing against the plan, Baucus added, "We all know that the volatility of the stock market is not the best thing for our seniors." [Vote #65, 3/13/08; Baucus Floor Speech, 3/13/08]
Sununu Renewed Call for Social Security Privatization. In January 2008, Sununu renewed his call for privatizing Social Security. Speaking before a convention organized by the Free State Project, Sununu said, "Change can be good if it means modernizing Social Security, giving workers real power and control over their full money to invest in their own retirement account that is their personal property. That can certainly be change for the good." [Sununu Speech, 1/5/08]
Sununu Pledged to Vote Against Override of George Bush's Veto on Stem Cell Bill. After President Bush vetoed a bill to provide funding for stem-cell research, Sununu spokesman Barbara Riley stated that Sununu did not support efforts to override the Bush's veto. Riley said the Sununu's position had not changed, and that he "would not support an override of the presidential veto on stem cells." [Union Leader, 6/22/07]
Sununu Was Only New England Senator to Vote With George Bush Against Stem Cell Bills. In 2006 and 2007, Sununu was the only Senator from New England to vote against a bill that would have expanded federal funding of stem-cell research. The bills would have lifted Bush's 2001 federal ban on stem cell research. [Senate Vote #127, 4/11/07; Senate Vote #206, 7/18/06]
Bush on Sununu
Bush to New Hampshire: "You Don't Have to Worry About Your Senators" on Privatization. In 2005, George Bush described John Sununu as a reliable supporter of his plan to privatize Social Security. [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 2/21/05]
Bush Raised Over $250,000 for Sununu in 2002. [New Hampshire Sunday News, 10/6/02]
Bush: "You want to do what's right for New Hampshire, you want to do what's right for America, vote for John Sununu for the United States Senate." [New York Times, 11/2/02]
Bush: "It's in my interest… that John Sununu be elected." [New Hampshire Sunday News, 10/6/02]
Bush: "John Sununu was with me from the beginning. There was no question in my mind where he stood." [Sununu Campaign Event, 10/5/02]
Sununu on Bush
Sununu: Pleased With Direction Bush Set Out in 2006 State of the Union. "He said the president's message on the economy the importance of a simple and effective tax code and investment in research and technology was particularly strong. As was his opening reference to the nation's role in spreading democracy. 'The president began with a very important message, that democracy and political freedom is on the move in the world,' Sununu said. 'It's important to remind ourselves of that and how much the United States has been a part of opening that world.'" [AP, 2/1/06]
Sununu: Bush Offered Powerful Vision in 2005 SOTU. Sununu was quick to praise Bush's 2005 State of the Union address. "I think the President's speech was probably the strongest and clearest State of the Union I've heard in my eight years in Congress," Sununu said after the speech. "I think his vision is a powerful one." [Union Leader, 2/3/05]
Sununu: "I was very pleased and honored to have the president come in and campaign for me for the Senate race." [CNN, 11/9/02]
Sununu: "I'm proud to call him my president." [CNN, 11/9/02]
Sununu Praised Bush's "Incredible Leadership" That Was "Focused and Stalwart." [Union Leader, 8/7/03]
Sununu: "There are far more issues the president and I agree on than disagree." [CNBC Capital Report, 11/21/03]
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