Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Pennsylvania 10th CD air war/update

The latest ad from the Chris Hackett was a standard issues contrast spot with the last frame saying that Chris Carney is more liberal than Obama with both their pictures on the screen at the same time. I thought it was effective although I''m getting tired of Republicans using the word liberal as a pejorative. I would post it if it was available (get on the stick Mark).



A few days ago the Carney campaign and the DCCC started went on the air with a couple of attack ads that get personal about his companies recent history of late tax payments.


To be fair to Hackett the last time I saw him he explained that they were the equivalents of nuisance taxes for businesses and he was disputing them on the merits. After all 16 grand is not going to break him or his companies. But he paid them late and that is fair game.

His camp reacted strongly to the Dems spots.


Dallas, PA Yesterday, Chris Carney's campaign stooped to a new low launching an untrue negative attack ad against challenger Chris Hackett.
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Just like the Washington politician that he is, Carney has now obliterated his promise on primary election night, when he then said, ""I offer my congratulations to Mr. Hackett and look forward to a campaign that focuses on the issues that really matter to the families of northeast and central Pennsylvania." (Carney, WNEP, 4/23/2008)

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First, Carney repeatedly rejected numerous debate offers. Now, he engages in personal character attacks. So much for a "campaign that focuses on the issues."

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"Now that Chris Carney's liberal record has begun to be exposes, he has officially hit the panic button. I guess he no longer believes his campaign's own made up poll numbers," said Hackett campaign spokesman Mark Harris. "Chris Hackett has spent nearly twenty years creating jobs in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania. Now the best Carney can do to try to save his seat in Congress is smear Chris Hackett. It's a disgrace, and our district deserves better."

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Harris continued: "Regardless of Carney and his liberal allies' personal mudslinging, rest assured that this election will be about the issues. The voters of the Tenth District do not want a liberal congressman who votes to raise taxes, increase wasteful pork spending, oppose off-shore oil drilling, expand corporate welfare, and support taxpayer funded abortions. That's why they are rejecting Chris Carney."



The Carney people are sticking by their guns.


FACT CHECK: HACKETT'S HYPOCRISY


Hackett Owes Taxes:
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The Scranton Times Tribune (6/11), reported that Hackett's company One Source Staffing owed tens of thousands in back taxes. Hackett's $16,915state tax lien filed Aug. 12, 2004 is still listed as outstanding at the Luzerne county courthouse.
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Hackett claimed to pay the state of Pennsylvania $13,615 on August 2,2007 the same month he announced his Congressional bid. Hackett also waited until he had secured his party's nomination on April 22,2008 to settle the bulk of his tax liens four and five years overdue?finalizing a $7,946 federal lien from 2003 on April 23, 2008 and a$14,966 state lien from 2004 on May 1, 2008.
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Politico (7/23) reported that Republican House candidate Chris Hackett touts his experience as a certified public accountant who knows a few things about numbers and balancing the books. But since 2000, court filings and newspaper accounts show that the Internal Revenue Service and tax authorities in NewYork and Pennsylvania have filed nine liens against businesses owned by Hackett.
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Hackett Hires Illegal Immigrant, and doesn't pay taxes:
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The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (4/8) reported that Hackett admitted to hiring an illegal housekeeper. "Hackett said he fired his housekeeper after learning the woman was an illegal immigrant. He didn't notify the authorities because, he said, he didn't feel he was required to do that."Chris Hackett's own advertisements have the temerity to tout "Hackett's strong leadership against illegal immigration..." (Hackett TV SPOT "Best")Was his strong leadership hiring an illegal immigrant and not paying the taxes? This is clear evidence that Hackett believes in one set of rules for himself, and another for everyone else. People are tired of that kind of politician.
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Hackett was sued to pay his taxes:One Source was sued by the Williamsport City and School District Mercantile &Privilege Tax Office for not withholding the right amount from workers.After the office performed an audit, the realized that One Source (previously Workforce Solutions) did not properly withhold taxes for certain employees.OneSource owed $1,170 for withholding, plus another $117 in penalties and another $102.60 in interest.Oddly, One Source agreed to pay the $1,170 but refused to pay the penalty and interest, forcing the locality to sue. The locality won the case, and then One Source settled the suit.

The Carney spot has this tag line:


Hackett on Taxes: You pay 'em so he doesn't have to



Talk





Chris Hackett: Mistakes Happen (PA-10)



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chris Carney..remember the Feith-(Chris)Carney Memo...the one that gave legitmacy to the Iraq War..the one where our soldiers are giving up their lives everyday while you sat in a cozy office in the Pentagon and said go get em...and you're making an issue of taxes...why don't you talk about what the Dems have done the last two years while in control of Congress...cat got your tongue..back to the war, the one the Dems blame on George Bush..who gave him the information Chris...

NEPAExpat said...

Gort,

I guess my roots are still a bit behind the times.

Actual liberals don't label themselves as "liberal" anymore. Left leaning people now mark themselves as "progressive". Please alter your vocabulary accordingly *smile*.

I figure by the time the term catches on in Scranton, San Francisco politicians will have come up with something new to refer themselves.

Zen said...

I would guess that everybody knows which side of the political fence I am on. That being said, Hackett is wrong. Carney has had a fairly middle of the road voting record. While I truly believe that is by design to help him retain his seat, it is true.
Hackett ran a vicous negative campaign to win the primary. He and his campaign smeared Dan Meuser and Pride Mobility with outlandish lies and distortions. I didn't expect anything different in the general.

Big Dan said...

Get Mr. Chicken out: McCain just chickened out of debating Obama!!!

Where's that guy with the chicken outfit, who said Carney is a chicken for not debating???

UNLESS...it's spun that a Democrat is "chicken" for not debating, but a Republican is "putting country before politics"...watch for THAT spin!!!

Anonymous said...

Good effective ads- mark Harris claims that hackett brought jobs to the area. If I remember correctly a company that Hackett claimed to bring to the area (C3I) wrote a letter to the local papers saying Hackett had nothing to do with it. Also remember hackett's companies are temporary workers- they take jobs from others to pay lower wages and less benefits. This is something I am sure the labor unions will be advertising. Hackett ran a dirty campaign of lies against Meuser. With the economy hitting the tank I expect to see more ads attacking Hackett, his companies and the so called jobs he created. Also remember the Wilkes Barre Chamber who before Hackett became the vice chair had a 5 million surplus of cash- Now they are in the red for 10 million. Some accountant.

Anonymous said...

word is out that laura bush fundraiser pulled in less than
$100K, and half went to the state committee. That should have brought in $250K. Also Hackett fired Maderia. he told a certain senator that maderia does not work for his campaign any longer. He hires maderia to smooth over his pro choice gaffe and then fires him, that is very cold.

Anonymous said...

Karma is a bitch.

kevin

NEPAExpat said...

Kar,

Truthfully, I have no skin in the game. It feels very much that if Meuser ran in the correct district (against Kanjorski), he'd be punching his ticket to DC right about now. Fact is Meuser would have been a better candidate than Barletta with the money to spend. Unfortunately, his advisors must have gone to the same "So you wanna be a politico" seminar as the Hillary for President team that will be judged as one of the most inept in history. Since the Hackett campaign hasn't taken advantage of the political opportunities provided by the current economy, Dan Meuser may just have the chance to make up for those mistakes in 2010.
Regardless, we all hope that PRIDE receives a return on the investment for the spring campaign. The PRIDE family will probably need as many connections in its corner as we'll see what smaller government looks like by necessity. After the bailout, government won't be issuing payment for anything more than wheelchairs of the self-propelled variety.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to disagree with nepaexpat on this one...
Meuser lived on the border of the two districts so he could have been subject to the charge in the 11th as well (He barely lives in the 11th!) Besides, I'm not sure how much of a factor that actually was in the primary...probably not a major one even though Hackett tried to make it an issue. The 11th is a solid Democratic district, and Lou has traction in it because of his hot button issue number one, but number two because he has painted himself as an outsider. He is running as anything but a Republican. He refused to endorse his party's candidate, he's been seen at local Democratic fundraisers, and he happens to be running against Kanjo at a time when he's probably at his most vulnerable. The 10th is drawn republican, so any Republican there has a built in advantage. Carney's lead there is probably a sign of how bad a general election candidate Hackett really is. Doesn't surprise me since he's part of that Toomey crowd, where they trot out these far right candidates in the primary, without realizing that those candidates are highly unattractive in a general election.
As far as Lou is concerned, if he wins, he's a freshman in the nminority party that didn't back his party's presidential candidate. I am sure his Committee assignments will be less than glamorous...and the people of the 11th will be the ones that pay for it unfortunately.