Bean's ad full of "outright lies"

by Fran Eaton

GOP candidate David McSweeney's campaign came out swinging Monday morning after a piece from incumbent Melissa Bean hit 8th Congressional District's mailboxes over the weekend. 

McSweeney says his opponent should refute false claims in the mail piece.  He says it is full of "outright lies."

Especially disturbing to McSweeney is Bean's accusation that he favors drilling for oil in Lake Michigan, the banking investor responded today via press release and phone-in press conference.

"My wife and children, my mother, and my siblings and their families drink water that comes from the Great Lakes and to suggest that I would risk the water supply of my family and millions of others is just unconscionable," McSweeney said. "Because we usually hear from Bean spokesmen I want to believe that this one slipped past her. The fact is that the mailing bearing her name and the name of her campaign contains outright lies."

The Lake Michigan drilling controversy stems from a disagreement McSweeney had with a vote Bean made on a U.S. House energy bill earlier this year.

"My opponent refuses to debate these issues," McSweeney said. 

Bean's spokesperson issued a statement today saying the Republican National Congressional Committee was publishing attack pieces.  "How low will they go?" Bean's campaign asked.

"Being accused of making false statements by the Bean campaign is like being called ugly by a frog," McSweeney said.

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The Bean piece cites a 2005 Illinois Leader interview several times as a source for McSweeney's views on oil drilling. 

I've looked up the interview that I did with McSweeney, and all I could find on the topic of oil drilling and gas prices was the following:

IL: Everyone's concerned about the high gas prices. Have any ideas on how to handle that issue?

M: I strongly support the President’s energy policy. The U.S. House of Representatives voted for an energy bill which Melissa Bean opposed, that bill would have allowed a safe development of natural gas resources in the U.S., safe development of nuclear power, and I’m strongly in favor of trying to increase our domestic capabilities on energy production.

Mark Kirk has a good idea for a national standard for refined gas - that’s what (the lack of a national standard) is driving up the cost of gas in some regions. There are different standards for the Midwest than there are in Texas, and different standards in California than in Texas and the Midwest. You can’t ship gasoline between those different markets because of different EPA standards.

If we had a national standard, that would relieve a lot of this congestion also. Right now, gasoline prices are high because of political uncertainty in the Middle East. There is also speculation - this morning, I think it was $3 a barrel - but what I’ve seen is that the price will probably go to $40 a barrel, based on supply and demand. We’ll see some better times, but we need an energy policy.

We need to also end purchasing oil from the strategic oil reserves. Little is known that at this high oil prices, we’re still spending federal dollars to build up the reserves. If we were to end buying from the reserves, it could also have a positive effect on oil prices.

I'd have to agree with McSweeney on this.  It looks as if Bean is desperately looking for substantiation of wild, ridiculous claims.  Citing a no-longer-accessible online interview in the now-defunct Illinois Leader is a pathetic political stunt. 

Ms. Bean does need to refute something there.  It's embarrassing what her camp has done to destroy any credibility for future pieces.

But, as we know, fighting dirty is a trademark of the Democrats' Congressional wizard Rahm Emanuel.

Comments

Are you saying Bean is full of beans?

[Cal Skinner]

No, it's worse.

She is lying.

Typical Chicago win-at-any costs politics.

[Bruno]

The more one looks at politics today, the more one sees it as a sideshow used to mask the hollowing out of our national character.

Rahm-bots and Rove-bots spewing out contentless advertising for the sole purpose of making the ads the issue in the campaign.

It's a charade that hides the Democrats selling the nation to mindless bureaucracies and Republicans selling the nation to their patrons in the boardroom.

I would hope that no one even talks about these moronic ads, and asks both McSweeney, Bean and Scheurer about immigration, Social Security, solutions for Iraq, and other important issues.

But my hopes will be dashed. McSweeney will feel forced to respond in-kind while another percentage point of voters ask "why bother?"

The charges of lying now ring pretty much the same as the charges among just the Republicans during the primary.

I don't think any Repub can act so shocked, shocked.