Politics

New ads compete over Obama's record on debt

By Stephanie Condon

August 1, 2012 / 10:14 AM EDT / CBS News

(CBS News) The national debt stands at more than $15 trillion, and people are worried about it. Both President Obama and his conservative opponents are keenly aware of that fact and using it to promote their agendas in new ads.

The Obama campaign late Tuesday released a television ad called "Worried" that touts the president's budget plan, which according to the White Office of Management and Budget, would cut the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade. The ad also blasts Mitt Romney for putting forward a budget that analysts have said would increase the deficit.

The ad is set to air in the key states of Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Florida

Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams called the ad "ridiculous," given that it is "coming from a president who shattered his pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term."

Indeed, the national debt has increased more in Mr. Obama's first term than it did during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

The new ad kicks off, however, by reminding voters of the horrible circumstances under which Mr. Obama took office -- and the Bush policies that contributed the bloated deficit and debt.

"You watched, and worried," a somber narrator says in the ad. "Two wars. Tax cuts for millionaires. Debt piled up. And now we face a choice."

The Obama campaign has made a habit of reminding voters that Mr. Obama inherited a financial disaster when he took office, and polls have shown voters are sympathetic to that message.

The president has argued he can right the economy by taking a more "balanced" approach, which includes letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans. "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message because to cut the deficit we need everyone to pay their fair share," the president says at the end of his new ad.

Meanwhile, a study set for release Wednesday helps bolster the Obama campaign's argument that Romney's budget proposal isn't well balanced. The presumed Republican presidential candidate has promised to avoid increasing deficits while reducing tax rates and eliminating some specific taxes like the estate tax. But in order to do that, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center and the left-leaning Brookings Institution, his plan would have to collect more revenue by slashing middle-class benefits like tax breaks for mortgage interest and medical expenses. That would mean higher tax bills for everyone but the richest 5 percent of Americans.

Still, conservatives argue, why should anyone trust Mr. Obama on the issue of deficit and debt reduction?

The latest ad from the pro-Romney super PAC Crossroads GPS opens with footage from the CBS Evening News, with CBS News anchor Scott Pelley reporting, "This is the worst economic recovery America has ever had." The ad blames the nation's poor economic conditions -- such as 41 months of unemployment above 8 percent -- on Mr. Obama's "failed stimulus policies."

"Tell him for real job growth, stop spending and cut the debt," the ad's narrator says.

Since Crossroads GPS is a tax-exempt nonprofit group (and required to spend at least half of its money discussing "policy issues" rather than pure politics), it is not required to reveal its donors.

This latest ad from Crossroads GPS comes close to breaking the rules for groups that don't disclose their donors, the Los Angeles Times reports. Groups airing "electioneering communications" -- such as this ad -- less than 30 days before a party convention must disclose all their donors for a political cycle, according to rules from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This ad is scheduled to air less than 30 days before the Democratic National Convention, but Crossroads GPS is relying on a recent error the FEC made on its website, which gave confusing guidance on the issue, to secure an exemption for this ad.