The Ad:
Title: “Dale Sweetland Has It Backwards”
From: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
Type: Attack ad against Republican Dale Sweetland.
Sweetland is running against Democrat Dan Maffei and Howie Hawkins of the Green Populist Party to succeed Republican Jim Walsh in the 25th Congressional district race.
Date: Sept. 18, 2008
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUjXn4U-O1M
What it Says:
The 30-second spot, titled “Dale Sweetland Has It Backwards,” features backward videos of plant workers walking, girls riding bicycles and a family unpacking groceries from a car. Images of Sweetland and President George W. Bush in reverse motion are placed next to each other on the screen.
The colors are muted and tinged yellow. A piano theme plays over a rewinding music track. Small print at the bottom of the screen cites local newspaper articles on Sweetland’s votes. Key phrases of the narration flash under Sweetland’s name, which remains onscreen.
Here’s the text:
“For most of us, the economy is moving in the wrong direction. It’s the legacy of George Bush and politicians like Dale Sweetland. As county legislator, Sweetland voted to increase property taxes and supported higher sales taxes. But don’t worry. Dale Sweetland’s doing OK. He also voted to raise his own pay three times. Pay raises for Dale Sweetland. Tax increases for the rest of us. Dale Sweetland has it backwards.”
The ad is not affiliated with either of Sweetland’s opponents’ campaigns. But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which calls itself “the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House,” is responsible for the ad. It is campaigning for Dan Maffei.
The Facts:
- “As county legislator, Dale Sweetland voted to increase property taxes.”
This statement is accurate — but not the whole story.
As a Republican legislator representing Fabius, Sweetland did vote for the 1995, 2003 and 2004 Onondaga County budgets. These budgets increased property taxes by 2.7 percent, 6.3 percent and 4.4 percent, according to The Post-Standard and Syracuse Herald-Record.
But the ad distorts two other Post-Standard articles cited. An Oct. 12, 1995, article reported that the 1996 budget Sweetland voted for actually cut taxes in almost all of Onondaga County. And the Oct. 12, 2001, article cited by the ad specifically said that the average property tax decreased in the 2002 budget that Sweetland voted for.
The caveat: Even though property taxes for the county decreased in both budgets, some select towns faced increases. The ad used these exceptions to distort the truth.
Sweetland also voted a number of times to approve budgets with decreases in property taxes. The 1997-2001 and 2005-2008 county budgets included lower property taxes. Sweetland voted to approve all nine of them, The Post-Standard reported.
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“…supported higher sales taxes.”
This statement is accurate. The 2004 vote was 13-6 down party lines. All Democrats opposed the 1 percent increase and all Republicans supported it, according to The Post-Standard.
The sales tax increase was to prevent a potential 40-percent increase in property taxes, said Julia Robbins, the Sweetland campaign’s office manager. The taxes were needed to support rising costs of Medicaid, she said. Medicaid is a tax-supported, jointly shared federal and state health insurance program for the poor. New York is one of the few states that pass along some of the state’s costs to the counties.
- “Voted to raise his own pay three times.”
This charge is also accurate, but also incomplete.
On two out of three pay raise votes, Sweetland was among a majority. The first vote included support from 12 other Republicans and two Democrats. For a second pay raise, Sweetland was one of only four legislators to vote in favor. And the third and largest pay raise Sweetland voted for had strong bipartisan support — a fact the ad neglects to mention.
In 1995, he voted for a budget including a 5-percent pay raise for legislators from $16,500 per year to $17,300. Thirteen Republicans and two Democrats voted for the budget, the Syracuse Herald-Journal reported.
In 1997, Sweetland voted for another pay increase of 3 percent. He was one of only four legislators, all Republicans, to vote for it. Nineteen voted against it, the Syracuse Herald-Journal reported.
In 2001, Sweetland co-sponsored a bill that would raise country legislators’ salaries by 16 percent. In the end, the measure passed 16-7.
Their salaries actually went up by 22 percent, from $18,300 yearly to $22,300. The salary increase had the bipartisan approval of nine Republicans and seven Democrats. Seven legislators voted against the measure, The Post-Standard reported.
Conclusions:
A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee defended the ad as fair. Carie James, the Northeast regional press secretary, said Sweetland “has been a politician for 20 years. In his tenure, he has a record of increasing property taxes on New York families.”
Robbins, with the Sweetland campaign, disagreed. “We would characterize it as distorting the truth,” she said.
Overall, this ad is technically accurate, but incomplete. Sweetland voted for budgets with tax increases, but he also voted for budgets with tax decreases. He voted to raise his own salary. But Republicans and Democrats voted with him two of three times. Rarely did he vote against the majority.
The election is Nov. 4.
(Megan Saucke is a junior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and political science.)
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