Since Jim Inhofe has nothing positive to say about his own record, he's spent the last six weeks working to deceive voters about Andrew Rice's values and his record.
But he has now resorted to a new low of deception.
In his latest ad he attempts to blame Andrew for our current economic crisis. Jim Inhofe, the man who went to Washington 22 years ago because he wanted to do something about "these over regulated United States of America," is once again shirking responsibility for the problems he helped create. Has he no shame?
With a shot of a "Wall Street" sign and a reference to a "bailout," Jim Inhofe took a quote Andrew Rice said earlier this year in support of the Foreclosure Prevention Act and made it appear to apply to the recent Wall Street bailout. Here's what the ad says:
Your tax dollars paying for Wall Street's mistakes
Andrew Rice called a multi billion dollar government bailout a modest attempt.
On Screen:
"A MODEST ATTEMPT" – ANDREW RICE
http:www.andrewforoklahoma.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=1033
Billions in spending modest, Andrew?
Here's what Andrew Rice actually said, in April:
The Foreclosure Prevention Act is not a hand-out, Rice said. He called it a modest attempt to help struggling families through pre-foreclosure counseling, provide extra bond funds for refinancing homes at risk of foreclosure and help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed properties to avoid neighborhood decay.
Rice urged Oklahomans to contact their Senators this week and urge them to show the same compassion for state homeowners as they have shown for Wall Street.
"Waiting for the bottom to fall out is not a strategy," Rice said. "Congress needs to act as soon as possible to address the housing crisis, keep families in their homes and stabilize small communities."
And no, Inhofe did not vote for the Foreclosure Prevention Act. He's stretching the truth by trying to blame Andrew for an economic mess that Inhofe's decades of deregulation helped create.
Inhofe doesn't mind if some people see this ad on TV. But he's too afraid to put it online and subject it to close scrutiny. This is the second negative ad that Inhofe has refused to put on his website because he knows the truth - if you shine a light on his tactics, the lies are plain to see.
Inhofe's message in this campaign is a house of cards. One quick bit of Oklahoma wind sweepin' down the plains, and his version of reality will be knocked down.
No wonder he still doesn't want to debate Andrew Rice in the state's largest media market:
When told that Rice said he is scared to debate, Inhofe said, "He says a lot of things; I can't really react to what he says.
"No, I'm not afraid of him," he said. "By gosh, he's the one that really should be afraid to admit the things he stands for."
Inhofe said he prefers going out and meeting voters and that another debate wouldn't "really matter that much."
"One's a liberal and one's a conservative," Inhofe said. "There's not too much to be resolved in a debate."
Help us resolve this issue when Oklahoma voters go to the polls and declare that 22 years of Jim Inhofe in Washington is enough. It's time for Oklahomans to have a U.S. Senator who will put people before politics - and that's Andrew Rice.
- Karina Henderson, Rice for US Senate
