Lunsford's Latest Lies

It took Bruce Lunsford a good ten days to decide whether he is for the bailout or against it. Then he noticed that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell had voted for it and voila, Lunsford runs a new ad attacking the bailout and accusing McConnell of personally causing the credit crisis.

The problem is that even the leaders of Lunsford's parties -- Reid, Pelosi and Obama -- all supported the bailout. So did Sen. Chuck Schumer, the head of the DSCC who recruited Lunsford to run. In fact, Schumer says that the bailout was necessary to avoid another depression.

Perhaps Lunsford's most brazen lie is the portion of his new ad when he shows McConnell with President Bush and in the voice over complains about legislation that modernized the banking and commodities industries -- legislation that was signed by Bill Clinton, not Bush. Either Lunsford cannot distinguish between the likenesses and policies of Clinton and Bush, or Lunsford is just flat out lying.

Lunsford also complains that the bailout lets CEOs line their pockets. To the contrary, McConnell made sure that the bailout includes strict limits on executive compensation to prevent abuses on the taxpayers' dime. In any event, Lunsford is projecting when he gripes about CEO fat cats who enrich themselves on Wall Street. Lunsford's financial disclosure form makes clear that he's exactly the sort of "high net worth" individual whose portfolio includes hedge funds unavailable to the rest of us plebians in our 401 (k)s. Perhaps Lunsford's real problem with the bailout is that McConnell's strict limits on executive compensation hit too close to home for Lunsford.