Claim

Truth

Announcer:  In Washington, Sherrod Brown is doing what he thinks is best for Ohio.  Brown voted for the $831 billion failed stimulus.

Politifact: Four Independent Analyses Concluded The Stimulus Saved Or Created Between 1.3 Million And 3.6 Million Jobs.  In June 2011 after giving the NRSC a “False” rating for a stimulus attack in Virginia, Politifact wrote “Separately, the council’s report cited four independent analyses by the Congressional Budget Office and three private economic analysis companies. Here’s what the groups found:

• ·        CBO: Between 1.3 million and 3.6 million jobs saved or created.
• ·        IHS/Global Insight: 2.45 million jobs saved or created.
• ·        Macroeconomic Advisers: 2.3 million jobs saved or created.
• ·         Moody’s Economy.com: 2.5 million jobs saved or created.” [Politifact, 6/20/11]
• ·

V&M Star Executives Told Youngstown Vindicator $20 Million In Stimulus Funds “Played A Role In Speeding Their Decision” To Open New A New Pipe Plant.  In a January 2012, The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported that nearly $20 million in stimulus funds were used to to help V&M relocate a railroad line spur and pay for infrastructure for its new plant.  The Plain Dealer reported that  and that V&M executives told the Youngstown Vindicator that the stimulus “played a role in speeding their decision.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/23/12]

Stimulus Funds Were Used To Bring Broadband To More Than 705,000 Households In Appalachia.  In May 2011, The Portsmouth Daily Times reported “U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, cheered Monday’s groundbreaking of a project that will expand access to broadband for 34 counties in Appalachia. The project would deploy more than 1,900 miles of fiber optic network to more than 705,000 households and connect nearly 600 community anchors. The funds were awarded to the Ohio Middle Mile Consortium, which Brown helped to facilitate after he fought to devote $2.5 billion worth of Recovery Act broadband funding for rural broadband projects.”  [Portsmouth Daily Times, 05/26/11]

Announcer: … he voted to increase our electricity costs.

On Screen:  Ohio:  Electric Bills Will Skyrocket [Vote #139 S.J. Res. 37, 6/20/12; Chicago Tribune, 5/18/12]

Article Cited In The Ad Claimed Electric Bills Were Going To Go Up Due To The Results Of An Annual Auction.  In May 2012, The Chicago Tribune reported “Your electric rates are going up but not until 2015.  That year, electric bills are set to be about $130 a year more than now, according to the results of annual auction that decides which electricity providers will be paid for committing to run their power plants so the lights stay on.  The auction reserves power three years in advance and the agency that manages the electric grid, the PJM Interconnection, announced the results Friday.”  [Chicago Tribune, 5/18/12]

Cleveland Plain Dealer:  Consumers Will Not Face 30 Percent Increases In Their Bills.  In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported “FirstEnergy’s all-electric customers will not face 30 percent increases in their bills in 2015, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston said Tuesday.  In fact, neither the watchdog agency nor the company knows for sure what the price of power will be in 2015.”  The Plain Dealer continued, “The troublesome documents were hypothetical future bill estimates the PUCO demanded the company file after an auction conducted earlier by PJM Interconnection, the company that manages power flows over the regional grid, determined the cost of generating or shipping extra power here during times of peak demand will be very expensive in 2015-16.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/26/12]

• ·         Cleveland Plain Dealer:  The Documents The Claim Is Based On Were “Misinterpreted” By Consumer Counsel Experts – Consumers Will Not Face The Previously Reported Rate Increase.  In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealerreported “FirstEnergy’s all-electric customers will not face 30 percent increases in their bills in 2015, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston said in a prepared statement Tuesday.”  The Plain Dealer continued, “The agency and its allies based the claim on FirstEnergy’s own documents filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Trouble is, the consumers’ counsel experts and others misinterpreted the filings, they said.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/26/12]

• ·         Consumer Counsel Statement:  “Regrettably, The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Misread The Residential Consumer Bill Comparisons.” In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported “A prepared statement issued Tuesday by the consumers’ counsel read in part, ‘Regrettably, the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel misread the residential customer bill comparison estimates provided by FirstEnergy. The estimated increases . . . are not the correct representation of the bill impacts of FirstEnergy’s proposal.’ According to FirstEnergy, ‘the impacts on typical bills for the period June 1, 2015, through May 31, 2016, are unknown at this time.’” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, ellipses original, 6/26/12]

• ·         The Price For Power Will Be Determined By Auction – A Method That Has Already Cut The Price Of Power By 9%.  In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote “FirstEnergy’s reaction Tuesday was that the discounts previously negotiated at the PUCO for the all-electric customers will continue as planned and that the actual price of power for all its customers would be determined by competitive auctions – and that such auctions have already cut the price of power by 9 percent.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/26/12]

Announcer:  And he was the deciding vote for the President’s health care law.

On Screen:  Sherrod Brown:  The Deciding Vote For The Health Care Law [Vote #396, H.R. 3590, 12/24/09]

Politifact: Sen. Brown “Certainly Did Not Cast The 60^th Vote” For Health Care Reform.  In May 2012, Politifact wrote “A listener hearing the Mandel ad could be lead to believe Brown’s vote had more weight than other votes. Yet, he certainly did not cast the 60th vote, and he did not have to be wooed for support.  And it is not accurate to state that he voted for a ‘government takeover of health care.’  On the Truth-O-Meter, this claim from Mandel’s ad rates False. [Politifact, 5/30/12]

Claim

Facts

Announcer:  The cost of everyday life is getting more expensive.  It feels like every dollar is spent before I even earn it.  And Washington’s making it even harder for us.  Even our own Senator, Sherrod Brown. He voted to raise our electricity costs.

On Screen:  Ohio:  Electric Bills Will Skyrocket [Vote #139, S.J. Res 37, 6/20/12; Chicago Tribune, 5/18/12]

Article Cited In The Ad Claimed Electric Bills Were Going To Go Up Due To The Results Of An Annual Auction.  In May 2012, The Chicago Tribune reported “Your electric rates are going up but not until 2015.  That year, electric bills are set to be about $130 a year more than now, according to the results of annual auction that decides which electricity providers will be paid for committing to run their power plants so the lights stay on.  The auction reserves power three years in advance and the agency that manages the electric grid, the PJM Interconnection, announced the results Friday.”  [Chicago Tribune, 5/18/12]

Cleveland Plain Dealer:  Consumers Will Not Face 30 Percent Increases In Their Bills.  In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported “FirstEnergy’s all-electric customers will not face 30 percent increases in their bills in 2015, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston said Tuesday.  In fact, neither the watchdog agency nor the company knows for sure what the price of power will be in 2015.”  The Plain Dealer continued, “The troublesome documents were hypothetical future bill estimates the PUCO demanded the company file after an auction conducted earlier by PJM Interconnection, the company that manages power flows over the regional grid, determined the cost of generating or shipping extra power here during times of peak demand will be very expensive in 2015-16.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/26/12]

• ·         Cleveland Plain Dealer:  The Documents The Claim Is Based On Were “Misinterpreted” By Consumer Counsel Experts – Consumers Will Not Face The Previously Reported Rate Increase.  In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealerreported “FirstEnergy’s all-electric customers will not face 30 percent increases in their bills in 2015, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston said in a prepared statement Tuesday.”  The Plain Dealer continued, “The agency and its allies based the claim on FirstEnergy’s own documents filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Trouble is, the consumers’ counsel experts and others misinterpreted the filings, they said.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/26/12]

• ·         Consumer Counsel Statement:  “Regrettably, The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Misread The Residential Consumer Bill Comparisons.” In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported “A prepared statement issued Tuesday by the consumers’ counsel read in part, ‘Regrettably, the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel misread the residential customer bill comparison estimates provided by FirstEnergy. The estimated increases . . . are not the correct representation of the bill impacts of FirstEnergy’s proposal.’ According to FirstEnergy, ‘the impacts on typical bills for the period June 1, 2015, through May 31, 2016, are unknown at this time.’”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, ellipses original, 6/26/12]

• ·         The Price For Power Will Be Determined By Auction – A Method That Has Already Cut The Price Of Power By 9%.  In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote “FirstEnergy’s reaction Tuesday was that the discounts previously negotiated at the PUCO for the all-electric customers will continue as planned and that the actual price of power for all its customers would be determined by competitive auctions – and that such auctions have already cut the price of power by 9 percent.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/26/12]

Announcer:  Northern Ohio’s going to be hit harder than anywhere else in the country, and he voted to support it?  This will hurt hard-working Ohio taxpayers, and it needs to change.

On Screen:  Northern Ohio:  “Price Increase Will Be … Household Budget Busting.”  [Hal Quinn, Letter, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/5/12]

June 5^th Letter Cited By American Commitment Was Written By Hal Quinn, The President And CEO Of The National Mining Association, From Washington, D.C.  In a June 2012 letter published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Hal Quinn wrote a letter claiming that electricity rates in Ohio were going to go up.  Quinn is the President and CEO of the National Mining Association.  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, Letter to the Editor, 6/5/12]

• ·         The Cleveland Plain Dealer Reported Estimated Electricity Rate Increases By 2015 Were Wrong.  In June 2012, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported “FirstEnergy’s all-electric customers will not face 30 percent increases in their bills in 2015, Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston said Tuesday.  In fact, neither the watchdog agency nor the company knows for sure what the price of power will be in 2015.”  The Plain Dealer continued, “The troublesome documents were hypothetical future bill estimates the PUCO demanded the company file after an auction conducted earlier by PJM Interconnection, the company that manages power flows over the regional grid, determined the cost of generating or shipping extra power here during times of peak demand will be very expensive in 2015-16.”  [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/26/12]