Justin Myers, campaign manager for US Rep. Jim Himes, this afternoon trashed Republican opponent Steve Obsitnik’s complaint about a Himes’ ad running on News 12 Connecticut. “Steve Obsitnik’s attack on Jim’s bipartisan work to reduce the deficit demonstrates exactly why Obsitnik doesn’t belong in Congress,” Myers said in a statement. “He can’t see that sometimes Democrats and Republicans agree. Jim voted for the bipartisan Budget Control Act, which cut a trillion dollars from the federal budget over 10 years. For supporting a bipartisan plan to reduce the deficit USA Today called Himes “‘brave'”…He cited that the plan was also supported by budget experts. “It’s clear Obsitnik would just be part of the partisan gridlock in Washington that has led to the real possibility that our nation will fall off the fiscal cliff,” Myers said.
Here’s the text of a letter sent today to Jim Dolan, heads of Cablevision, over the ad Himes is running on News 12 CT, by Obsitnik’s campaign manager. Federal Communication Commission rules allow pretty much anything to run, without recourse.
“Mr. James Dolan
President and CEO
Cablevision Systems
1111 Stewart Avenue
Bethpage, NY 11714
September 26, 2012
Dear Mr. Dolan,
This letter is in regard to the most recent advertisement Congressman Jim Himes is airing on your station for his reelection campaign for Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District.
Without a doubt, the advertisement contains false information deliberately intended to mislead Connecticut voters and win votes under false pretenses. Because the advertisement conveys messages that are plainly disproven by fact, we respectfully demand that your station immediately stop airing the advertisement and that no further airings of this misleading content be allowed on your station.
At issue is Himes’ claim that he is committed to “responsibly reducing our deficits”. That is a patently false claim.
Simple arithmetic shows that since Congressman Himes took office in 2009, each year the federal budget has had trillion dollar deficits.
Your station is hereby on notice that the advertisement makes false statements intended to deliberately deceive Connecticut voters and grossly exaggerate Congressman Himes’ record.
Sincerely,
John Puskar
Campaign Manager
Obsitnik for U.S. Congress
PS – There are possible copyright infringement issues based on Himes’ use of the slogan “Forward” in his advertisement.”