On September 1st of this year, Berkley told a reporter that her office “did contact the ethics committee” and just seven days later to a different reporter she denies having made that statement. Watch Berkley change her statement below.

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WASHINGTON — When Shelley Berkley first came to Washington in January 1999, the federal debt stood at $5.6 trillion.  Yet, 12 years later, and particularly over the last three years, as Shelley Berkley has rubber-stamped every major spending initiative proposed by President Obama, the federal debt has now hit the once-unfathomable mark of $15 trillion – a 168 percent increase and more than $48,000 for every American man, woman and child.

To mark the United States Treasury reaching the $15 trillion debt mark today and to highlight the massive spending by Congresswoman Berkley and President Obama that has led to this point, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released a new web video – “$15,000,000,000,000…Siriously”

“As she prepares to face Nevada voters next year, Shelley Berkley will have to explain why she’s rubberstamped President Obama’s reckless spending agenda, including his failed stimulus and government health care bill, instead of focusing on creating jobs and growing our economy” NRSC spokesman Jahan Wilcox said today. 

Click Here To Watch The NRSC’s New Video

$15,000,000,000,000… Siriously

BACKGROUND….

THE NATIONAL DEBT HAS HIT THE $15 TRILLION MARK 

The National Debt Is Now $15.0 Trillion Dollars. (US Department Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed 11/16/11)

Since President Obama Took Office And Senate Democrats Rubberstamped His Spending Agenda, The National Debt Has Risen $4.4 Trillion, An Increase Of Over 41 Percent. (US Department Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed 11/16/11)

HOW MUCH IS $15 TRILLION?

$15 Trillion Is More Than The Value Of All The Goods And Services Produced In The United States Last Year. (“Gross Domestic Product,” Bureau Of Economic Analysis, BEA.gov, Accessed 11/3/11)

In FY2010, The Bureau Of Engraving And Printing Produced $974 Million Worth Of Currency. At That Rate, It Would Take 15,400 Years To Print $15 Trillion. (“Annual Production Figures,” Bureau Of Engraving And Printing, Accessed 11/3/11)

·         It Would Take The Average Household Over 300 Million Years To Pay Off The National Debt On Their Own.(Press Release, “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010,” US Census Bureau, 9/13/11)

To Pay Off $15 Trillion In Debt, The Federal Government Would Have To Devote Every Dollar Of Revenue To Paying Off The Debt For 6.5 Years. (“Monthly Budget Review,” Congressional Budget Office, 10/7/11)

The post NRSC Statement On Shelley Berkley’s Latest Fiscal Legacy – A $15 Trillion Debt appeared first on NRSC - National Republican Senatorial Committee.

As both the Washington Post and the New York Times reported on the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office’s findings – the Democrats’ government-run healthcare bill that Berkley voted into law last year slashed $500 billion from seniors who depend on Medicare.

·         WASHINGTON POST:  The Health Care Bill Cut Medicare By Roughly “$500 Billion Over The Next Decade.” “To cover the cost of those changes, the compromise would impose a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income for wealthy taxpayers, a levy that would come in addition to a Senate-proposed increase in the regular payroll tax for those families. And it would slice an additional $60 billion from Medicare, with the privately run program known as Medicare Advantage targeted for particularly deep cuts, bringing the total reduction in projected spending on the program to more than $500 billion over the next decade.” (Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane, “House Leaders Announce $940 Billion Health-Care Compromise Bill,” The Washington Post, 3/19/10)

·         NEW YORK TIMES:  A Report By The Chief Medicare Actuary Said That Medicare Advantage Programs Will Be Cut By Roughly 50 Percent In The Health Care Bill. “The study, by the chief Medicare actuary, Richard S. Foster, provides a detailed, rigorous analysis of the law. . . . In his report, Mr. Foster made these points: . . . Cuts in federal payments to private Medicare Advantage plans will ‘result in less generous benefit packages,’ the report said. By 2017, it said, ‘enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans will be lower by about 50 percent, from its projected level of 14.8 million under the prior law to 7.4 million under the new law.’” (Robert Pear, “Health Care Cost Increase Is Projected For New Law,” The New York Times, 4/23/10)

If that wasn’t enough, both Senate Democrat Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and a former economic advisor for Obama have reiterated that in order to fund government-run healthcare, Democrats – including Harry Reid and Shelley Berkley – reduced the federal funds available for Medicare.

·         SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): “Some Of Our Critics On The Other Side Of The Aisle Have Said, ‘You Know, They’re [Democrats] Going To Cut Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars Out Of Medicare.’ And The Simple Answer Is, Yes.” (Sen. Durbin, Floor Remarks, 3/4/10)

CLICK HERE TO WATCH DICK DURBIN

·         JARED BERNSTEIN – FORMER TOP OBAMA OFFICIAL:  “My point is that in term of Medicare spending, [the health care] bill … cuts half a trillion dollars off of Medicare spending ten years that in the books, you can look up the CBO numbers. (Jared Bernstein, Squawk Box, CNBC, 06/08/11)

CLICK HERE TO WATCH JARED BERNSTEIN

“Big Labor is trying to smear Dean Heller’s record, because they want Nevadans to forget that when Shelley Berkley followed Nancy Pelosi’s order and voted for ObamaCare, she also voted to cut Medicare by over $500 billion,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Jahan Wilcox.  “The fact remains that Shelley Berkley is the only candidate for Senate in Nevada who voted to cut Medicare by half-a-trillion dollars.”

BACKGROUND

THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE BREAKS DOWN THOSE MEDICARE CUTS FROM OBAMACARE

·         $150 BILLION IN CUTS TO HOSPITALS, NURSING HOMES, AND HOSPICE

o   “Ensuring Medicare Sustainability… -156.6 [Billion Dollars].” “TITLE III—Improving The Quality And Efficiency Of Health Care; Subtitle E—Ensuring Medicare Sustainability; 3401 Revision Of Certain Market Basket Updates And Incorporation Of Services Productivity Improvements Into Market Basket Updates That Do Not Already Incorporate Such Improvements (Effect Of Productivity Adjustment For Home Health Included In Estimate For Section 3131)… 2010-2019… -156.6 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 3/18/10, P.14)

·         $200 BILLION IN CUTS TO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE

o   “Medicare Advantage Payments… -131.9 [Billion Dollars].” “TITLE III—Improving The Quality And Efficiency Of Health Care; Subtitle C—Provisions Relating to Part C; Medicare Advantage Payments… 2010-2019… -131.9 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Pelosi, 3/18/10, P. 13)

o   “Medicare Advantage Interactions… -70.4 [Billion Dollars].” “Interactions; Medicare Advantage Interactions… 2010-2019… -70.4 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Pelosi, 3/18/10, P. 18)

·         $40 BILLION IN CUTS TO HOME HEALTH CARE

o   “Home Health Care… -39.7 [Billion Dollars].” “TITLE III—Improving The Quality And Efficiency Of Health Care; Subtitle B—Improving Medicare For Patients And Providers; Part III – Improving Payment Accuracy; 3131 Payment Adjustments For Home Health Care (Includes Effect Of Section 3401)… 2010-2019… -39.7 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 3/18/10, P.13)

·         $20 BILLION IN REDUCED “PAYMENTS TO HOSPITALS THAT SERVE A LARGE NUMBER OF LOW-INCOME PATIENTS”

o   “Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Payments… -22.1 [Billion Dollars].” “TITLE III—Improving The Quality And Efficiency Of Health Care; Subtitle B—Improving Medicare For Patients And Providers; Part III—Improving Payment Accuracy; 3133 Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Payments… 2010-2019… -22.1 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 3/18/10, P.13)

o   “Reducing Medicaid and Medicare payments to hospitals that serve a large number of low-income patients, known as disproportionate share (DSH) hospitals…” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Harry Reid, 11/18/09, P. 10)

The post FACT CHECK: Big Labor Misleads Nevadans On Medicare appeared first on NRSC - National Republican Senatorial Committee.

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, liberal Congresswoman Shelley Berkley’s liberal mentor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, took to the Senate floor and declared, “[i]t’s very clear that private sector jobs have been doing just fine.”  Since then, Republicans and Democrats alike have weighed in on Reid’s comments – including former top Obama economic advisor Austan Goolsbee, who said he disagrees.  Yet his liberal protégé Berkley has strangely remained silent.

Today, in reaction to the fact that Nevada’s unemployment rate remained at a worst-in-the-nation 13.4 percent in September, Berkley declared that “we need to be focused on creating jobs in Nevada, not in China.”  But again, Berkley failed to elaborate as to whether she agrees with Harry Reid that these jobs should consist solely of growing government at everyone else’s expense, or whether she will instead encourage her fellow Democrats to join Republicans in working to spur private-sector job growth.

“With Nevada’s unemployment stuck at 13.4 percent, does Shelley Berkley agree with her liberal mentor Harry Reid that ‘private sector jobs have been doing just fine’ and Washington should focus only on growing government – or will she stand up and demand that Reid and their fellow Democrats finally join Republicans in working to spur private-sector job growth?” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Jahan Wilcox today.

Notably, Berkley’s comment comes on the same day that as this headline, highlighting the failure of the so-called “green jobs” programs Berkley, Reid and President Obama have touted:

·         ABC News: Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland.  With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.  Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department’s $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland.  “There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle,” the car company’s founder and namesake told ABC News. “They don’t exist here.”….An investigation by ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News that will air on “Good Morning America” found that the DOE’s bet carries risks for taxpayers, has raised concern among industry observers and government auditors, and adds to questions about the way billions of dollars in loans for smart cars and green energy companies have been awarded.

The post What Jobs Is Berkley Talking About, Exactly? appeared first on NRSC - National Republican Senatorial Committee.

WASHINGTON – It’s been a full year since President Obama and Shelley Berkley (D-Las Vegas) declared that it was a “Recovery Summer,” promising that their $787 billion in reckless deficit spending would fix Nevada’s ailing economy.

So, to mark the one-year anniversary of Berkley and the Democrats’ “Recovery Summer,” it’s worth examining a few of the claims Shelley Berkley and her bosses in the Obama Administration made for their failed economic policies.  For instance…

·         Berkley claimed her stimulus would “create or save more than 34,000 jobs.”  But Nevada has lost over 56,000 jobs since the stimulus was rammed into law.  As President Obama admitted this week, “[s]hovel-ready was not as … uh .. shovel-ready as we expected.”

·         Berkley’s stimulus also gave money to tax cheats and used to “create” jobs in fictitious congressional districts – like Nevada 32nd Congressional District.

·         Berkley’s bosses in the Obama Administration predicted the Democrats’ stimulus would keep the national unemployment below 8 percent, unemployment nearly two-and-a-half years later is 9.1 percent – and has remained above 8 percent for 28 consecutive months.

·         And while Berkley claimed the stimulus would accomplish critical objectives to get our economy growing again, a report shows that stimulus funds have been spent on a large number of outrageous non-job-related projects, including a study to determine the effects of cocaine on monkeys, iPods for high school students, cell phones for smokers trying to quit, and advertising devoted to the promotion of the stimulus bill itself.

“Harry Reid, Shelley Berkley, Byron Georgiou and their liberal friends promised their $787 billion stimulus would ‘create or save’ 34,000 jobs, but more than two years later Nevada has lost over 56,000 jobs,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Jahan Wilcox.  “How can Nevadans ever give Berkley another blank check if they know all she is going to do is give away their money to tax cheats or spend it on studies that determine the effect cocaine has on monkeys?”

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

Berkley Promised The Stimulus Would ‘Create or Save’ 34,000 Nevada Jobs

SHELLEY BERKLEY: “From incentives to increase clean energy production to funding for work on I-15 and the Las Vegas Beltway, this [stimulus] package will mean jobs for Nevada at a time when we continue to face record unemployment levels,” said Berkley. “According to the White House, passage of this legislation will create or save 34,000 jobs statewide, with the majority of those in Clark County.”  (Shelley Berkley, Berkley: Report Shows Broad Economic Recovery Package Will Mean More Nevada Jobs, Press Release, 02/12/09)

Since The Stimulus Was Passed Nevada Has Lost Over 56,000 Jobs

·         As Of May 2011, Nevada Has Lost 56,506 Jobs Since The Stimulus Passed In February 2009. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics Website, www.data.bls.gov, Accessed 6/17/11)

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