Todd Akin for U.S. Senate: Akin Ad

Bust out the wine and crackers, because this ad is full of cheese!

In this ad released by the Todd Akin camp, the "American dream" is depicted. The ad states that the dream is at risk due to the current President and his administration, but Representative Todd Akin is still fighting for that typical American dream.

The ad describes President Obama’s presidency as “the tyranny that has ransacked the economy” showing an animation displaying the national debt. According to the United States Treasury, the national debt stood at $10,626,877,048,913.08. As of October 4, 2012, the national debt stood at $16,161,879,857,156.66, meaning that a whopping $5.4 trillion has been added to the national debt since President Obama assumed office. While this is the first time in U.S. history that the national debt has surpassed the $16 trillion mark, blaming the Obama administration would be akin to blaming the ocean for getting you wet as you ran into it. During the Bush administration, the national debt grew from $5.6 trillion to $10.6 trillion. The debt has risen for years now, and the increasing partisanship that has been displayed by many candidates of many parties nationally are certainly not helping it...not just a democratic President. Many factors play into how the economy is shaped, from private industry to governmental regulation.

The National Rifle Association did indeed endorse Representative Akin. In a statement, the NRA gave their reasoning because Representative Akin has continually defended 2nd Amendment rights during his time in office. The NRA did indeed give Representative Akin an “A rating.” Senator Claire McCaskill, on the other hand, received a “F rating” from the National Rifle Association.

As for Representative Akin receiving the “Friend of the Taxpayer” Award, that is true. The National Taxpayers Union gives the reward by “measuring the strength of support for reducing spending and regulation and opposing higher taxes." Members of Congress can receive the award for achieving an “A” in this measure. Representative Akin received an “A” rating from 2001-2009, but has since scored a “B” in his ratings.

The ad calls Representative Akin a “guardian of small businesses” but does not leave an attribution. The representative may have been called that before, but without an attribution, we cannot give credit to Representative Akin for this statement. However, the National Federation of Independent Business does give an award called the “Guardian of Small Business Award.” The NFIB lists members of Congress that the federation endorses, but Representative Akin is not on that list. So, we’re not going to give this one to Representative Akin as there is no attribution to give credit to Representative Akin.

Putting the dramatics aside, the ad was moderately accurate.Yes, the national debt is a major problem, but all the blame cannot be placed on President Obama. Some points were correct, but leaving out the attribution for Representative Akin being called "guardian of small businesses" is a big no-no.