I wanna look at some of the ads Rick Scott has been putting out there against Bill McCollum and the legitimacy behind them. I will try to provide strong evidence and sources claiming these ads to be just barely true, misleading and some flat out lies.

The two main sources I am pulling from are FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com

Claim: Bill McCollum Received Planned Parenthood Money:

“Bill McCollum has accepted thousands from lobbyists for Planned Parenthood.”

The Truth: False.

“Arnold & Porter, the registered Planned Parenthood lobbyist, did contribute to McCollum — a whopping $2,000 that we could identify. […] For the record, Arnold & Porter’s political action committee also has donated to Republicans like former Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft, current Florida U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, House Majority Leader John Boehner, and former President George W. Bush […]

Here’s the first problem: Arnold & Porter wasn’t registered as a Planned Parenthood lobbyist when it made those contributions to McCollum, records show.

And here’s another one: It’s a gigantic leap to say those contributions had anything to do with Planned Parenthood. Using the same logic, you can stick Bush, Boehner, Ashcroft and all those other Republicans with the same label.”

The article goes on to say:

“When McCollum ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000, the National Right To Life Political Action Committee spent $114,835 on his behalf. Oh, this, too: In his last year in Congress, 1999, McCollum received a 0 percent rating from Planned Parenthood and a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee. […]

But there’s no evidence — scratch that. We don’t think any logical person would conclude that Arnold & Porter’s contributions to McCollum and its future business with Planned Parenthood have anything to do with the other. The Truth-O-Meter is hot under the collar about this one. We say Pants on Fire! “

Read the full article at PolitiFact.com »

Claim: Bill McCollum Backed Former GOP Boss Jim Greer’s Efforts to Hide Financial Irregularities

Watch ad for full claim »

The Truth: False.

“”The truth is that Bill McCollum’s leadership is part of what led to the removal of Jim Greer,” Barbour said in a statement. ”This ad distorts the facts and was clearly created without any knowledge of what actually took place. It has no place in this primary. We ask Mr. Scott to pull this ad and move forward in the primary in a constructive manner.”

You can argue that McCollum should have pressed for more transparency in handling the matter, and some have. And you can argue that McCollum was too slow to react to concerns over party spending, and some have.

But that is not what is being alleged in the Scott ad. It says that McCollum “backed Jim Greer’s effort to hide financial irregularities.”

There’s no evidence that we find or that the Scott campaign provided that McCollum had any knowledge of Greer’s Victory Strategies contract, or any evidence that McCollum attempted to stop a criminal investigation once an RPOF audit revealed potential fraud. We rate Scott’s claim False.”

Read the full article at PolitiFact.com »

Claim: Bill McCollum Voted to Raise Taxes 42 Times:

Watch ad for full claim »

The Truth: Barely True.

“McCollum’s support of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act… highlights a problem with Scott’s accounting methods. The vote on the one bill constitutes three of the 42 votes Scott is referencing in his ad because the bill included increases in employment (1), aviation (2) and tobacco (3) taxes.
Double and triple counting is common in Scott’s list of votes. […]

PolitiFact Florida’s review suggests Scott has been able to locate 42 taxes or fees that were either raised, or had their shelf-life extended, because of votes McCollum took while in Congress.
But that only tells part of the story. Several of the votes are double counted, meaning that while 42 taxes may have been extended or raised, McCollum didn’t vote 42 times for increases. Moreover, the Scott ad overlooks McCollum’s votes to cut taxes, and specifically tries to label a $240 billion tax cut McCollum supported as a tax increase — four different times.

At best, Scott is cherry picking the votes to help make his case that “Bill McCollum voted for higher taxes and fees 42 times.” But he’s also brazenly trying to label a tax cut as a tax increase, and double and triple counting some votes. We rate the statement Barely True.”

Read the full article at PolitiFact.com »

Claim: Bill McCollum Spent $280,000 Using the State Plane For Personal Travel:

Watch ad for full claim »

The Truth: Misleading, Exaggerations.

“The story says the $280,000 is for McCollum’s entire office, not just for his flights. The story also says that McCollum’s office spent the least of Florida’s four Cabinet offices.

“McCollum leads with more than $77,000 in personal travel on the state plane” in fiscal year 2009. The wording has led to confusion because the article used “personal travel” as a synonym for individual travel for official business. The article compared McCollum’s individual flights with those of the governor and the chief financial officer.

So, how many times did McCollum use the plane for “personal reasons”? The ad says 53 times. But that, too, is an exaggeration. […] although nine flights “were routed in a manner that did not have an apparent public purpose.”

These diversions could have cost the state an additional $712.87 per flight on average… That adds up to less than $6,500 – far less outrageous than $280,000.

Read the full article at FactCheck.org »

Claim: Bill McCollum Supports Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Shares the Same View as Obama:

Let’s look at each claim from this mailer. Bill McCollum supports stem cell research:

“He’s never supported creating embryonic stem cells simply for research.”

Bill McCollum holds the same position on this issue as Barack Obama, who recently lifted a ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research:

On embryonic stem cell research, it appears McCollum and Obama are awfully close. Obama supports using embryonic stem cells that otherwise would be destroyed for research. McCollum does, too. The only real question is regarding funding. McCollum did vote for the Dickey Amendment, which sought to prevent federal funding of embryonic stem cell research…  Obama, meanwhile, has supported increased federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, saying embryonic stem cells “may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions.” There’s enough of a question when it comes to funding in our minds to add a slight asterisk to Scott’s mailer. We rate his claim Mostly True.

Creating life for the purpose of destroying it is simply indefensible:

“The general has been consistent on this issue,” Campbell said. “He’s never supported creating embryonic stem cells simply for research. But if the only options were to destroy the stem cells, or use them for research, he’s preferred they go to research.”

The claim that McCollum holds the same position on this issue as Obama is based off of info that was true in 2004. Six years ago. Since then his view on embryonic stem cell research has changed. A personal interview confirms that he is not for taxpayer funded embryonic stem cell research. As well, a direct quote from McCollum’s site states, “Bill has always opposed the use of state or federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and he believes that science has moved past the need for this research altogether.”

Read the full article at PolitiFact.com »

Conclusion:

There you have it. The claims, the evidence and the facts. Use your own judgement. What do you think? Do Rick Scott’s Claims Against Bill McCollum Hold Any Weight?