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Capitol View®
Catharine Richert

PoliGraph: McFadden ad doesn’t tell whole story

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GOP Senate hopeful Mike McFadden is trying to convince voters that Sen. Al Franken voted to exempt himself from new rules in the Affordable Care Act.

Here’s a clip from McFadden’s first television ad.

“Franken voted for Obamacare and voted to exempt himself and Congress from enrolling in it.”

There’s only a sliver of truth to this claim.

The Evidence

McFadden’s campaign is referring to a vote Franken cast in March, 2010 on an amendment sponsored by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Here’s what the amendment said:  “The President, Vice President, each Member of Congress, each political appointee, and each Congressional employee shall be treated as a qualified individual entitled to the right under this paragraph to enroll in a qualified health plan in the individual market offered through an Exchange in the State in which the individual resides.”

Along with nearly every other Senate Democrat, Franken voted against the amendment.

It’s also true that Franken ultimately voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act.

But here’s the critical piece of information the McFadden ad leaves out: the bill already required members of Congress to get coverage through the exchanges.

In fact, months earlier, Grassley won enough support in the Finance Committee to include that language in the bill. The amendment Grassley offered in March, 2010, went above and beyond that requirement to include the President, other officials and their staff.

So, when Franken voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act, he was effectively voting to require members of Congress to get their insurance through the exchanges.

The Verdict

There’s a nugget of truth to McFadden’s ad. At one point, Franken voted against an amendment that would have required members of Congress to get health insurance through the exchanges.

But the truth ends there. McFadden doesn’t point out that the Affordable Care Act already included that requirement.

His claim is misleading at best and comes close to being outright false.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES

Tom Erikson, spokesperson, McFadden for Senate

Alexandra Fetissoff, spokesperson, Franken  for Senate