WASHINGTON -- The nonprofit 60 Plus Association, which touts itself as "the conservative alternative to the liberal AARP," released a new ad this week that seems to compare Americans' sacrifices on D-Day to the fight to repeal health care reform.
The ad is airing nationwide and 60 Plus is spending $500,000 on it. The ad features World War II veteran Philip Storer, who is, according to the group's press release, "concerned Obamacare will take away the freedoms that he and thousands of Americans fought so hard to protect."
"June 1944," says the narrator. "D-Day. Allied troops land at Normandy. Their mission: save the world from a deadly and growing oppression."
"I was one of thousands that landed on D-Day," Storer says. "We fought to protect something we all hold very dear, our freedoms. Today, our freedoms are threatened by a very different kind of enemy. The enemy is big government, wasteful spending, and crushing debt. Nowhere is this threat more apparent than in the attempted government takeover of health care. The first step has been taken. If we don't repeal the health care bill, government will grow, debt will explode, choices will become fewer and your freedoms will be chipped away. I still believe our freedoms are worth fighting for. The fight to repeal the government takeover of health care is up to you."
WATCH:
60 Plus has existed since 1992, but as FactCheck.org notes, the group received "a sudden infusion of money from somewhere" beginning in 2009. It reportedly spent $10 million on TV ads attacking lawmakers who supported health care reform last year. However, because 60 Plus is a politically active nonprofit known as a 501(c)(4), it does not have to disclose its donors. It also claims to have more than five million members.
This ad isn't the first controversial spot by the conservative group. It recently put out a mailer with images of the Great Depression, saying that Democratic policies are on the verge of creating "Obamavilles" -- a reference to the infamous Hoovervilles, which were, as The Plum Line's Greg Sargent notes, "a symbol of government inaction in the face of the poverty and widespread misery of the Great Depression."
Last year, 60 Plus also put out an ad claiming that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could kill seniors by allowing government to determine if they are "worth the cost" of further medical treatment.
In addition to health care, the group also seems to be pushing for the extension of all Bush tax cuts and a permanent repeal of the estate tax. In the 2010 elections, 60 Plus is the 15th-highest outside spender, dropping nearly $7 million so far.
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