Mourdock TV Ad Targets Donnelly Health Care Votes

In the Indiana Senate race, Republican Richard Mourdock launched his first television ad of the general election on Wednesday, attacking Democrat Joe Donnelly for supporting health care reform.The 30-second spot features Mourdock looking directly at the camera and promising to vote for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The state treasurer goes on to say that President Obama's  overhaul will hurt small businesses, raise taxes and cuts Medicare by $500 billion.Check it out:The problem is that the charge about cutting Medicare services for seniors has been debunked by fact checking organizations several times.Earlier this year, PolitiFact said such claims "distort the truth" and were "mostly false", adding that the law aims to slow growth in Medicare spending rather than cut funding from the program.From PoliticFact: The health care law made several changes to Medicare, which provides health insurance for millions of seniors and people under 65 receiving Social Security disability payments. Some of the changes will increase Medicare spending to help cover prevention services and to fill the so-called doughnut hole, a gap in prescription drug coverage for some enrollees, according to a tutorial by Tricia Neuman, vice president and director of the Medicare Policy Project for the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent group that analyzes the health care system. Other changes aim to reduce growth in Medicare spending, by more than $500 billion over 10 years, though estimates of the future savings vary. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have both released reports since the health care law passed showing that the Affordable Care Act will reduce future spending growth on Medicare by more than $500 billion....But the health care law does not cut $500 billion from Medicare. It just reduces future growth. With the law, Medicare spending will still increase.Donnelly did vote for the Affordable Care Act two years ago, and was against the recent attempt to repeal the law in the Republican-controlled House.