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Action 9: Putting Senate campaign ads to the truth test

Many consider the hottest U.S. Senate race in the country is between incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan and Republican challenger Thom Tillis.
 
Both sides are spending millions in advertising trying to win your vote. 
 
So Action 9's Jason Stoogenke is putting the ads to the truth test.
 
He looked at two ads this week and will continue to look at ads between now and election night, just over two months away.
 
The ad against Tillis comes from the group Women Vote.  It says, "The same pay for the same work, but Thom Tillis said no."
 
Is it true? Yes. Tillis runs the North Carolina House and the House sent Bill 603 -- the "Equal Pay Act"-- to the Rules Committee. That's where many bills go to die and it hasn't been heard from since.

LINK: House Bill 603
 
The ad also claims, "Under Thom Tillis, the rich got big tax breaks." 
 
True? Yes, but that is taken out of context. Most North Carolinians got big tax breaks in income and sales tax.
 
Still, the wealthy did make out better than most.
 
For example, those who own boats and planes thought they'd have to pay more in taxes for them but don't.
 
At the same time, Tillis led the charge to cut a certain tax for working poor, to drop sales-tax holidays and to extend sales taxes to things like movie tickets.
 
On the other side, Crossroads GPS is running an ad against Hagan. It says, "Hagan voted to raise the debt ceiling by more than $5 trillion..."
 
True? Yes, she voted to raise it but so did most of Congress.
 
After all, the country was facing possible default and could have triggered a global financial crisis.
 
The ad goes on to claim, "…while voting against a balanced budget amendment."
 
True?  Yes and no.
 
There were actually two votes on this.
 
Hagan voted against one of them -- one that would have changed the Constitution itself. But she broke party ranks and voted for the other.
 
Both of those votes still failed.