Re: Claims Dept: Perdue on Moore attack

natdug — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:52:51 -0400

This ad is so disjointed.

It goes from talking about higher education tuition increases to talking about K-12 teachers (in hopes, I guess, that none of us will understand that that's what educators really means), then back to higher education before hitting Moore on his Wall Street connections. It's enough to give a person whiplash.

I thought the Perdue camp was doing well financially, did they really need to throw everything in that one basket? Couldn't they have shelled out the money for two ads?

Claims Dept: Perdue on Moore attack

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:31:00 -0400

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue is airing an ad rebutting a recent ad by Democratic candidate Richard Moore, Ben Niolet reports. Click here to watch the ad.

What the ad says: "I'm Bev Perdue. I'm running for governor, and I sponsored this ad. Richard Moore's attack ads are hypocritical. He voted for tuition increases in the legislature. It’s Bev Perdue who's endorsed by our teachers. And only Perdue will make community college tuition free and four-year college affordable. Remember, as treasurer Richard Moore has taken $1.5 million in contributions from Wall Street and people who do business with his office. Richard Moore. He's for Wall Street. Not us."

The background: As a legislator, Moore voted in 1993 for a budget bill that, among other things, raised tuition at state universities and community colleges over two years.

Perdue has been endorsed by the N.C. Association of Educators, the state’s largest teacher organization.

Moore has announced plans to provide free community college tuition for high school graduates and to allow parents to save for college and lock in tuition rates, safeguarding against future tuition increases.

Perdue has announced a plan to expand existing tuition grants for community colleges and four-year colleges and universities. Under her community college plan, high school graduates from a family of four who make less than $63,600 a year will qualify for an EARN scholarship.

Those scholarships provide grants for tuition, fees, books and other expenses. They are now only available to families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level — $40,000 for a family of four.

Under Perdue's plan, high school graduates from a family of four earning more than $63,600 would qualify for a tuition waiver for community college, but not money for fees and books.

Perdue also proposes to expand scholarship assistance at four-year colleges and universities from the current two years to four years. The grants would require students to keep good grades, give back to the community and graduate high school. Parents would also have to help pay tuition.

Moore has raised money from donors in the financial industry, many of whom have ties to firms that did business with the treasurer's office under Moore, according to campaign finance records. In February, Perdue met with Democratic donors in New York, including some with ties to the financial industry.

A campaign spokesman said Perdue did not receive any contributions from donors in the finance industry on that trip. Campaign finance records for that period are not yet publically available.

Is the ad accurate? Not entirely. Moore, as a legislator, did vote for a tuition increase as part of a larger state budget bill.

Both candidates have offered plans to provide free community college tuition to high school graduates. Perdue's claim that she is the only candidate who will make university tuition affordable is based on her campaign's argument that Moore's plan doesn't make university tuition affordable.

Moore's plan does offer a safeguard against future tuition increases, but does not help families who are too poor to save money for college.

The claim about Moore's fundraising is hard to measure because the term "Wall Street" is a little nebulous.

The Charlotte Observer reported last year that Moore’s campaign had raised more than $700,000 since 1999, when Moore first ran for treasurer, from people connected to firms that did business with the treasurer's office.

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Re: Claims Dept: Perdue on Moore attack

Claims Dept: Perdue on Moore attack