After viewing the first television ads of the campaign from the two leading contenders in the Aug. 3 GOP congressional primary, U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, noticed something missing from both.

In a fund-raising e-mail to supporters this afternoon, Schauer points out that the debut ads from both former U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg and former Marine Brian Rooney, never mention the word “jobs.”

“These guys just don’t get it,” Schauer wrote.

Rooney’s ad is about the struggles his youngest son went through, being born with a heart defect, which led Rooney to run for Congress.

Walberg’s ad is about returning the country to traditional values and touches on the economy, albeit without using the actual word "jobs." It begins by showing a closed up business, followed by a “store for lease” sign. He then calls for for lower taxes and less spending.

Also in Schauer’s e-mail he brings up the Tea Party debate in Adrian from last week and writes that his “extreme opponents” said they “wanted to abolish the Department of Education and privatize Social Security.”

It is true they said they wanted to abolish the Department of Education. At that debate they also said they wanted to abolish the IRS and favored making English the official language and implementing a federal ban on affirmative action.

And they all were opposed to making any changes to the Second Amendment, amnesty for illegal immigrants in the country, U.S. citizenship to babies born in America by illegal immigrants and same-sex marriage.

Schauer's claim about all wanting to privatize Social Security isn’t as cut and dry.

What the three agreed to at that debate, is to “support legislation making available independent savings accounts to optionally reduce long-term participation in the Social Security system.”

Whether that is tantamount to privatization was a subject of heated debate during the 2008 debates between Schauer and Walberg. And it appears as though that debate will continue this fall.

“That’s the choice this year - while my extreme opponents are ready to turn their backs on Michigan students and seniors, I'm fighting every single day to level the playing field for our workers and businesses,” Schauer wrote. “That’s why I’m counting on your support with a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford, so I can keep fighting for fair trade policies to help small businesses create jobs here in Michigan.”

http://blog.mlive.com/jackson-politics/2010/07/us_rep_mark_schauer_knock...