New ad will target Rep. Bachmann for GI Bill vote

Americans United for Change is releasing a new television spot criticizing Rep. Michele Bachmann and three other legislators for voting against the GI Bill last week. According to Donald McFarland, the Minnesota spokesman for Americans United for Change, the group intends to spend nearly $500,000 to air the ads on television over the Memorial Day recess. “She has repeatedly provided empty rhetoric about supporting the troops,” McFarland said of Bachmann. “She put her allegiance to the president ahead of our men and women in uniform again.”

The revamped GI Bill would entitle veterans with at least three years of active-duty service to tuition benefits equal to the highest-priced public university in their home state, along with a stipend for housing and books. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the proposal will cost $52 billion over the next decade. The House passed the legislation comfortably last week, and the Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure just this morning. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill.

The Bachmann ad features footage of World War II soldiers. “When they came home, America gave them more than a parade,” an announcer says. “We gave them opportunity, a chance to go to college.” It then cuts to pictures of Bachmann and Bush. “Call Michele Bachmann,” the ad concludes. “Tell her to put the needs of our veterans ahead of her loyalty to George Bush.”

Americans United for Change is a nonprofit advocacy group primarily funded by organized labor. The organization previously ran ads criticizing Bachmann for voting against SCHIP legislation. The other legislators targeted are Ohio Rep. Steve Chabot, Florida Rep. Tom Feeney and New York Rep. Randy Kuhl. Here’s the ad: