July 13, 2012

Steven Law Lobbied For The Stimulus, Now His Crossroads GPS Attacks Anyone Who Supported It

According to Crossroads GPS, politicians who supported President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the economic stimulus program, were “cheerleader[s] for massive spending.” Crossroads GPS, the anonymously funded Republican attack ad group, launched a new ad earlier this week accusing Democratic candidates of supporting a stimulus that “failed miserably.” The ad, which is targeting U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D-VA) and potentially others, cost $2.5 million.

The ad suggests the stimulus was spent carelessly; the narrator claims the money was “wasted money studying ants in Africa.” Just three years ago, the shoe was on the other foot.

The President and CEO of Crossroads GPS, Steven Law, oversaw a lobbying team to help pass Obama’s stimulus. In fact, Law’s organization applauded the legislation and urged lawmakers to vote for the bill to “provide stimulus and get Americans back to work.”

Law, who partnered in 2010 with Karl Rove and several former Republican National Committee members to found the American Crossroads network of corporate front groups, previously worked as the General Counsel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. There, Law represented multinational companies like Dow Chemical, Chevron, and AIG, in influencing Congress. The Chamber is frequently cited as one of the biggest spending lobbying associations in the capital.

Disclosures filed with the Senate show that Law’s lobbying team spent millions to support bills like H.R. 1, President Obama’s stimulus program. View a screen shot below:

Law’s current attack on the stimulus doesn’t even make much sense. The ant research project mentioned in the ad was actually an effort to study the long-term effects of climate change on eco-systems.

Law lobbied on other bills he now attacks Democrats for supporting. Though Law lobbied in support of President Bush’s bank bailouts in 2008, Crossroads GPS has run ads this year deceptively linking U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to TARP.

Far from being a policy or education foundation, as Crossroads GPS is incorporated, Law’s actions seem more in line with a K Street politico for hire.