FactCheck hits Toomey's ad

On the same day Pat Toomey cited FactCheck.org to undermine a DSCC ad attacking him, the site has found that Toomey's own ad's claims about the stimulus bill are doing a bit of taffy-making with the truth.

The ad states that the stimulus "gave us record debt without creating jobs." Though there is some debate about how many jobs the bill created and how those compare with what the Obama administration forecast, there's no doubt it created at least some jobs. The record debt, FactCheck notes, isn't true either -- at least as a percentage of GDP, which is the best way to put it in historical context. (This year's debt certainly is a record dollar amount.)

The debt at year's end, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will be about 62 percent of GDP. That's the highest since World War II, but not a record. Trivia buffs take note, 1946 takes the cake with debt at 109 percent of GDP.

FactCheck's conclusion: "Toomey would be on safe ground if he said the stimulus added to the debt without creating enough jobs — those would be his opinions, and defensible ones at that. But he can’t say it didn’t create any jobs and caused a record debt."