The snaking 12th Congressional District is home to quite a few senior citizens, and Rep. Mark Critz, D-Murtha, and his Republican foe, Tim Burns are courting their votes by complaining that the other guy is going to destroy their precious entitlements. Today, the Critz campaign is taking umbrage at a couple of mailings sent out by the Burns campaign and The 60 Plus Association -- an Alexandria, Va. conservative senior advocacy group that's pouring a ton of money into the midterms (among their targets is Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Erie).

The Burns mailer gives a Critz to-do list: "1. Bankrupt Social Security. 2. Cut your Social Security benefits by 25%. 3. Cut Medicare by $500 billion. 4. Vote with Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi 94% of the time." It also puts Critz's picture in between Obama and Pelosi to drive home the point. The 60 Plus one says that "irresponsible bureaucrats and politicians in Washington are bankrupting our Social Security, our Medicare, and our nation at record speed." It calls on its recipients to call Critz and ask him not-so-nicely to vote to repeal the health care bill and to oppose earmarks and bailouts.

Critz spokesman Mike Mikus said the mailers distort Critz's record.

“You would have thought out of touch millionaire Tim Burns would have learned that Western Pennsylvanians aren’t buying his desperate attacks after they failed so miserably in the Spring,” Mikus wrote in a press release. “Unfortunately for Burns, Western Pennsylvanians understand that Mark Critz opposed the health care bill and is fighting to protect and strengthen Social Security while Tim Burns wants to privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into a voucher program.”

Burns spokesman Jake Persons fired back, via cell phone: "It's funny that they're questioning this when they have repeatedly lied about Tim's position on Social Security."

In this case, they're both right: The dueling attacks are misleading at best. Factcheck.org did a solid takedown of similar charges during the primary BS-fight that serves as a thorough guide, but here's an appreviated version:

The Burns campaign says Critz's support for cutting Social Security can be found in his response to a question at a town hall meeting, as reported by the Somerset Daily American. But he's actually saying the opposite and describing the calamity faced by the entitlement:

Critz said he also plans to fight to save Social Security.

“These are the statistics I have been given. Social Security is 100 percent safe through 2037, so it’s 27 years out. After that there will still be enough money to pay 75 percent benefit going forward. Do we have issues, yes, we have issues absolutely,” he said.

As for the Medicare cuts, that's from the health care bill which Critz has said he would have voted against (he didn't get until Congress until after it passed) -- though he has said it should be improved rather than Burns' preferred repeal. And besides, the $500 billion figure is a projected cut from future growth of the program, not a cut to present benefits.

But the Critz people are just as off-base in their attacks on Burns. They say that because people who have supported Social Security privatization in the past are backing his candidacy now, that must mean that Burns is for transitioning the program to private accounts. This despite the fact that Burns has repeatedly said -- and proclaims on his website -- that he is not in favor of privatization. Since he hasn't had a chance to vote on the issue, you have to take him at his word.

And the Medicare voucher claim is even more out there. According to Factcheck, it came from the House Conservatives Fund's support for Burns, but their questionnaire had no Medicare questions on it. Burns says on his website that Medicare should be strengthened by repealing the health care law, cutting fraud and possibly raising reimbursement rates -- not exactly a recipe for reining in the program's costs, for sure, but nothing about vouchers.

So don't worry, seniors of the 12th District, both candidates will keep that federal dough flowing your way.

The mailers in question are below the jump.

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