And you won't get this in the media-

I had to go to the Franken website to find a fact check for a disturbing ad that yet again takes Franken's words out of context. The ad claims that Franken supported subprime lending. Watching it you could see that there was a likely 'but' at the end of his statement. Yet KSTP's Tom Hauser, who claims to be the "truth tester' for such ads ignores the blatant falsehoods.

Here is a small segment of the full text Franken spoke in 2002:

QUOTE FROM THE AD

Many sub-prime lenders are doing a real service. They’re doing exactly what we want.

HERE’S WHAT AL ACTUALLY SAID

Here’s the entire portion of Al’s 2002 National Press Club speech that deals with subprime lending. The line taken out of context in the AJS ad is underlined.

“Here’s what I can tell you about predatory lending. (predatory lenders will seek out people in poor neighborhoods):

How about we refinance your mortgage, and I can give you some cash to fix your roof.’ The woman refinances her mortgage. Now, the problem is, this is a predatory loan. There’ll be all kinds of hidden fees, prepayment penalties, which will prevent her from ever refinancing again, balloon payments, and very often — this is very often — built-in rate increases, so the mortgage goes up — the payments go up in a year.

“Now, all of this will be buried in the fine print, and often borrowers end up not being able to make their payments and end up losing their homes or their businesses. It’s theft. Now, don’t get me wrong. Many sub-prime lenders are doing a real service. They’re doing exactly what we want; lending to people who couldn’t borrow money to buy a home or start a business. It’s the predators that we want to get rid of it.”

The full article can be found here, at Al Franken's website.

On the eve of an election I believe our country would benefit from stronger regulation on our campaign advertising. The blatant falsehoods would not be tolerated in any other advertising. There needs to be accountability.