Maybe you've seen the television spot called "Marco Rubio on Conservative Immigration Reform".
It begins with the Florida Republican saying, "Anyone who thinks that what we have now in immigration is not a problem is fooling themselves. What we have in place today is de facto amnesty." Then comes the on-screen message: "A Conservative Plan", as a narrator reads statements from articles or commentary about the Gang of Eight bill that have been published or aired by various media outlets.
FactCheck.org has done an analysis of the ad, explaining not only how it fudges some facts, but also that it is tied to Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg. While FactCheck.org doesn't point this out, Facebook lobbyists have succeeded in massaging the immigration bill to ensure that Zuckerberg gets access to plenty of visas for foreign high-tech workers. Moreover, Zuckerberg is bankrolling the ad in an attempt to win public support for the bill.
FactCheck.org headlines its analysis "Zuckerberg-backed group spins immigration". It goes on to say:
A group with ties to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hijacks the credibility of news organizations in a misleading ad that supports a bipartisan immigration overhaul bill. The ad, featuring Sen. Marco Rubio, attributes several quotes to media outlets, but the quotes come from opinion pieces written by backers of the immigration bill.
The ad ends with this call for citizen resolve: "Stand with Marco Rubio to end de facto amnesty. Support conservative immigration reform."
Well, before that happens, an ad that boosts not only the corporate interests of Mark Zuckerberg but also the presidential aspirations of Marco Rubio should be able to stand up to a basic truth check. So should Rubio's promises that his bill would prevent another wave of illegal immigration. Thus far, the senator has flunked on both counts.
You can watch the ad and read the FactCheck.org analysis here.
