Titus spokesman defends ad claims

Andrew Stoddard, spokesman for Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., defended controversial claims in a campaign ad against Republican Joe Heck, who is challenging her for the Congressional District Three seat.

The ad in question says, "Heck signed a pledge to protect tax loopholes giant corporations use to ship our jobs overseas," and cites Heck's signature on a pledge from Americans for Tax Reform.

The pledge doesn't say anything about jobs or specific tax loopholes, it is an overall promise to maintain taxes at the current level or lower. The non-partisan Web site www.factcheck.org, has called an ad making the same claim against a Congressional candidate in Hawaii is a "false tax attack."

But Stoddard says the group, since Heck's signing of the pledge, has said eliminating the tax loophole would count as a violation of the pledge.

As a result, Stoddard says it is fair to make the claim.

He also cited statements from others who agree with his interpretation, including this one from Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, a law professor and tax expert at the University of Michigan:

"The current Obama tax proposals clearly envisage eliminating the interest deduction for US based multinationals to the extent it relates to foreign income that is not currently taxed and it is not matched by a corporate tax rate reduction. Signing the no tax pledge would require opposition to this proposal."