Reid comes out swinging

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is facing a tough re-election campaign back home in Nevada. His opponent is Republican Sharron Angle, a former state legislator who also has the support of Tea Party activists.

Soon after Angle secured the Republican nomination, the Reid campaign released an ad attacking her positions on Social Security and prison programs.

“Social Security. It means independence, a secure income,” the ad’s narrator says. “But shockingly, Sharron Angle wants to wipe out Social Security.”

“She’d cut benefits for everyone coming into the system,” the narrator says. “That’s Sharron Angle. First, a Scientology plan to give massages to prisoners. Now she wants to get rid of Medicare and Social Security. What’s next?”

We first looked at the claim that Angle wants to get rid of Social Security and found that she has talked repeatedly about wanting to privatize the system with personal accounts. We ruled the ad’s claim Half True.

Next, we explored the claim that Angle supported “a Scientology plan to give massages to prisoners.” It’s true that Angle once pushed for Nevada to try a controversial drug and crime rehabilitation program based on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. And yes, the program includes something akin to massages. But this wasn’t a program to extend day spa treatments to criminals. And so we rated the ad’s claim Half True.