A Democratic super PAC cherry-picks from huge appropriations bills that Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue opposed in order to accuse him of trying to increase his own pay while rejecting pay increases for the military.
In a TV ad from American Bridge 21st Century, Dave, “a lifelong Georgia Republican” and former U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor, says, “When I look at David Perdue, I see a man that only serves himself by voting for pay raises for himself while he votes against military pay raises.”
But Perdue has said he opposed the spending legislation in question for reasons that had nothing to do with the provisions concerning congressional or military pay, which were only part of the bills.
The group, officially known as AB PAC, says the ad is airing in five media markets across Georgia and “is part of a multi-million dollar program to help defeat Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the January 5th Georgia runoff election.” The ad has already run more than 1,200 times since Dec. 12, according to AdImpact.
Under a 1989 law, members of Congress are eligible to receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment to their salary that is determined by a formula based on private sector wages. The adjustment happens automatically unless members pass legislation to stop it.
And since 2009 — when pay for most U.S. senators and representatives was raised to $174,000 — Congress has consistently voted to approve bills including language to block additional hikes. Perdue, who has been in the Senate since 2015, has voted for some of those bills.