In this week's installment of "60 Sensible Seconds," a semi-weekly audio ad from the Michigan Republican Party, Betsy DeVos and the Michigan GOP once again attack the Democratic Party using undocumented information and outright lies.

Michigan GOP ad, "Jobs Killer" (mp3):

I'm Betsy DeVos. Today's topic: our automakers under attack. If you drive a pick-up truck or an SUV, take good care of it--it might be the last one you'll ever own. Democrats in Washington are using junk science to push unreasonable mileage restrictions on new vehicles. It's a backdoor plan to outlaw trucks, vans, and SUVs. Economists predict that if this crazy scheme becomes law, Michigan would lose 130,000 jobs. The worse news is that Governor Granholm is going along, giving her full support to the same politicians that back this radical plan. Join me in sending Governor Granholm a message: stop playing politics with Michigan's jobs. Logon to learn how and migop.org. And one more thing, good luck getting the kids to the soccer game in a Volkswagon.

As with the last "60 Sensible Seconds" ad we examined here in the Media Mouse newsroom, the Michigan GOP ad features a lot of reactionary rhetoric designed to scare people, but is short on substance. There is a total failure to document where the information in the ad comes from--listeners hear about how "ecomonists" say that there will be "130,000" lost jobs (who are these unnamed economists and where do they get their numbers) and that the Democrats have a "backdoor plan to outlaw trucks, vans, and SUVs" (again, no detail about this supposed plan). The only place cited for listeners to get more information is the MI GOP website which features a news release on the Republicans "1-point Plan to Protect Auto Jobs." The news release has no more information than the ad, although the few quotes on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for vehicles featured in the news release are actually sourced (one of which, verifiable online, is a selectively edited statement from Michigan Congressman John Dingell).

Of course, if Betsy DeVos and her cohorts at the Michigan GOP actually took the time to read the 2004 Democratic Party Platform, they would find that SUV drivers have nothing to worry about:

Creating the energy-efficient vehicles of tomorrow.

We [the Democrats] support creating more energy-efficient vehicles, from today's hybrid cars to tomorrow's hydrogen cars. We support the American people's freedom to choose whatever cars, SUVs, minivans, and trucks they choose, but we also believe American ingenuity is equal to the task of improving efficiency. We support improving fuel standards, and because of the challenges this poses, we will offer needed incentives for consumers to buy efficient vehicles, and for manufacturers to build them. We are also committed to developing hydrogen as a clean, reliable domestic source of energy. Our economy cannot convert to hydrogen overnight, so we will fund research to overcome the obstacles to hydrogen fuel and continue our other efforts to achieve energy independence.