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Editor's Note: Many Berkeley residents are supporting Democrat Dr. Ami Bera's campaign for Congress against Republican Dan Lungren in the Sacramento area. 

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ELK GROVE, CA - Today, the Chamber of Commerce started airing $484,000 worth of misleading ads on behalf of Congressman Dan Lungren. The ads make the same lies about Medicare and the Affordable Care Act that Congressman Lungren and Republicans nationwide have repeated all year. 

Dr. Ami Bera offered the following comment: 

“While I’m not surprised that out-of-state special interest groups have come in to aid Dan Lungren with fictitious ads, I didn’t expect the absurd irony of blaming national economic uncertainty on a local doctor, instead of on Washington insiders like Dan Lungren, who got us into this mess in the first place. Attacking me for the Medicare savings that Congressman Lungren voted for twice, and for the uncertain tax situation that Lungren helped create, reveals their desperation to hide Lungren’s votes to privatize Medicare and devastate the middle class.” 

The ad is deliberately misleading: 

1. 1. Congressman Lungren voted for the Washington deals that created the year-end uncertainty of the ‘fiscal cliff’ [HR 4843, Vote #467, 12/17/10; S 465, Vote #960, 8/1/11; CRS, 8/19/11; Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta’s Remarks on Major Budget Decisions, 1/26/12; Los Angeles Times, 11/21/11] 

2. Dr. Bera has always made it clear that the health care law doesn’t do enough to control costs and that addressing healthcare costs is an absolute priority. In Tuesday’s debate with Lungren, Dr. Bera said: “There is no way for us to get our economy going until we’ve addressed the cost of healthcare." 

3. Both Republicans and Democrats supported the same Medicare savings, the difference is Lungren voted for the Ryan budget that turns Medicare into a voucher system. [SacBee, 8/21/12; Bloomberg, 8/13/12]. 

Dr. Bera’s jobs and small business plan includes: 

• expanding access to capital for small businesses that are trying to create jobs • incentivizing businesses to keep jobs here, rather than ship them overseas • investing in vital infrastructure projects, like our local levees, to create jobs immediately and attract and keep businesses in the district • reducing health care costs, not by passing them on to our seniors, but by negotiating drug and healthcare costs, investing in prevention, and spending less money on bureaucracy 

Dr. Bera is a lifelong Californian. He and his wife Janine and their daughter reside in Elk Grove. According to the Wall Street Journal and other major publications, his campaign is "seen by political experts as one of the nation's most competitive." For more information about Dr. Bera, or the Bera for Congress campaign, please visit www.BeraforCongress.com