Big Ads Campaign Against Health Care

A big business coalition is spending between $4 million and $10 million on ads against President Obama's health-care overhaul, emphasizing that the bill will cost jobs. The coalition, called Employers for a Health Economy and funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups, will take out TV ads targeting several dozen fence-sitting Democrats as another vote on the bill approaches. More than $200 million was spent on health-care ads last year, making it the most expensive single-issue campaign ever. Spending froze when Democrats lost their 60-seat supermajority in the Senate with the election of Scott Brown (R-MA), but as the endgame approaches, advertising will ramp back up. Activists on both sides are also using other means to persuade members of Congress, including a Tea Party demonstration planned for next week in Washington.