Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, has changed his "Sam" radio spot and for the first time in his 16 years in Congress he has a campaign endorsement from the labor union representing workers at Hill Air Force Base.
- Hansen, running for re-election in the 1st Congressional District against Democrat Greg Sanders, ran a political ad in September talking about his grandson Sam and how Sam owes $187,000 on the national debt. People immediately began questioning Hansen's arithmetic abilities, since the $5 trillion national debt divided into the nation's population yields about $18,800 per person.Turns out Hansen was adding in the projected interest on the debt Sam would pay over his lifetime.
Now the ad is running again but slightly modified.
- The American Federation of Government Employees' national office issued a statement last week announcing the endorsement.