New TV ad by "The Ending Spending Fund" Targets Reid over Earmarks

"The Ending Spending Fund" Ad Goes After ReidA group called The Ending Spending Fund is on the air in Nevada with a television ad called "Shady," accusing Senator Harry Reid of using earmarks in an unscrupulous manner.The ad shows a woman sitting in a diner reading the paper and drinking coffee, she says to herself, "What the heck is an earmark? Says here Harry Reid used these earmarks to try and funnel over three million of our hard earned tax dollars to a big campaign donor's company. That seems pretty shady."

The group is spending more than $800,000 on television ads in Nevada through Election Day, specifically targeting suburban Las Vegas. They are also running an "internet blitz" with banner advertising, attempting to blanket as many of the biggest internet properties as possible over a three-day period.

The Ending Spending Fund is what is known as a "Super PAC" and is conducting independent expenditures in key Congressional races around the country in order to highlight earmarks and how they believe Congress is broken. The Ending Spending Fund is registered with the Federal Election Commission and reports all donors and expenditures.

It's also associated with an ongoing advocacy entity called Taxpayers against Earmarks, which has applied for status as a 501C4. Joe Ricketts is the chairman and founder of both groups, he also founded Ameritrade and along with his family owns the Chicago Cubs. Officials inside both groups tell Fox News they believe in transparency and are working to outlaw congressional earmarks by calling out the lawmakers who use them.

The group is spending another $300,000 on television ads in South Carolina against Democratic congressman John Spratt, and in Texas targeting Democratic congressman Chet Edwards. They are also running a radio ad in favor of Idaho Democratic congressman Walt Minnick.