[img_assist|nid=3577|title=Jeanne Shaheen|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=220|height=331]The National Republican Senatorial Committee has begun airing a television ad that attacks Jeanne Shaheen's record as governor; an ad the Shaheen campaign calls an "outright lie."

"As governor Jeanne Shaheen increased spending by a billion dollars, signed the first statewide property tax, and even agreed to sign a state income tax," the announcer says.

Kate Bedingfield, Shaheen's communications director, said Shaheen threatened to veto any income tax passed by the legislature in the late 1990s.

"This ad is an outright lie. Jeanne Shaheen threatened to veto the income tax and killed any chance that it would be implemented," Bedingfield said in a statement. "John Sununu and his allies are spreading these lies in an attempt to distract from his record of voting with George Bush 90 percent of the time, driving our economy into the ground, and helping fuel the current crisis in our financial markets."

Shaheen is competing against U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) for the United States Senate; the race is a rematch of their 2002 race.

The ad concludes with the line, "An income tax in New Hampshire, now that's insanity."