Post-election ceasefire ends with liberal group's TV ad hitting GOP

The ceasefire in political advertising since Election Day ended Friday, as a liberal group went up with a new ad hitting the GOP on tax cuts.

Americans United for Change released a new television ad casting congressional Republicans as acting at the behest of moneyed corporate interests when it comes to the expiring tax cuts, unemployment benefits and other major issues before Congress.

The ad will run on national cable over the weekend and on local cable stations in Washington, D.C., and is intended in particular to set up the White House summit later this month between President Obama and congressional leaders in both parties.

"On the campaign trail, Republicans and their corporate backers paid a lot of lip service to the Tea Party crowd about reining in the deficit," said Tom McMahon, the executive director of AUFC. "But back in Washington, what’s the very first order of business? Blowing a Texas-sized hole in the deficit by extending the Bush tax breaks for Wall Street bankers and millionaires."

The ad is particularly significant because it's one of the first issue ads to have gone on the air since the election, when TV and radio waves were last saturated by political advertising. But the lame-duck session of Congress and the unresolved issues left on the agenda are set to only revive some of the political jockeying in advertising.