With Election Day just a few weeks away, television is filled with attack-style political ads.

Unfortunately, this is not new. Voters say they dislike negative ads — but the ads work, so they will continue.

This election cycle, however, attacks ads are worse than ever.

There are several reasons to explain this. Off-year elections often see the party in power, in this case, Democrats, vulnerable to losses. Because most voters are frustrated with high unemployment, deficit spending, threats of new taxes, growth of government and bailouts, Democrats are threatened.

There is added incentive for both Republicans, and Demo-crats, at the national level to wage fierce fights for statewide races across the country because in 2011 the party in power in all but a few states will control redistricting, which means using census data to redraw many congressional and state legislative districts to benefit the party in power.

Anyone watching television these days cannot miss the attack ads, which typically portray its target as anti-American, anti-job creation, dishonest and beholden to special interests.

The attack ads now dominating the airways imply that no matter which candidate wins on Nov. 2, he or she will be self-serving, under the control of others and just plain evil. Not encouraging to voters.

Some helpful perspective on many of these ads is provided by a nonpartisan group called Factcheck.org, which examines the claims made in many ads.

The brief reports on the Factcheck website are telling.

One report reads, "Foreign money? Really? Democratic attacks claiming foreign money behind ads from U.S. Chamber of Commerce 'cannot be substantiated.' "

The next item says, "Misleading onslaught by 60Plus: Conservative group launches $5 million attack against Dems."

Then, FactCheck reports "AFSCME's big, brazen attack: Labor union (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) spends a pretty penny on misleading ads against GOP House candidates."

Another report says, "Misdirection from Crossroads GPS: Ads from (Karl) Rove-connected groups attack Senate candidates with faulty claims on health care law."

FactCheck also says, "Obama's (latest) Social Security Whopper: The president claims Republican leaders are as eager to 'privatize' Social Security as they are to repeal his health care law. That's not true."

These ads distort the truth; FactCheck provides the proof. Every voter should know not to trust these ads.

Making the situation worse are tax code laws that allow these groups to solicit donations and spend millions of dollars on attack ads without revealing who is giving them money.

Another problem is that election law enforcement is so lax and delayed that if violations are found, it is usually after the elections and involves penalties amounting to little more than a financial slap on the wrist.

While any attack ad is disturbing, the ones from national groups outside a state or congressional district raise more troubling questions. Clearly, these groups have no interest in local or state issues; to them it's just a numbers game in Congress. It's all about power, not voters' concerns.

It's disheartening to see the election process dominated by attack ads, with many of the ads being paid for by groups from outside the congressional district or state that are funded by anonymous donors. Voters are seen as pawns to be manipulated by big-money groups on both the Right and the Left who care only about their own agenda and putting Rs or Ds in seats — and in power.

Since keeping money out of politics or enforcing spending limits is impossible, the next-best approach is total transparency — every attack ad should be forced to include full disclosure about the individuals or groups providing funding. Beyond that, voters also should do research and visit FactCheck.org to learn about the half-truths and distortions in the ads from both sides of the political aisle.