Today Americans for Tax Reform issued the following statement to all Pennsylvania press in response to the mistruths being spread by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato and his campaign:

Why is Dan Onorato Knowingly Misleading Penn. Voters?

Claims that Corbett has “flip-flopped” on his no-new-tax pledge are false; ATR calls on Onorato to retract

Washington, D.C. – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato has been traveling around the Keystone State all week claiming that his Republican opponent, Attorney General Tom Corbett, has violated his no-new-tax Pledge by refusing to rule out raising user fee increases to address the state’s transportation needs. Americans for Tax Reform, the non-partisan taxpayer advocacy organization that sponsors the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, responded today that Onorato’s claims are patently false and called upon the Democratic nominee to retract his incorrect statements.

Tom Corbett signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge back in February and, in doing so, has committed to Pennsylvania residents that if elected, he will “oppose and veto any and all efforts to raise taxes.” Americans for Tax Reform asks all candidates every election cycle to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

“Dan Onorato has been knowingly misleading Keystone State voters all week.  The fact remains that Tom Corbett has said nothing that would contradict or go against his commitment to prevent taxes from being raised on overly-burdened Pennsylvania taxpayers,” said Grover Norquist,  president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Pennsylvania voters need to ask themselves if someone whose honesty is already called into question by repeatedly stating bald-faced lies is the type of person they want in the governor’s mansion. 

29 sitting members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. At the federal level, 34 U.S. Senators and 174 members of the House of Representatives have signed the Pledge. To date, Dan Onorato has refused to make this important commitment to Pennsylvania taxpayers.

“Taxes are the last thing one would think Dan Onorato would want to challenge Tom Corbett on. Looking at his record, it is clear that Dan Onorato has yet to meet a tax increase that he doesn’t like. This is the guy that presided over and championed the Allegheny County drink tax and rental car tax, the largest tax increase in county history, which he imposed at the onset of the recession no less. The rest of his resume entails a long list of votes or proposals to raise taxes,”added Norquist. “After years of unsustainable spending and perennial efforts to raise taxes during the Rendell Administration, Pennsylvania voters are looking for candidates who are going to stop the bleeding and offer pro-growth policies to bring the state out of the recession by making the state’s tax climate less hostile to employers, families, and individuals. I applaud Tom Corbett for signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and encourage all candidates for elected office to make this same commitment to Pennsylvania taxpayers.

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