In the coming weeks, voters should expect Rep. Paul Kanjorski to step up his misleading attacks on Lou Barletta and the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Kanjorski will do everything in his power to avoid talking about his dismal track record on job growth and the economy. In signing the Pledge, Barletta has promised to never raise income taxes on individuals and/or businesses. Kanjorski’s attacks are nothing but an attempt to distract and misinform taxpayers on who will stand up for them in Congress.

Kanjorski’s claims the Pledge “protects shipping jobs overseas.” These charges have already been refuted by numerous news sources numerous including the nonpartisan, nonprofit FactCheck.org. Brooks Jackson, Director of Factcheck.org, found the claims against the Pledge to be “blatantly false” while Jon Ralston of the television program Face to Face in Nevada said similar accusations against the Pledge were “thoroughly misleading.” As Kanjorski attempts to sidestep his record, voters should ask him to explain why he thinks tax hikes create jobs?
 

Paul Kanjorski Campaign Caught Telling Lies about the “No New Taxes” Pledge
Kanjorski campaign desperate to distort Barletta’s “no new taxes” promise

WASHINGTON, DC—The Paul Kanjorski Campaign recently launched a new line of attack on Lou Barletta by attempting to mislead voters about the actual meaning of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. The goal of the Pledge is to protect taxpayers and businesses from tax increases. The Kanjorski campaign’s charges follow the patently false claims made by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) earlier in the year – claims that the non-partisan FactCheck.org agrees are “blatantly false.”

The “No New Taxes” Pledge commits a signer to “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.” By making this promise, Barletta has taken tax hikes off the table for all taxpayers in Pennsylvania - something Paul Kanjorski has not done.

This is not the first time Democrats have tried to misrepresent the meaning of the Pledge. During the special election in HI-01, the DCCC ran misleading attack ads against the Pledge. FactCheck.org, a non-partisan "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics, responded by condemning the DCCC and agreeing that the ads were “blatantly false.”

Similar claims about the Pledge were made recently in Michigan, Nevada, and Washington. In Michigan, the Jackson Citizen-Patriot, a Jackson, Michigan newspaper, deemed Rep. Mark Schauer’s claims about the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and Tim Walberg to be “not true.”  In Nevada, Jon Ralston of Face to Face “reality checked” the Dina Titus campaign ad and found the claims made against the “no new taxes” Pledge to be “thoroughly misleading.” King 5 TV in Washington called the accusations against the Pledge and senate candidate Dino Rossi to be a “stretch.”

“Why is Paul Kanjorski going out of his way to shamelessly distort Lou Barletta’s position on taxes? The Pledge signed by Barletta is a promise to constituents and businesses to never raise taxes. Kanjorski has yet to make the same promise and should explain to voters how tax hikes revive a struggling economy and promote job growth in Pennsylvania,” said ATR President Grover Norquist.

“Lou Barletta has committed to never raising taxes on his constituents while his Democrat opponent has left the door for tax hikes wide open,” continued Norquist.

Click here for a printable pdf of the release.

Posted by Adam Radman on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 11:24 AM EDT

To follow Adam Radman's RSS feed click here. To follow them on Twitter, their handle is @adamradman