North Carolina Congressional candidate Jim Pendergraph supports a federal budget that raises taxes by two trillion dollars. In March, Pendergraph made a written commitment to voters to oppose higher taxes by signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. It now appears as if he has no intention of keeping that promise.  After Americans for Tax Reform called on Pendergraph to clarify his stance, his true tax hike intentions became crystal clear. 

In an endorsement meeting with the Charlotte Observer, Pendergraph said, “balancing the budget would require something like the Bowles-Simpson plan, and specifically said taxes may have to rise as part of a comprehensive plan to erase the deficit.”

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, who rightly voted against Simpson-Bowles, writes: “Relative to current policy baseline, the proposal would increase revenues by $2 trillion over 10 years.” Simply put, the plan is an enormous tax hike and would be a blatant Pledge violation.

Pendergraph didn’t stop there. He went on to say, “Let’s be honest – it’s not going to be without pain for all of us.”  In other words, Pendergraph thinks that the solution to the federal government’s spending problem is to raise taxes. This is the same mindset that resulted in voters rejecting the failed economic policies of the Democrats in November of 2010.

North Carolinans know better. With state unemployment at 9.4%,  taxpayers and hardworking citizens in the 9th District deserve more than a candidate who can’t make up his mind about which economic policies to implement in addressing our nation’s problems. Not only has Pendergraph said that he “would consider taxes,” but we now know that those taxes amount to about $2 trillion.

 “By supporting the Simpson-Bowles tax hike recommendations, Jim Pendergraph demonstrates that he is out of touch with the taxpayers of North Carolina,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “Voters should know that by voting for Pendergraph in the July run-off, they are voting for a candidate who has raised taxes locally and promises to do tax hikes on a much larger scale if he gets to Washington.”

[PDF of Press Release]

Posted by Paul Blair on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 8:59 AM EDT

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