Today, the John Quiñones for Congress campaign said that they will not be signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in his bid for the GOP nomination in Florida’s 9th Congressional District.  Republican candidates Julius Melendez and Mark Oxner have signed the Pledge.

Without a concrete written promise to taxpayers in the district, Quiñones is leaving the door open to higher taxes. For voters familiar with Quiñones’s record as a state legislator, this may not come as a surprise.

State Senator Quiñones voted in support of transportation bill, SB 1350, that included higher taxes. The bill targeted tourists by imposing a $2-a-day tax on rental car customers. Then Republican Governor Jeb Bush vetoed the legislation, noting that the “taxes will be paid disparately by tourists visiting Florida, consequently creating taxation without representation on a large scale.”

Perhaps even more troubling than his support of tax hikes as a Florida legislator are the looming tax hikes that America faces at the beginning of next year.  On January 1, 2013, America faces the largest tax increases in US history.

The cost of Taxmageddon on Florida taxpayers is estimated at over $34 billion in higher taxes. Although Quiñones would not take office until after January 1, the risk of giving him a seat at the negotiating table should leave Florida taxpayers scared.

“The voters in Florida have a right to know where a candidate stands on the issues before electing them to Congress,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “It’s only logical to assume that if Quiñones won’t sign the Pledge then he has plans to raise taxes.”

“The promises that Quiñones makes about creating jobs, cutting spending, and restoring fiscal conservatism to Washington mean little without the backing of a concrete written promise to oppose higher taxes. Only by signing the Pledge, can Florida taxpayers be certain that Quiñones has learned the error of his ways on higher taxes.”

[PDF of Press Release]

Posted by Paul Blair on Friday, August 10, 2012 4:33 PM EDT

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