Americans for Tax Reform calls on Congressional candidate Beth Anne Rankin to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in her bid for the GOP nomination in Arkansas’s 4th Congressional District. Only Tom Cotton has taken the Pledge in Arkansas’s 4th district. Rankin, a Pledge signer in her 2010 bid for Congress, has confirmed that this time around she will not make the same promise to taxpayers.

Regarding the Pledge, Rankin’s campaign manager said that for the 2012 election, Rankin “will not be signing it again.” Voters deserve to know why she was willing to make the commitment to oppose higher taxes in 2010 but not in 2012. With Democrats in Congress constantly calling for higher taxes, the Pledge to oppose tax hikes is no less important today than it was in 2010.  

Currently, 98% of Republicans in Congress have signed the Pledge. This includes the entire Arkansas GOP Congressional delegation. By refusing to sign the Pledge, if Rankin is elected, the taxpayers of Arkansas’s 4th Congressional District will not have an ally in Washington, D.C.

 “The voters in Arkansas 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 she won’t sign the Pledge then she has plans to raise taxes.”

 “I applaud Tom Cotton for his dedication to the taxpayers of Arkansas,” continued Norquist. “Taxpayers deserve to know that the men and women they elect to office will stand on their side against the special interests and tax hikes in Washington. I urge Rankin to join with Cotton in promising never to raise taxes on the voters of Arkansas.”

[PDF of Press Release]

Posted by Paul Blair on Friday, May 18, 2012 2:55 PM EDT

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