Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) today borrowed a page from the campaign playbook of President Obama and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Wolf, a member of the Appropriations Committee and one of only six Republican members of the U.S. House who has failed to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to his constituents, submitted the following to the Congressional Record:
Rep. Wolf said: “On the Republican side, Grover Norquist holds up the Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge to block even the mention of putting tax reform on the table for discussion as part of a deficit reduction agreement.”
Many recent unsuccessful Democrat congressional candidates, as well as President Obama, have trotted out similar claims deemed “blatantly false” by the nonpartisan FactCheck.org.
As FactCheck.org has noted:
“[The Pledge] leaves ample room for elimination of any number of special tax breaks so long as the overall level of taxation is not increased. To claim that this ‘protects’ any particular provision of the tax code is simply untrue.”
ATR has offered the Pledge to all candidates for federal office since 1987. In the 112th Congress, 41 U.S. Senators and 238 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed the Pledge. Additionally, thirteen governors and over 1,200 state legislators have signed the Pledge.