Blake Masters Credit: PBS

Arizona Republican U.S. senate candidate Blake Masters took his Democrat opponent Mark Kelly to task for casting the deciding vote to supersize the IRS.

Masters said:

“The people of Arizona know that those 87,000 IRS agents that you are siccing on them, they are not just going after billionaires. They are not just going after big businesses. They are going to be auditing you. They are going to be auditing your small businesses this time next year. Senator Kelly voted for 87,000 new IRS agents in the Inflation Reduction Act. But to do that first he had to reject – there was an amendment – he rejected hiring 18,000 more border patrol agents. Mark Kelly said no to 18,000 more border patrol agents but yes to 87,000 new IRS agents. That shows you what his priorities are. Mark Kelly left our southern border wide open, voted for all the trillions in spending that caused this massive inflation and he thinks the fix is 87,000 new IRS agents.”

Kelly didn’t have a whole lot to say in reply.

Masters also noted that Kelly does whatever Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden tell him to do.

Masters said:

“He can’t say no to Chuck Schumer. He can’t say no to Joe Biden. At least Senator Sinema stopped Build Back Better. My gosh, you were ready to vote for that. That would have just ruined our economy even worse. I know Senator Sinema caved on the Inflation Reduction Act and I’m mad at her for that but hey, isn’t it interesting that you had to wonder which way she was going to vote? You never have to wonder which way Senator Kelly is going to vote. Because any spending bill that Biden puts in front of him, he will sign. So yeah, we got the Inflation Reduction Act, and Mark Kelly was the deciding vote. He hired 87,000 new IRS agents.”

Masters has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written commitment to Arizonans to oppose tax increases. Kelly refuses to make this commitment, and his tax hike record is well established in Washington D.C.